The Clever Way You Can Repurpose Dryer Lint To Save Money During A Move

When relocating from one home to another, it's common for certain items to get scratched or even broken along the way. Bubble wrap and other forms of plastic or cloth cushioning can prevent this, but unless you already have some on hand, you'll need to cough up some cash. On the other hand, if you dry your laundry in a dryer machine, you can make your own cushioning for free by using dryer lint. Many people empty their dryer lint traps into the trash without a second thought, but this fuzz accumulation can be repurposed in many ways, including as a protective layer in moving boxes. 

Lint inevitably forms as a dryer spins clothing, and it can build up quickly after a few loads of laundry, especially if the fabrics contain natural fibers like cotton or wool. So why not save money on packaging material by using lint instead? Whether you're packing delicate wine glasses or other items like mugs, vases, or plates, you can shape the lint into sheets and wrap the fragile items before placing them in moving boxes. You can also shape it to be placed around the corners of furniture items.

Before analyzing the effectiveness of lint as a protective cushioning layer, it's important to consider how lint forms in the first place. Lint is the accumulation of soft, tiny microfibers from sweaters, fluffy blankets, fleece pajamas, and other fabrics. Friction causes them to form on fabric, and the tumbling action in a dryer dislodges them before they end up in the lint trap. So in a nutshell, lint typically contains some combination of cotton, wool, linen, etc.

Similarly, the materials used to make textile moving blankets and pads, are typically constructed with about 70% recycled cotton fibers. Dryer lint also contains similar fibers that can be made into felt and used as a moving blanket. Jamie Jay provides a recipe for this on her YouTube channel, using dryer lint, water, a tray, a roller, a plastic bag, a fabric stiffener, and a bowl. If you want to make full-size felt blankets for your move, you can use Jamie Jay's recipe or one of your own. However, if you only need to cushion small items, the dryer lint alone should suffice.