Repurpose Unwanted Dryer Lint With This Easy Fire Starter Hack

If you love hacks for giving normally useless items around the house a new purpose, this is a great one. How about a reason to save your old dryer lint? If you burn your garden waste or have a real fire pit outdoors, this could be especially handy. We're going to show you how to make terrific fire starters using your old dryer lint, an empty egg carton, and some candle wax. We're also going to show you some other uses for your old dryer lint, of all things!

Dryer lint is extremely flammable. So much so, there are over 15,000 dryer fires every year that start because of lint buildup, which is why it makes such an excellent material for a fire starter. It works like an accelerant, similar to oxygen feeding a fire. For this reason, it is dangerous to allow the lint to build up inside the dryer, and why it's also important to periodically clean out your vent and keep the trap clean.

To make really cool fire-starters with your old dryer lint, take an empty cardboard egg carton and fill each egg section with dryer lint. Then you will need a significant amount of candle wax. Pour melted candle wax carefully into each section on top of the dryer lint, then allow it to solidify — now your fire starter is not only waterproof, but it will also burn longer. Be sure you practice safety measures when working with hot wax, and always wear gloves to protect your hands.

Another way to make fire-starters uses empty toilet paper rolls, wax paper, petroleum jelly, paraffin wax, and dryer lint. You'll also need a cardboard egg carton to hold them while they dry, and use a pair of tongs so you don't get your hands near the hot wax. First, cut the toilet paper rolls in half and stuff dryer lint inside each one. Don't pack them too tight. Take the petroleum jelly and smear each end of the tube and lint with it as an accelerator. Use the wax paper to roll each one up and twist the ends. Melt the paraffin wax and use a pair of tongs to carefully dip each end in the wax, and set each one aside to dry.

Another excellent use for your dryer lint is in crafts or as stuffing in anything that won't be going into the washer. For example, to replace stuffing lost from the arm of your living room recliner or footstool. Alternatively, since it's also highly absorbent, you can use it to soak up spills around the home or in the garage. Dryer lint is biodegradable so it's environmentally friendly. This also makes it a great candidate for outdoor uses.

Dryer lint can also be used in the compost pile or as mulch for both indoor and outdoor plants. It will ultimately break down into the soil, but you should be careful not to use the lint from any laundry you used dryer sheets in. Dryer sheets contain toxic ingredients that can leach into the fabrics, which in turn gets into the lint, and finally into the soil. So before you throw out that dryer lint, remember there are plenty of ways to repurpose it around the house, thus reducing your carbon footprint.