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I agree with Hermit Tim, cotton ball with touch of Vaseline works well. My wife doesn't like the belly button lint gathering, especially hers!!
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Bellybutton lint
- Thread starter tenngun
- Start date
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I'll always remember the night we set ol' Henry's belly button on fire. He was rather insistent we not do that again. I credit his disapproval to his use of alcohol.
Boys, you steered me wrong.
After reading of the almost magical pyrogenic properties of dryer lint, I decided to try it about three days ago. We had done a bunch of laundry, trying to get it all done before the hurricane, and I cleaned enough lint out of the filter to make a wad as big as my two fists. The day had come.
The timing was perfect. We had an infestation of webworms (tent caterpillars) in a little redbud tree out front. The best way to deal with those little *******s is to clip off the affected tree limbs with shears and incinerate them, limbs, webs, worms, and all.
I prepared the fire lay first, with a little natural tinder, some fatwood splinters, and dry red cedar twigs and sticks. All it needed was a flame.
I then went and clipped the webworms nests off my tree. I had a good wheelbarrow load of them, and brought them right back to the fire ring in my back yard. You want to incinerate them as soon as you can after cutting them out, before the worms have time to crawl away. As a matter of fact, I had a few of them on me by that point already.
Anyway, I struck steel to flint, and on the third lick got a bright little orange glow on my charcloth. I tucked it in my dryer lint "bird's nest" and commenced to blow. I very quickly had a coal that would have gladdened the heart of Old Nick himself, and the lint was smoking and smoldering...
Let us pause here. Recall (see post #19) that my wife and I share our home with a Cairn terrier, a cat, and a German Shepherd. Consequently, everything we own has more or less animal hair on it. On wash day, the dryer's lint filter yields slabs of felted dog hair intermixed with the expected cotton and polyester threads shed by the fabrics. That day was no different...
So, I was blowing and my lint/tinder ball was a'smokin' and a'smolderin' and the char cloth was a solid orange glow. They say smoke follows beauty, but I'm here to tell you, smoke follows ugly, too, and I am living proof. Actually, beauty or ugly has less to do with it than the Bernoulli effect, but in any event, I was enveloped in a stinking cloud of dog hair smoke and there was no gettin' away from it. Upwind, downwind, crosswind... it didn't matter. I was in the thick of it. This continued for a bit, until my char cloth simply burned out. The lint continued to smolder and smoke for a brief time, but it was clearly not going to grow a flame. I finally got disgusted and threw it in the fire pit. I grabbed a handful of dead Spanish moss (my usual "go-to" tinder) and another bit of char cloth, struck steel to flint and had fire in a trice. I put the flaming mass under the wood and was gratified to see the flames climb to the top of the stack and there was a roaring blaze in no time flat. Whatever was left of the dog hair/lint ball went on the fire with the webworms.
Lesson learned. Fooey on dryer lint, as far as I'm concerned. I expect I'll continue to use the dead Spanish moss, palmetto fiber, or shredded cedar bark that I gather from the woods. If I need store-bought tinder, I can unravel some jute twine, which also works exceedingly well. Dryer lint will go in the garbage.
You can't say I didn't try, though.
Best regards,
Notchy Bob
After reading of the almost magical pyrogenic properties of dryer lint, I decided to try it about three days ago. We had done a bunch of laundry, trying to get it all done before the hurricane, and I cleaned enough lint out of the filter to make a wad as big as my two fists. The day had come.
The timing was perfect. We had an infestation of webworms (tent caterpillars) in a little redbud tree out front. The best way to deal with those little *******s is to clip off the affected tree limbs with shears and incinerate them, limbs, webs, worms, and all.
I prepared the fire lay first, with a little natural tinder, some fatwood splinters, and dry red cedar twigs and sticks. All it needed was a flame.
I then went and clipped the webworms nests off my tree. I had a good wheelbarrow load of them, and brought them right back to the fire ring in my back yard. You want to incinerate them as soon as you can after cutting them out, before the worms have time to crawl away. As a matter of fact, I had a few of them on me by that point already.
Anyway, I struck steel to flint, and on the third lick got a bright little orange glow on my charcloth. I tucked it in my dryer lint "bird's nest" and commenced to blow. I very quickly had a coal that would have gladdened the heart of Old Nick himself, and the lint was smoking and smoldering...
Let us pause here. Recall (see post #19) that my wife and I share our home with a Cairn terrier, a cat, and a German Shepherd. Consequently, everything we own has more or less animal hair on it. On wash day, the dryer's lint filter yields slabs of felted dog hair intermixed with the expected cotton and polyester threads shed by the fabrics. That day was no different...
