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View Full Version : What do you do with your rags???



Don Stephenson
01-30-2017, 8:03 PM
Random question. I'm aware of the potential for stain rags to spontaneously combust under the right circumstances, so I'm plenty paranoid every time I go to toss something into the trash can. What is the Sawmill Creek collective wisdom for disposing of your stain (and other chemical-soaked) rags in a safe-yet-feasible manner?

Thanks ya'll!

Kevin Jenness
01-30-2017, 8:12 PM
I hang them over an unused arm of the drying rack or the lip of a trash can so the heat given off by polymerization can dissipate safely. When they feel dry and crusty I trash them. The danger is when they are wadded up and soaked. Conventional wisdom is to use a water-filled covered can, but I don't hold with wasting the water.

John Lanciani
01-30-2017, 8:31 PM
Solvents- put them out to dry then throw them in the weekly trash
Oils - burn them

Neil Gaskin
01-30-2017, 8:49 PM
At our shop we soak them in water then spread them over the edge of a trash can outside to dry. Once dry we either put them in a safety can until we through away. The safety can is about 50 bucks or so.

Jim Becker
01-30-2017, 8:53 PM
The only oil based product I use is BLO and the lint-free paper towels I use to apply get stuck to a nail out in the breeze away from the shop until they get hard over a few days.

Stan Calow
01-30-2017, 9:18 PM
I never have a lot at one time. Wife hates it, but I soak them in water then throw into the backyard to dry. Pick up on trash day.

Andy Giddings
01-30-2017, 11:03 PM
Put anything combustible to dry outside (even if its raining) and then in a metal can outside with a tight fitting lid until trash day.

Bruce Page
01-30-2017, 11:34 PM
I drape them flat over the edge of the trash can for a day or two then out with the weekly trash.

glenn bradley
01-30-2017, 11:43 PM
I do the safety bucket with water routine. I go through a lot of rags and or paper towels when I'm doing a large piece. I just lift the lid and toss them in and put the lid back on. I generally finish over a period of days. When I'm completely done I set the bucket outside. At some point I take a stick and fish the rags out and lay them flat or hang them over a wire. When they're fully cured I throw them in the trash.

Mark Blatter
01-31-2017, 8:23 AM
My understanding is that spontaneous combustion only happens in a few oils, like BOL or cottonseed oil. I wanted to double check so in searching found this link:

http://www.firehouse.com/article/10528863/the-phenomenon-of-spontaneous-combustion

that gives a pretty good description of the process and which materials can do it.

Cliff Polubinsky
01-31-2017, 9:55 AM
I put a section one of those short wire garden fences outside the shop. Clip rags to it with spring clothes pins until they dry then toss them.

Cliff

Prashun Patel
01-31-2017, 10:05 AM
I let them dry individually draped over an old laundry rack in my basement. Then at the end of the week I put them directly in the curbside trash for pickup.

Don Stephenson
01-31-2017, 2:07 PM
Good info there, thanks much. And thanks to everyone else. I've been doing largely the same thing, although I didn't have a line up outside to dry them on, I was simply laying them on the gravel and spreading them out to dry. Then once they were crunchy I'd haul them to the curb in a can. Just wanted to be sure I wasn't being overly paranoid by refusing to dispose of them in the shop...


My understanding is that spontaneous combustion only happens in a few oils, like BOL or cottonseed oil. I wanted to double check so in searching found this link:

http://www.firehouse.com/article/10528863/the-phenomenon-of-spontaneous-combustion

that gives a pretty good description of the process and which materials can do it.

Stew Hagerty
01-31-2017, 2:20 PM
I rinse them in the utility sink, hang them over the edge for a couple of days, then toss them in my safety can until trash day.

352949

Ken Fitzgerald
01-31-2017, 2:29 PM
I hang mine on a chain-link gate until dry and then put them in the trash.

John TenEyck
01-31-2017, 3:32 PM
I rarely use BLO. When I do, I'm careful to let any rag dry on a nail, etc. before disposing of it. With the typical oil finishes (Arm-R-Seal) and oil based stains I use, it's a non issue.

John

Justin Ludwig
01-31-2017, 10:06 PM
Pile them in a huge pile and set them in UV light for an hour or two. Sweep up the ashes later.

Or we hang them on the trash can till they dry and then toss'm.