Yikes.....A Close Call  

 

A cautionary tale of the dangers associated with improper disposal of oily rags.

 

 

 

Who doesn't love an oil finish, right?  But some oils do have a dark side.

Several years ago, I was reminded of how dangerous Linseed oil can be when

improperly handled.

 

Lets flash back a few years....I had a TV entertainment center in my living room that I thought would benefit from a good oiling. Being a professional refinisher, you would think I'd have plenty of oils to choose from in my shop, but I don't.

 

I rarely use oil due to it's slow drying tendencies, and to run a profitable refinishing business, speed plays a vital role in a finishing shop. I do use oils on occasion though, especially when I am working with antiques. For my entertainment center, I would be needing more than a quart, and a search of my shop only yielded partial quarts of various oils and a gallon of Linseed oil, so Linseed oil it would be..

 

I grabbed the Linseed oil, a bunch of cotton rags, and I was off to my living room. I proceeded to lay out a blanket around my entertainment center to protect the carpet, and using the cotton rags I wiped down the cabinet with a coat of linseed oil in a fashion that would have made Mr. Miagi proud....wipe on....wipe off.

 

Now, I can't recall how the rest of the day played out, but at approximately 2 am I awoke to the heavy smell of smoke.  FIRE....I yelled to my wife Jennifer as I jumped out of bed in utter panic. Jen immediately responded "The Rags.....I left them downstairs". I ran down the stairs and opened the studio door to a thick haze a smoke that filled the air. Through the smoke, I could see a small fire on my work bench.

 

We were lucky this time, as I was able to grab a fire extinguisher and put the fire out quickly. Disaster was averted, but we were both left very shaken. It turns out that Jen had cleaned up after me, as wives so often do for their husbands. She had forgotten to tell me she placed the oily rags on my bench for proper disposal. It was my fault for not taking care of the rags right away and I was very lucky to have avoided a disaster.  Every year, homes and businesses are lost due to the improper disposal of oil soaked rags.

 

I now take spontaneous combustion as a very serious matter.

It's real and if all the conditions are there, it happens!

Please don't let it happen to you.

 

 

Workshop tips for dealing with oily rags

 

When finishing woods with oil based products such as Linseed Oil, Danish oils, varnishes, etc., or cleaning paint supplies and spills with thinners, make certain you discard the oil-soaked rags in a safe manner. Oils such as Linseed are extremely volatile and can spontaneously combust when oil soaked rags are left discarded in a pile. It is the combination of the oil and air in conjunction with a fuel source, i.e. the rags, that is so dangerous. It does not require a heat source to initiate combustion. The only safe way to discard the rags is to place them in an airtight metal container filled with water. Some sources say to lay them out to dry; however, if they should be blown off the drying area and end up wadded together, they are again a fire hazard. The rags need to be disposed of in this manner immediately after use and not piled up and perhaps forgotten. The rags should only be used once, not saved for re-use the next day. The cost of rags is nothing compared to the cost of a lost home. Remember, to render oily rags safe, please place them in a metal, airtight, water filled container.