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Not sure why this came up on my YT feed but the algorithm selected it.
I knew about the theoretical risk but never realised it was this easy, 1 in 6 caught fire, or that it took so long, well after I would have left the garage and gone to bed.
He used linseed but I am sure the risk is there with other chemicals.
He used linseed but I am sure the risk is there with other chemicals.
Not really. It needs chemicals that heat up with oxidisation.
Drying oils like linseed get warm as they polymerize the cloth insulates the heat increasing the temperature and woomph. I have an old steel ash bin for mine you can lay them flat to dry before they are fine for the bin or you can dump and leave them in water you just need to make sure they are removed from a ready source of oxygen until dry or contained.
Your common or garden "oil" is non drying ie it doesn't polymerize at least not at a rate that it's a concern.
That's not to say it's a good idea to leave oily rags around and anything a bit sparky or flamy can send them up like a candle. But they won't instantaneously ruin your day.
I appreciate a can of 3 in 1 won't suddenly catch fire but there are plenty of chemicals out there with exothermic reactions. I am playing with carbon fibre resin infusion and the resin gets hot - probably not self-combusting hot I grant you but still hot. What I was trying to day is that Linseed oil is not the ONLY chemical that can react so it is probably worth being careful.
I don't know if it can spontaneously catch fire but many moons ago I steamed off lots of wood chip wallpaper, bagged it up in bin liners and tied them off. By the next day the bags were well above ambient (unheated indoors) and the bags were swelled up like beach balls.
So yes, even the most innocuous stuff can do weird things.
Yeah it's always been a thing to me.
I always lay my (mostly Osmo oil) rags draped over the edge of a steel bin to dry but frankly always worry a bit still.
Interesting video. Cheers for the post 👊
Piles of wood chip* can ferment causing heat amd they can catch fire but intetesting this appeared to happen with your wallpaper @oldnick. The fermentation may be anaerobic, so your bags would have created a good environment.
* the stuff you put on gardens and playgrounds I mean
interesting.
Weirdly a woodworking group im on on facebook posted up that someone had caught a fire in their workshop off a linseed oil rag. I guess its something i might have heard in passing, but certainly not something i had taken seriously.
Im pretty sure theres a takeaway tub with osmo oil rags in it in the shed.
might revise my processes!
Yep, I'd seen a video somewhere else of someone's bin catching fire overnight from linseed oil rags. I lay mine out on the lid of the water butt until they dry/polymerise - I figure if they did go up at least they'd melt the lid then fall in the water!
Insurancey viewpoint here, it's a particular problem in motor trade policies that "oily rags" should be disposed of into a metal container and removed from the premises daily. The external bin should also be metal and away from the building.
It's probably the same for other industries as well, but that's the first one I thought of.
In farming, lots of things can spontaneously combust (often called spontaneous fermentation) such as piles of grain that haven't been sufficiently dried before storage.
Happily, the damage caused by the fire is usually covered but the damage to the thing that actually catches fire usually isn't.
So, technically, the oily rag wouldn't be paid for, but the building burning down would.
Interesting vid, thanks for sharing
Like “probably” lots of Diyers on here, I’ve been cavalier with oil soaked rags over the years, pretty sure I’be got some linseed oil in some old container, think I’ll go and check.
I wonder what the impact would have been in a bin with a lid? I guess it depends how much air was inside.
I often have oily rags around but mostly from spannering type stuff rather than woodwork. Did have a load of danish oil soaked rags after a little project, never thought twice about it
Warned about this at college. Dont bundle up rags after using them on oil finishes. Wash, lay flat etc.
Most oil finishes require you to lay it on, wait a bit then wipe off the excess, which is cheaper to sue kitchen paper towels for. When youre done you soak them all in the sink and dispose of in the bin. No problems will come from wet rags.
The antiques warehouse in Glasgow burnt down and the fire investigators put it down to just this problems. Fire apparently started in one of the workshops.
Its a bit like hay. the inside heats up, then spontaneously combusts.