Kindling gone green
Jan 27, 2010 
40 Comments
Confession time.
I’ve always felt a little odd about just tossing dryer lint in the trash. I just felt like it had a higher purpose in life.
Hey, I never claimed to be normal.
Keep reading. I have a point.
The point is…it’s useful! Dryer lint is useful!
Take it out of the filter, ball it up and shove it in a toilet paper tube and what do you have?
A big hunk of trash. Or…kindling for your fireplace.
So, instead of tossing out your lint, save up toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls and even wrapping paper tubes. Cut the longer ones into smaller sections, stuff them with lint and you have yourself some great firestarters.
And now I want to go watch Firestarter. When’s the last time you saw that movie?
abbiesanderson
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fabulous!! I have an abundance of both of these things – will do this now!
cool! you can make paper out of dryer lint, also!
What a clever idea! I’ve used the lint itself as tinder, but never thought of stuffing tubes with it. That’s awesome.
If only I had a fireplace…
every time i throw it away i wonder “what it could become.” great idea! i don’t have a fireplace, though, but i want an outdoor fire pit. maybe this could be my excuse to make/buy one!
Well, now I wish I had a fireplace; that’s a fantastic idea!
That’s a great idea! Add a little melted wax from leftover candle stubs, not much, but enough to make everything stick together, and cut them even smaller, and you have a great little fire bud to take camping, or even use in the Chimney Charcoal starter.
I love this idea! I read about it when you first posted but I didn’t have a fire. So I started stuffing toilet rolls anyhow and have realised I have a friend who does have a fire and now she has some firestarters… and i feel all green
Just brilliant. Had to share your post with my network on Facebook, they thought so too!
Great idea. Also, if you do NOT use softners, you can toss the lint out in the yard or stick it in trees and the birds will use it to help make their nests. Softner is NOT good for their feathers though, it does something to their natural oils.
Has anyone ever put yummy smelling things in the tube also? Would stuffing a cinnamon stick in with the lint work to make the fire smell nice? Or herbs?
If you don’t have a fireplace (I don’t) you could still do this & just give these great firestarters to your local camp. I am sure they will use them all summer!
Not that we are EVER short of tp tubes … but you can also use those cardboard egg cartons. Stuff the egg wells with dryer lint and cut them apart. Voila!
(now we know why so many house fires are started by dryer lint … :\
I worry about the process of burning and the release of the chemicals involved from the lint which is composed of residual chemicals of washing agents, dryer sheets etc. Any thoughts on that?
All I know to do to work around that is use the most natural laundry products that you can make and/or find.
It’s hardly “green” to use a clothes-dryer in the first place! How about using the solar clothes dryer instead. That would actually be green.
Dryer lint would contain all sorts of fibres – including synthetic plastics – probably not the best sort of thing to release into the atmosphere we and our children breath. Wool and silk fibres burned together produce cyanide gas for example – nice!
If you MUST use a dryer then rather than burning the fluff, save it up and use it for insulting your home!
Hey, thanks for the input, Rob! We love line-drying our clothes (as you might find in some of my other posts), but generally if the weather calls for a fire in the fireplace, the conditions aren’t exactly ideal for drying our clothes outside.
As for chemicals and such, I suppose that would depend on just how many synthetic fabrics you have in your family’s closets. I’ve even had people tell me that wood smoke is toxic, so really, short of just allowing ourselves to freeze there aren’t great options. Or perhaps I should say, there aren’t options that are going to please everyone.
I honestly had never thought of insulating my house with dryer lint. While that sounded clever momentarily, I then pictured myself standing out in the street as my house burns to the ground and as I try to explain to the fireman why I thought insulating my home with something so very flammable was a good idea. “But, Chief, some guy on the internet said it was green!”
While I try to be green in many ways, there are places I just have to draw the line.
Good reply! I will never understand why some people can’t see a post for what it was intended to be and choose to pick it apart and be so negative.
You however are a class act!
We put roll it into a ball and Put it out on the fence so the Birds can use it to make their nests.. I will have to try your idea with the extra!
Thanks!
