2 Uses For Leftover Dryer Lint

Every time you dry your clothes, dryer lint is created. The lint is made up of a lot of things, including fibers from the cloth your clothes are made of. Most dryer lint ends up being caught in your dryer's lint trap. However, some ends up getting past, especially if you don't clean out the trap frequently, and ends up going into the dryer vent. Making sure this doesn't happen is the best reason to clean out your dryer's lint trap after every dryer use. Doing that means you end up with a lot of dryer lint. So, what can you do with all that dryer lint, other than throw it away?

Fire Starters

If you have a fireplace, like bonfires, or go camping, you probably start a lot of fires. You know that it can be difficult to get fires going sometimes. Something that lets you get those tiny sparks going until your kindling can catch makes it easier. Dryer lint can do that for you. Dryer lint is actually very flammable, so it's perfect for this use. You can either put the lint into resealable plastic bags and take that with you, and use it just in that state, or you can make your own fire starter cubes. Mix the dryer lint with some melted wax, pour them into a mold to cool, and then pop them out. You will be all ready to start your next fire. 

Paper

You can actually use that dryer lint to create paper. Cloth fibers used to be used a lot in order to make paper. It's a multi-step process, but it can yield some really neat paper.

  • First you need to soak the lint. Doing that lets it break down easier for the next steps. You are going to need a screen for the next steps. The screen lets you catch the fibers and make the paper.
  • After the lint has soaked, take a blender or food processor to make the lint all mushy. You could also add bleach or dye at this point in order to change the color of your paper. Use plenty of water to help it get to that state.
  • Then dump it into some kind of container that's deep enough for you to get your screen completely under the surface. Dip your screen in the mixture and pull it straight up. You should capture all that dryer lint mixture on your screen.
  • Shake it so that as much water as possible leaves the mix.
  • Dump it out on a towel, being careful to keep it nice and flat. Put another towel on top of your paper and prepare to get the water out. One way you can do this is to put a heavy object on top of the second towel and leave it there for several hours.

When it's nice and dry, you will have some beautiful paper that you can use however you want. 

Making sure that all the dryer lint is out of your dryer exhaust keeps any fires from starting in the vent. If you have alternate uses for it, you are more likely to remember to get that lint out of the lint trap every single time. If you're worried lint is accumulating, get a commercial dryer vent cleaning.


Share