Dryer lint is extremely flammable and I was told years ago that it would make great tender. Does anyone carry lint, is it effective and if so, in what ways do you use it?

For campfires, I would make my own fire starter out of a toilet paper tube, stuffed with a bit of paper, but mostly lint and a few twigs. Just for fun really.

Today’s clothing contains so many man made fibers (read plastic) that produce toxic fumes when burned most people stay away from it now. I use cotton balls and Vaseline, which makes an excellent (and cheap) fire starter. Just make sure you buy 100% cotton balls not some made with other fibers. Most people tend to use too much Vaseline when first making these so just remember to use a small amount to start and work it in to the ball. You should not be able to squeeze any Vaseline out of the ball, if you can you are using too much. Like everything else practice with it to learn how it works and what you can expect from it.

If you sort your cotton clothes and remove the lint after each batch, you can collect quite a bit of usable tinder. I have a ziploc bag on the shelf above the dryer.

I've experimented with it and it works great. Since it's not waterproof, it's not my "primary" tinder though.

Old cub scout doo-dah that I use for my charcoal starters and pack with me for back country survival gear is dryer lint stuffed in cardboard egg carton reservoirs and soaked with a little candlewax, enough to hold the lint together and in place. Burns quite well, is waterproof, and pretty darned cheap to produce.

Plain dryer lint won't work too good when it gets wet.

This is a variation of the cottonball/vaseline theme, but we've got the general idea here.

Thanks everyone. I had heard of using wax, etc., in the egg carton, but have never tried it. Also, I am new to this site and saw something about vaseline and cotton balls, so thank you for better explaining the concept.

Good point about fabric materials and seperating the cotton too, thanks.

Actually, I don't worry too much about burning synthetic fibers along with cotton, since the smoke from burning cotton contains at least 11 known carcinogens anyways. However, I avoid burning wool because it releases cyanide gas. This is much more undesirable, don't you think?