Oily rag disposal

[Qapla]

...Hard to justify washing and reusing cloth towels when my outlay for disposables is only $4 a year....

If I am just cleaning up paper works just fine. But, when I have to clean something off with some sort of solvent (diesel, gas or whatever) paper towels just don't do the job - at least non that I have ever used.

If the resulting rags are still worth saving, cleaning will be in order. Also, some of the clothes we wear when doing some of that work get just as dirty as the towels/rags and may leave a residue in the house machine. So, having a "rag washer" comes in handy.

 

[Bird]

I kept a big box of disposable "rags" in the shop; still do, in fact, except now it's a plastic bag instead of cardboard box. And the rags are our worn out clothes that my wife or I cut up into smaller pieces.:laughing: Those rags never get washed; just disposed of when they get dirty. But now I don't use many "rags" because I have two paper towel dispensers in the shop; one for Visa paper towels just like we use in the house, and one for the blue "shop towel" paper towels. I also keep a roll of those blue ones in the car and a roll in the pickup.

 

[Tollster]

I too toss em in the incenerator, but typically don't lite em off till there is leaves or limbs to burn. Typically I don't use more than 2 blue shop towels, and they are not soaked. If I soak em I burn them.
I never leave any soaked rags in the shop, particularly the boiled linseed oil rags I use on the tool handles, I know they will spontanously ignite.

 

[5030]

I kept a big box of disposable "rags" in the shop; still do, in fact, except now it's a plastic bag instead of cardboard box. And the rags are our worn out clothes that my wife or I cut up into smaller pieces.:laughing: Those rags never get washed; just disposed of when they get dirty. But now I don't use many "rags" because I have two paper towel dispensers in the shop; one for Visa paper towels just like we use in the house, and one for the blue "shop towel" paper towels. I also keep a roll of those blue ones in the car and a roll in the pickup.

Bird...

The blue roll rags aren't absorbent or soft enough for my use. I'm wiping precision surfaces all the time and paper towels are out because of the lint. yes lint is actually a couple tenth's in thickness and a no-no.

I got into the Maytag ritual with my car wash drying towels and expanded into shop rags. I tried the shop rag route in the wife's washing machine one time and one time only. The Aiken Chemical Purple power (manufactured in your neck of the woods by the way), really cuts grease, even the rags I wipe excess and old grease from fittings with.

The old Maytag wringer will run (agitate) as long as I wish it to, I can load it and let it run 3 hours if I want to, but usually 30 minutes is enough.

If I had a dry cleaning setup, I'd do that. Drycleaning certainly cuts grease, it's Stoddard solvent.

 

[Bird]

I'm not doing anything anymore that requires that kind of precision. Of course I use those paper towels more for wiping the perspiration off my face than for anything else. I usually carry one of those blue ones in my pocket when I'm mowing or using the string trimmer.

 

[deereman75]

my father and I do a lot of wood working, so there are always lots of linseed oil soaked rags. We always lay them out flat, never folded, so that they can't self ignite.

 

[Soundguy]

i used to toss my oily rags.. or try to wash them. now I store them in a bucket with a lid. whenever I need to long term store a part, I grab a oily rag.. wrap the aprt.. toss in a ziplock, and tag it as to what it is, then shelve it.

soundguy

 

[CompactTractorFan]

I have a recreational firepit that I use also for burning oil soaked materials, I should have mentioned that the majority of them are paper towels and not cloth rags. My wife would have a FIT if she saw me putting oily or greasy rags in the washer. In the past I have tried soaking oily rags in a strong soap solution and then power washing them, with middling success, so I basically just use cheapo paper towels most of the time.

Oh, OK. It's probably not that big of a deal to burn the towels. I figured you were burning cloth rags, which would probably be a pain...

 

[Sammy the red]

I am absolutely not passing judgement but I wonder what does more damage. Oil in the air or oil in the water.

I would guess burning would be better but then you have lost a good rag that needs to be manufactured so maybe making more pollution.

Carl

Rags come in all shapes and sizes.
Old T-shirts.
Old shirts.
Old under shorts.

 

[Renze]

I use them to light the shop heater. actually i burn all my shop trash that fits through the hatch, in the shop heater.

 

[Mace Canute]

Rags come in all shapes and sizes.
Old T-shirts.
Old shirts.
Old under shorts.

You've seen my wardrobe??

 

[JDgreen227]

You've seen my wardrobe??

:laughing: : My best rags are clean socks with holes in them...

 

[lostcause]

i've been thinking of getting one of those oil waste cans that you see all the auto shops use for their used rags. i read a little about it and i'm probably ok, because i toss the old rags together into a container and then reuse them until they are literally drenched in grease. what i did get from reading is that wet rags won't instantly ignite - i never really got the full understanding but it must be something to do with the chemicals reacting to air when they are dry?

anyways, i bought a bag of 100 red rags at a wholesale store a few years back, and i've still got a bunch since i keep using them for increasingly dirty tasks until the point that they deposit more oil/grease than they remove. once i have some that are all used up i drop them in the rag bucket at the shop of a mechanic in town who has a weekly service for uniforms and shop rags.

 

[Soundguy]

the grease and oil you use in mechanics isn't the smae type of oil that you read about auto igniteing..

 

[Soundguy]

this came fromt he wildwood survival site:

"oils from grains and plants are more prone to spontaneous combustion than petroleum oils. Linseed oil seems to be one of the worst/best candidates, depending on whether or not you want a fire.

The chemistry of spontaneous combustion is that of oxidation. An oil in its liquid form will oxidize, but there will be little heat buildup due to the limited surface area. If we spread out the oil, then there is a large exposure to oxygen, and more heat is generated. If we soak oil into a rag of some sort and confine it to some degree, we can end up with a magic (or tragic) combination which will ignite. There are various factors that do have to be properly balanced. Air needs to be able to get to the oil to enable oxidation. If there is too much air, then heat will be drawn away. If there is too little air, then there won't be enough oxidation, and the ignition temperature may not be reached. Having the whole rag/oil mass somewhat insulated also helps to retain/build heat. Lastly, there is a "critical mass" which must be established. A small piece of cloth will lose too much heat to its surroundings. One needs a large enough "pile" to make things work.

"

 

[sparc]

Pretty much every industrial supplier carries them. LSS, Grainger, MSC, etc...

NAPA and most auto parts dealers that cater to repair shops should have them too. I doubt you will find them at the consumer stores like Advance Auto though, but I could be wrong, I try to stay out of those places and deal with my local NAPA dealer.

 

[JDgreen227]

OP here with an update, back on December 18th in last year, a local thrift store caught fire and burnt with a total loss of building and contents. The original news story stated they thought the fire began in an area where, QUOTE: "an area of the store used to refinish furniture" and I immediately thought of oily rags, etc. as a possible cause.

Today's news story says "improper disposal of rags used to refinish furniture sparked the blaze" was the conclusion of the local fire department.

I cannot recall for certain, but I am pretty sure the thread I started was partly because of the fire I noted above. What is sad is that the store was one of the most charitable in the area, giving tens of thousands of dollars worth of donated merchandise and clothing items to the needy in the area. The loss of contents alone was over $100,000, only partly covered by insurance. What a waste, and all caused by someone's carelessness with useless rags.

 

[Soundguy]

yep.. those oils commonly used in wood refinishing are the dangerous ones... as opposed to say.. engine oil.... etc.


soundguy

 

[RoyJackson]

yep.. those oils commonly used in wood refinishing are the dangerous ones... as opposed to say.. engine oil.... etc.


soundguy

Yep...volatile and low flash point. A bad combination!

 

[powerpace]

I was fire department Officer for many years. Fires caused by grease rags, refinishing rags and even old burlap bags storing oiled tire chains happen. Twice I have gone to a laundomat where the patron had washed and was drying kitchen rags from his restaurant. Same guy same result. Thousands of dollars of damage. Even kitchen grease under the right conditions can cause problems. Rags were washed improperly and grease residue were dried at high temperatures.
Never leave waste in a building, remove as soon as possible.