Oily Rag Safety Tip
Most people know that spontaneous combustion can occur when oily rags are left in a bunch or thrown together in a trash can. A friend of mine didn’t realize this and had a small fire in his basement shop. Based on this, I thought it would be a good idea to pass along a tip that is easy to use and can prevent this from occurring to others.
I use oil for finishing and use a simple device that takes away the worry of spontaneous combustion. I drape my rags and brushes on a standard drying rack that is commonly used for drying fine linens and sweaters. By draping the rags on the many available rungs of the rack I prevent them from contacting each other and themselves, thus preventing spontaneous combustion. Drying racks are made of wood or metal and fold up to a compact size. Mine is a wood rack with plastic sleeves on the dry rack to prevent materials sticking to the wood. The ability to have a compact drying rack available instantly makes me use it each and every time. I hang mine on a wall in my shop ready for instant use!
Attached is a picture of my drying rack where I have “put it to use” in my garage shop, a picture of an empty rack, and a picture of the empty rack being folded.
I hope this quick, easy, and cheap method is useful to some of you and that this small effort will prevent disaster from striking… like it did my friend.
Thanks!
-- DonFaulk0517@gmail.com
6 comments so far
CessnaPilotBarry
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1290 posts in 601 days
posted 363 days ago
An alternative is to toss them in a bucket of water or lay them flat on the concrete floor. The rack works great, though!
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mmh
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1410 posts in 621 days
posted 363 days ago
Thanks for the important reminder. It’s so easy to just toss an oil soaked rag into the trash and forget about it. When ever I do finishing I line a small bucket with a plastic grocery bag with about a cup of water in it and place this next to my project so I can just toss the rags into the water. When I’m done, all the rags are soaked with H20 then I can take the bag outside and leave it open to air out and the oil solidifies. This way it doesn’t smell up the house so much and I can tie & toss the bag into the trash.
-- "They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night." ~ Edgar Allan Poe
John Gray
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1757 posts in 784 days
posted 363 days ago
I lay them out on the concrete floor to dry and trash the when they are dry, usually the next day.
-- Only the Shadow knows....................
Woodn88s
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52 posts in 440 days
posted 360 days ago
I keep an old plastic cat litter bucket filled about a third with water. I throw the rags in there.
-- I want to know Gods thoughts....rest are details "A. Einstein"
rikkor
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11335 posts in 773 days
posted 359 days ago
When I use paper towels I put them in a zip lick bag and add some water, then discard.
GaryCN
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182 posts in 833 days
posted 355 days ago
A good Oily Waste Can like the one in my shop photo
http://lumberjocks.com/jocks/GaryCN/workshop
is a good idea. About $50 but I’d rather be safe than
sorry. http://www.criticaltool.com/justrite-oily-waste-cans.html.
It’s easy to toss this stuff in regular trash and forget about it.
-- Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati