Spontaneous Combustion - A must see video

[andrew whicker]

I put them in an bucket of water outside 10ft away from building 😂

I'm overly cautious perhaps

[Rick Potter]

As a retired fireman, the one thing that bothered me was the plastic trash cans. I was waiting to see if more than one would light at one time and start melting down and burning before he could get to it. That burning plastic smell would have stuck around for a long time in the shop. Other than that, it was a great learning experience.

Also glad when he removed them all at the end of the test. Well done.

[Frank Pratt]

Nothing wrong with just laying them out flat to air dry. The water bucket works, but is messy. As long as the oil has finished polymerizing, the fire danger is gone. That will happen quite quickly if the rags are laid out or hung out to dry.

[Kevin Jenness]

Yes, every time this comes up I am always shocked at how few times it’s mentioned to just put the spent rags fully submerged in a pail of water for a few days or more to neutralize them. Then they can be disposed of like anything else.

There is no need to lay rags out to dry, chancing them falling/blowing away if outside, accidentally forgetting about them, having to deal with the smells off gassing...

I did not watch the video to see if submerging in water was recommended, but in commercial shop environments I have worked in, this was the standard operating procedure and you got seriously chewed out if you did not follow it.

What happens to the contaminated water?

[Phillip Mitchell]

What happens to the contaminated water?

Pour it into old gallon jugs, or whatever and take it to the landfill at the same time as the old paint, solvents, motor oil, etc, etc

[James Pallas]

This is very real. We were staining trim for a new house outside before installation. There was a brick pallet laying in trash pile. Stood it on edge and hung the used rags in single layer to dry out. Nice sunny warm winter day, maybe 70 F. Rags and pallet went up in smoke. It definitely convinced me that it was real. Steel five gallon buckets of water were the only way after that experience.
Jim

[Edward Weber]

I use oil based finishes all the time, I dispose of them this way.
After the task is done, I ball up the rag in my hand and pull off my nitrile gloves over the rag and tie it in a knot. Then the same with the other hand, no oxygen no ignition. I then throw them in a metal can with metal lid.
I have never had an issue but be careful.

[Ray Newman]

I have an old all metal GI issue ammunition can that I toss the rags into prior to burning.

[Ronald Blue]

Sometimes I'm not sure if the statements like "I have never saw this so I'm not sure it's real" are really just meant to entertain the viewers. With nearly a million subscribers he does well off the Tube. While I have never personally experienced a fire started this I certainly am aware of the potential. I'm with Rick on the plastic garbage cans. Fire and plastic aren't a very good mix. I was thinking the garbage bags by themselves were also not a good idea. Obviously he didn't know that dry chemical fire extinguisher powder is not something you want the breathe. If he had been using metal cans he could have carried them outside without much risk and not bothered with the extinguisher unless absolutely necessary. If it keeps one fire from happening though it's probably worthwhile.

[Cliff Polubinsky]

Could someone explain this to me. Combustion is caused by the curing process when the finish /oil reacts with oxygen. When you put oil soaked rags into a bucket of water you remove access to oxygen so no curing and no heat generated. But if the rags are then dumped in the trash and hauled away aren't they going to dry out and start curing again? And now they're even more compressed in the back of the trash truck which raises the danger. They may not combust in your shop but it seems you're pushing the risk down the line. Trash truck fires can be dangerous. Granted, most are caused by lithium batteries or hot embers tossed in trash but isn't a ball of oil soaked rags going to eventually be the equivalent of tossing hot embers? It seems to me that storing rags in water doesn't eliminate the risk, it just delays it.

Cliff

[Cameron Wood]

Pour it into old gallon jugs, or whatever and take it to the landfill at the same time as the old paint, solvents, motor oil, etc, etc

That's gross, & I believe illegal in my state.

[Phillip Mitchell]

That's gross, & I believe illegal in my state.

? What do you do with old / used solvent, paint, etc? Does your local landfill not have designated days and areas that they collect such things to prevent people from just mixing them in the normal household trash, or worse, just pouring them out outside or in septic/sewer systems?

This is what is legally required in my state and area and what I was taught from a couple different commercial shops in this area. Oily water leftover from soaking finished rags is very similar to old solvent/paint/other finishing supplies. Not sure what is gross about that compared to any other finishing supplies that need to be disposed of accordingly.

[Jim Becker]

As a retired fireman, the one thing that bothered me was the plastic trash cans. I was waiting to see if more than one would light at one time and start melting down and burning before he could get to it. That burning plastic smell would have stuck around for a long time in the shop. Other than that, it was a great learning experience.

Also glad when he removed them all at the end of the test. Well done.

He specifically mentioned that he used those because they were what is very commonly used in folks' shops. My shop has two of them, as a matter of fact. (but I don't put finishing rags in them...they get hung on a repurposed bird feeder "crook" away from the building to dry fully before disposal)
----

I'm kinda disappointed in some of the responses including those that make fun of a guy making a serious effort to warn/remind folks that the risks of oily rags are real. You're better than that folks. There certainly were things not done the "best" way for sure in the testing/video and I might have done some of them differently given some thought. One of them would have been to have his shop assistant/camera operator there for the entire exercise so there two sets of eyes available or to do the entire test out on the driveway. But regardless. I applaud him for calling attention to something that way too many people...and not just beginners...can and do get into trouble with.

[Kevin Jenness]

I'm kinda disappointed in some of the responses including those that make fun of a guy making a serious effort to warn/remind folks that the risks of oily rags are real. You're better than that folks. There certainly were things not done the "best" way for sure in the testing/video and I might have done some of them differently given some thought. One of them would have been to have his shop assistant/camera operator there for the entire exercise so there two sets of eyes available or to do the entire test out on the driveway. But regardless. I applaud him for calling attention to something that way too many people...and not just beginners...can and do get into trouble with.

I guess I'm not better than that, sorry. He could have started and stopped with the security cam footage from his friend's shop. Great idea to do some testing with real world conditions, but he's damned lucky he didn't burn down his shop or involve neighboring properties. He could have easily had several simultaneous fires going on with a couple of 10# extinguishers, a pail of water and a very sick feeling. I can imagine the reaction of the firefighters had that little experiment gone out of control.

[Dan Gaylin]

+1 to Cliff’s question. Once the water dries out aren’t the oil soaked rags still a combustion risk?