Recipe for disaster.

[Bill Wyko]

The other night I was applying Boiled linseed oil to a piece of wood. I set the rag down meaning to dispose of it shortly. I went on to filling my spray gun with lacquer. I dropped the can of lacquer with a full quart in it. Needless to say, I forgot all about the rag I was using for the linseed oil. Now I have set up the scenario for a disaster. Linseed oil will spontaneously ignite. I now have a shop full of fumes from the lacquer and a rag that is going to ignite. Fortunately I had opened all the windows and turned on fans and left the shop open all night this way. Had I closed up the shop I believe the rag would have ignited the fumes and blown my shop up like 10 sticks of dynamite. I know many of you are hobbyists. Please be aware that many finishes will self ignite when saturated in a rag. I almost lost everything this weekend due to a stupid rag. I wanted to share this with you guys just to make you aware of what can happen when you get distracted. Other than that, have fun with your hobby.

 

[Frank Pellow]

Close call Bill.  Thanks for the reminder.

 

[Aegwyn11]

[eek]

WOW.

 

[jonny round boy]

I was reading this article on spontaneous combustion of oily rags just a couple of days ago. Quite interesting (and quite scary, too).

 

[AlexThePalex]

Had I closed up the shop I believe the rag would have ignited the fumes and blown my shop up like 10 sticks of dynamite.

Don't buy too much into Hollywood's BS. All the paint fumes in the world wouldn't have blown up. You could have had a serious fire though, starting at the rag and spreading out. I'm glad you were so lucky to escape that.

 

[johnsonri]

Whoa, that was a close one. Glad you did end up worse off there.

I am usually careful with that, but my wife isn't...and I get on her about it. I think that I will use this thread as an example to her.

Rey

 

[Neill]

Bill,

Thanks for the warning.  I had no idea that boiled linseed oil was so flammable.  You think about things like mineral spirits and oil based top coats and waxes but not boiled linseed oil.

I certainly am glad that you are OK.  We have so few true craftsmen around to share their masterpieces with us like you do.

Neill

P. S. Thanks to Jonny for sharing that article with us.  Something technical I actually understood!

 

[chrisrosenb]

Bill,

Glad everything is OK.
I learned about this over 20 years ago. I worked for a remodeling company & was staining some molding at a jobsite on a warm sunny day. I wadded up the rags & threw them on a small trash pile out back.
Later someone noticed the trash pile was on fire. The rag had caught fire. Since that time I got in the habit of spreading the rags out so heat cannot build up in them.

Chris

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

I had a friend that caught his garage on fire with rags that had linseed oil on them.

 

[Bill Wyko]

I actually saw an epsode of some who done it show where a guy was jailed for killing his family. He wa in jail for years before they figured out that it was oily rags that burned his house down with his family in it. That was the first I had heard of it. What an unfortunate situation.

 

[TheToolPlace]

Wow, it's always good to have a reminder of these things.  You can never be too careful!

Thanks for the warning!

Chad

 

[mavrick1903]

I have a combustible waste can for that exact reason. a worthwhile investment for all of us!