I remember using dryer lint for kindling when I was a kid, although we stored it in plastic baggies. I love the idea of prepackaged fire starters in cardboard tubes. Very clever
You can also use cardboard tubes for seed starters – http://www.intuitionphysician.com/organic-gardening-growing-seedlings-in-recycled-containers-tutorial/
My husband, an eagle scout and scoutmaster/camper for years, says to add a stripe of vasoline down the inside of the tp roll first, because it acts as an accelerant.
Petroleum jelly isn’t an accelerant as it is an extender. We saturate the lint with the pet jel and it burns tons longer. Works on cotton balls as well. Either will start with a spark easily enough and will burn long enough to get your tinder going.
Love the great green idea, I think its a great green gift to all the campers in my life.
Egg cartons are also great for this. And leftover candle stubs. Stuff each egg space with lint and drizzle with melted wax. The wax slows down the burn so they last
Longer
Just wanted to emphasize that you’re speaking of the cardboard-type egg cartons, not the styrofoam!
We just made a mini greenhouse using toilet paper tubes, but I linked to you in my post because this is such a great idea! http://mommaowlslab.blogspot.com/2012/04/happy-earth-day-we-love-earth-day-at.html
I work in an office and i use the paper that gets shredded to put in the TP tube and use for fire starter. Also use the shred for compost.
Love the idea! Have already started collecting dryer lint!
Um, dryer lint is probably full of things you don’t want to burn. Dyes? Man-made fibers? I’m not sure about this …
We have large indoor shed-crazy dogs and 2 cats, And my daughter and I have VERY long hair. The result is lots of dog hair and human hair in the lint filter. We wondered if it smells bad burning it? Normally burning hair is noxious … ever had a problem? We’ve been saving the lint and TP rolls for weeks, making fire starters, but our woodstove isn’t installed just yet.
Wow, the two things I seem to have a problem throwing out, thanks for this awesome idea. I have tons of empty tp rolls around the house, just waiting for an awesome idea to come up with to use them. Of course who doesn’t have dry lint all the time, beautiful solution.
You rock!
Having a son who is all about camping and nature, we try to be good about not overloading the landfills and what nots, by all means we are not experts in the “green” movement. This is better than it going to the trash and I’m sure the gases emitted are a heck of a lot less than what we are putting out when we drive our cars.
As for silk and sythetics, I don’t wear silk and my clothes are mostly cotton. Synthetics don’t make a lot of lint in my experience. Just saying…
Having a son who is all about camping and nature, we try to be good about not overloading the landfills and what nots, by all means we are not experts in the “green” movement. This is better than it going to the trash and I’m sure the gases emitted are a heck of a lot less than what we are putting out when we drive our cars.
As for silk and synthetics, I don’t wear silk and my clothes are mostly cotton. Synthetics don’t make a lot of lint in my experience. Just saying…
I have taken it a step further which adds burning time to the fire starter. I collected old wax candles from my local S.P.C.A. yard sale (for about .10 each)…then melted the wax and soaked the lint. Works like a charm.
Absolutely love this! I will be sharing a link back to this post from my blog on Monday!
Helen
Blue Eyed Beauty Blog
I always put my dryer lint into the compost bin but I am planning to try your idea soon!
when doing camping what I found is great even for back yard bonfires ~
soak some cotton make up pads or cotton balls in rubbing alcohol and store in a container like a sandwich baggie or old empty medical bottle ( take label off and put a small piece of plastic wrap over top with rubber band ~ helps prevent leaking)
we have used these and they always seem to be slightly damp and if dries out still works. can even add scented oils to it
My son did these at Boy Scout Jamboree one year. We just made a bunch of them up recently and he took them camping. But they failed to ignite properly. Then we remembered there’s another step
My son did these at Boy Scout Jamboree one year. We just made a bunch of them up recently and he took them camping. But they failed to ignite properly. Then we remembered there’s another step-fold the ends of the tube down to make a small package, then tie unwaxed dental floss around it loosely. Using the end of the floss as a handle, dip the whole thing into melted paraffin and allow to dry. Use the end of the floss as a wick. It also makes the firestarter waterproof. Additionally, don’t pack the lint in too tightly. I think that was our problem.
Yes after you stuff the toliet rolls do you put a wick in it or a tea lite candle??
I saw this idea, but it also said to wrap the tube in newspaper after. I made a few and took them camping. Really had a hard time keeping it lit. I am going to give this one more try….leave off the newspaper and maybe not pack mine as tight as before. Hoping for success!