So, I was blowing and my lint/tinder ball was a'smokin' and a'smolderin' and the char cloth was a solid orange glow. They say smoke follows beauty, but I'm here to tell you, smoke follows ugly, too, and I am living proof. Actually, beauty or ugly has less to do with it than the Bernoulli effect, but in any event, I was enveloped in a stinking cloud of dog hair smoke and there was no gettin' away from it. Upwind, downwind, crosswind... it didn't matter. I was in the thick of it. This continued for a bit, until my char cloth simply burned out. The lint continued to smolder and smoke for a brief time, but it was clearly not going to grow a flame. I finally got disgusted and threw it in the fire pit. I grabbed a handful of dead Spanish moss (my usual "go-to" tinder) and another bit of char cloth, struck steel to flint and had fire in a trice. I put the flaming mass under the wood and was gratified to see the flames climb to the top of the stack and there was a roaring blaze in no time flat. Whatever was left of the dog hair/lint ball went on the fire with the webworms.
Lesson learned. Fooey on dryer lint, as far as I'm concerned. I expect I'll continue to use the dead Spanish moss, palmetto fiber, or shredded cedar bark that I gather from the woods. If I need store-bought tinder, I can unravel some jute twine, which also works exceedingly well. Dryer lint will go in the garbage.
You can't say I didn't try, though.
Best regards,
Notchy Bob
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You can use it as dubbing to tie flies as well. Especially when you get good colors like from red or yellow clothes.
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I use regular old cotton balls with Vaseline.
TP tube, dryer lint, aluminum powder, iron oxide, Gulf wax some cannon fuse makes a great fire starter for wet weather. Stand back after lighting, old boy scout trick along with the other boy scout standard Ronson lighter fluid.
bronko220002
45 Cal.
Actually I've been using dryer lint for a long long time too. I add a touch of petroleum jelly to it mixing it in well. Lights just as easily but burns longer.
Ya know honest, my thing with dryer lint is "sure, it works".
But why need/use it?
I'm not starting the fires I need around my house with flint an steel. I have girl scout juice and a bic lighter.
When I needed to light my wood stove/burn barrel, junk mail paper worked just fine.
(plus I have several sealed boxes of strike matches in my bug out kit)
If I'm at a `vous,, dryer lint isn't allowed,, so I harvest dry cattail in the fall. You can get a garbage bag full in a single roadside ditch.
(watch out for ant's!)
Make a decent nest of cattail fluff, drop a smoldering char on it,, and it will will Explode" in flame with just a puff or two.
Besides, some folks have an "outy" they don't get navel lint.
Now ya wanna talk ear wax and candles? That's a different story,
But why need/use it?
I'm not starting the fires I need around my house with flint an steel. I have girl scout juice and a bic lighter.
When I needed to light my wood stove/burn barrel, junk mail paper worked just fine.
(plus I have several sealed boxes of strike matches in my bug out kit)
If I'm at a `vous,, dryer lint isn't allowed,, so I harvest dry cattail in the fall. You can get a garbage bag full in a single roadside ditch.
(watch out for ant's!)
Make a decent nest of cattail fluff, drop a smoldering char on it,, and it will will Explode" in flame with just a puff or two.
Besides, some folks have an "outy" they don't get navel lint.
Now ya wanna talk ear wax and candles? That's a different story,
I haven't lit a fire anywhere be it in the bush or at home with anything other than flint and steel for some time.
My preference in order would be
1 - jute/flax fibre
2 - dead silver grass
3 - dryer lint.
It's not the best, moreso because it burns out quickly, but I've never had trouble getting it alight.
To take a spark I've gone off charcloth in favour of charred punk wood. The former disintegrates over time and doesn't give quite as hot an ember as punk wood.
My preference in order would be
1 - jute/flax fibre
2 - dead silver grass
3 - dryer lint.
It's not the best, moreso because it burns out quickly, but I've never had trouble getting it alight.
To take a spark I've gone off charcloth in favour of charred punk wood. The former disintegrates over time and doesn't give quite as hot an ember as punk wood.
I routinely start the few fires I build these days with flint, steel, char cloth or charred punk, and natural tinders, mainly because it’s more fun than matches or a Bic.
The other thing is if you are outdoors, a stiff breeze will blow a match out, but with flint and steel it actually helps.
Best regards,
Notchy Bob
The other thing is if you are outdoors, a stiff breeze will blow a match out, but with flint and steel it actually helps.
Best regards,
Notchy Bob
I’ve used a steel in all sorts of weather, in the rain, in snow, at well below zero f and never had a cold camp. It’s my go to at all times in the woods or an event. BBQ at home or lighting a sent candle in the house it’s a lighter, but I don’t take any walk in the woods, even a half mile trip to see a view or a monument on a tourist trail, I have a fail safe historic fire kit with me.
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