Dryer Lint as Wilderness Survival Firestarter? No Way!
Inevitably, at every firemaking seminar I teach, somebody suggests using dryer lint as firestarter. According to some folks, you should carry dryer lint and a flint stick in your survival kit. My response is that I have tested and tried dryer lint, don’t carry it, and recommend you don’t either.
by Leon Pantenburg
You stake your life on your firemaking kit components. Let’s apply the common sense filter to this dryer lint firestarter idea.
This dryer lint ignited, then for no apparent reason, just went out. Dryer lint is unreliable as a firestarter.
Here’s some related information: According to a 1999 report (the last information available) developed by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission 14,500 dryers catch fire every year, killing 10 people. Two years ago, a dryer fire at an Alabama day care center claimed several children. (How many millions of dryers are used every day?)
Experts cite “failure to clean” as the reason for 70% of dryer fire operational contributing factors. And a standard construction practice is to run the exhaust pipe through the drywall with a 90-degree elbow. This can cause the lint to accumulate at that angle, next to the hot dryer.
So the question might be, based on the evidence from the house fires: Is dryer lint really that flammable? Or is it the combination of heat, improper venting and an accumulation of dry lint next to a hot dryer that causes house fires?
Our concern is survival firemaking though, so let’s consider the pros and cons of dryer lint as it could be used as a survival situation firestarter.
Proponents of dryer lint firestarter claim:
- Dryer lint is easily ignited with a match, lighter and/or flint stick.
- Dryer lint is compact and easy to carry.
- Dryer lint is free for the taking, compact and easy to carry and apparently flammable. There are multiple internet postings showing the material being ignited, along with directions for making lint-based fire starters.
We also tested practical firestarters. Dryer lint was one of the initial items tested and it never made the first cut.
The material used for the field trials came from my dryer, and I tested the lint from virtually every load of clothes for week or more. That ended up being a lot of testing! At the time there were three active teenagers and a Lab in the house, along with all the clothes drying associated with skiing, hunting, snowboarding, winter sports and school athletics.
Cotton balls infused with petroleum jelly and a flint stick are effective firemaking tools.
The testing method was to take whatever handful of lint was in the filter, go out into the garage and ignite it with a flint stick. This is where the reliability issue surfaced. (Dog hair was a constant in all the test samples!)
Some lint, such as that from a load of cotton jeans, ignited readily. Lighting lint from a mixed load of natural fabrics and wool and microfibers was iffy, and sometimes the flame went out before burning up the lint completely. And several times, the lint from a load of polypropylene, wool and various synthetic microfibers didn’t ignite.
My recommendation is to substitute cotton balls in any application where you might currently be using dryer lint.
Here’s why:
- While dryer lint is free, a jumbo 100 percent cotton ball will cost less than a penny. The cost of filling a 35-mm film container with five cotton balls is less than a nickel!
- Cotton balls start out as a sterile medical item and can also be used for first aid needs, such bandaging or cleaning a wound or abrasion. Among the particles in dryer lint is dirt, dust, allergens and all sorts of airborne spores and microbes.
- Both cotton balls and dryer lint can absorb moisture from the air. The difference is that cotton has long fibers which can be dried easier than lint, which is composed of small particles, pet and human hair, pieces of plastic and other, unknown materials.
- Dryer lint mats and compacts more than cotton, making it harder to light. It’s more difficult to fluff up to light.
- I carry cotton balls infused with petroleum jelly as one of the firestarters in my survival kit. If I start
to feel a hot spot or blister rising from a boot chaffing, I rub the area with the cotton ball and petroleum jelly. In a pinch, a petroleum jelly and cotton ball, along with duct tape, has been used to create a makeshift band aide. Never rub any skin abrasion, or try to stop a blood flow, with lint!
Grenfell’s and my conclusion was that there is nothing dryer lint can do that a cotton ball can’t do better. The advantages of cotton balls over lint easily make up the cost difference.
If dryer lint is still in your survival kit, please test before trusting it! Personally, I’ll spend an extra few cents and use cotton balls. My life is worth that to me!
For more info on making survival kits, click here!
I suggest you try EVERYTHING associated with your survival kit. Last week, I had another batch of dryer lint that wouldn’t catch fire with a magnesium stick…
I’m so excited to try an experiment comparing my lint starters vs. the cotton balls/petroleum jelly. Dryer lint fire starters are so common on Pinterest.com that I naturally assumed they worked. Thanks for this!
the lint is only for home fireplaces and park BBQ’s! people who heat with wood appreciate the lint/wax eggcarton starters for those cold AM’s that the embers are DEAD! thanks for the cotton ball idea – we will put them in our emergency kits we carry in the cars for outdoor trips
I get mine at Costco. The only problem is that the snap cap might unsnap in your pack, leaving you a nice mess. But the whole idea is to find a free or really cheap container so you can makes lots of the cotton balls/Vaseline kits and give them out to friends!
I have found plastic 35mm film canisters for free @ the local WalMart just by asking for used ones at the photo counter…most seal pretty well…
i use the lint with woodfilings and wax. melt and mix every thing up and put it in a empty paper egg carton.
once it lights it will burn for 5 mins
As with anything, know what it is made of. I imagine a cotton and wool combination along with some dog and cat hairs would be acceptable and any synthetics would be a toxic mix when burning!
Dryer lint from synethics is unreliable at best. Sparks tend to melt through it instead of igniting. Cotton balls, especially saturated with petroleum jelly work every time. Dryer lint from cotton jeans or cotton t-shirts should work OK, but synthetics are a waste. Somoene pointed out the difference in fiber length, which affects how quickly material tries and how susceptible it is to compression. Cotton balls get my vote all the way around!
Hmmm-interesting! I’ve never used the lint for a firestarter-or for anything-but I did see an artist on tv onetime-that made all sorts of things from dryer lint. She had people all over her town saving their dryer lint for her : )
I’ve found cotton balls with petroleum jelly to be quite reliable. As you say, they also have other uses.
Last night, I taught the firemaking part of Scoutmaster wilderness training. I took whatever lint was in my dryer filter to help demonstrate. The lint (about the same volume as two fluffed cotton balls) ignited readily with a flint stick, burned a few seconds and went out. It didn’t burn up completely.
I won’t stake my life on a firemaking method that may or may not work. A cotton ball doesn’t even cost a penny, and it will work every time!
found your site on del.icio.us today and really liked it.. i bookmarked it and will be back to check it out some more later
I’ve also tested dryer lint as a fire-starter, found nothing wrong with it, & will continue to use it. If you choose not to that’s your concern, but what I do does not/should not concern you.
Anybody who is pinching pennies – literally – by using dryer lint over cotton balls needs to go back to square one of survival common sense. I am always amazed by the number of people who never test dryer lint, but carry it as a firestarter!
Great article Leon.
I think you need the best products you can afford in your kit. You are right on the mark about cotton and petroleum jelly. It burns well, lasts a reasonable amount of time and it is extremely afforable.
Press on.
Blake
Great! Cotton balls and petroleum jelly always work!
I always wondered about the dryer lint/flint as a firestarter. Thanks to your article, I will stick with cotton balls/petroleum jelly. Informative article! I have added you to my blog roll.