I was experimenting with a Firesteel and dryer lint yesterday. I was suprised at how effortlessly it lit and how well it burned - of course it was from a batch of cotton clothing.

My question is:

Has anybody tried waterproofing lint by "vaseline impregnating" it or mixing the lint with wax, etc.? I'd be interested in the details.

Thanks,
Hutch4545

Try a mixture of beeswax and vaseline. The vaseline by itself tends to run all over the place and is quite messy to make into pills unless you are using it in VERY cold conditions.

Yes works fine. I like the Bees wax idea but will probably use paraffin as it's cheaper. The only thing I have found about dryer lint is it depends on the cloths you dry. Mostly cotton clothing makes great fire lint. But if you dry mostly wool it is usually pretty poor. Wool does not catch sparks very well. That is one reason it makes such great clothing for wearing around a campfire.

Clothes Dryer lint has been a "cult classic" for a long time, and mixing the lint with melted parafin wax into paper egg cartons is an oldie. My experiments with clothes dryer lint are mixed.

Freshly peeled off the the screen, it takes a spark well (depending on the fabrics, of course). Matted down from being compressed and carried around in a plastic baggie or film cannister... varies. Aside from the question of exactly what the nature of the lint is, I think it's the short length of the fibers. It is difficult to "fluff up" the fibers to catch a spark. Sometimes it works; sometimes not. Contrast: I fire up a cotton ball (cotton wool) with a BSA HotSpark on the first try 99.99% of the time. I cannot remember the last time it took me two tries. "Aged" clothes dryer lint has not been as uniformly cooperative.

And it is slightly more difficult to ignite greased/oiled/waxed cotton wool than dry. When I teach folks to use a HotSpark, I get them to success first with a DRY cotton ball before I move them on to a petro jelly coated one. For me, greased lint is more difficult to light; YMMV.

To me, the value of dryer lint is in demonstrating how to use what may be at hand rather than as a prepared item - like grabbing some milkweed seed fuzz (explosive with a spark!)

As far as coating - anything that will burn with a wick works. Beeswax, SnoSeal, eye ointment, cooking oil - you name it.

Others have different experiences than me. But I'll point out that each "lot" of dryer lint is different.. and cotton balls are so cheap... draw your own conclusions. <shrug> if it works for you, have at it.

Tom

Vaseline will work, wax tends to be too much of a coating for ease of lighting with just a spark, and both are a REALLY big mess. Stick with cotton balls, just my 2$ (allowing for inflation) <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />.