Rags

[GBusardo]

Since I been reading quite a bit about paper towels and rags. I thought this might be a good preventative topic. A lot of the solvents and finishes we use(BLO for example) left on a rag can spontaneously combust if left in a heap to dry. I have even heard of a clothes drier catching on fire after washing because rags were washed before the solvents dried. (Don't know if it's true, but it’s believable). Might be a good idea for all of the people who use rags for finishing to hang them up on a line in your shop or outside to dry before you wash or discard them. I know everyone knows this, but there might be one person reading that didn't know it, and one accident is more than we need or want.

 

[Glass Scratcher]

Tung oil is self accelerating. If using Tung Oil, your application materials need to be placed to dry thoroughly, where there is plenty of air flow and not around any combustable materials, like paper, or cardboard, before disposal. The local fire training channel shows a timelapse video periodically of rags with Tung Oil dropped in a cardboard box. In a matter of hours the box bursts into flames.

 

[DaveM]

I hang mine up in the unused fireplace. They have never combusted, but if they did, they would do no harm there.