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BANG FOR THE BITE
If 10,000 Biters empty their lint filters after every load, in a year we'll save enough energy to run a dryer 670,000 times.
COCKTAIL FACT
A University of Sydney study found that the most common color of belly button lint is blue (most clothes contain at least some blue fibers).
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home › tip library › Clearing Your Lint Filter
What's the next best place to check for lint?
The Bite
Your dryer's lint filter. Keeping it clear of lint conserves energy and cash, and actually reduces fire hazard, no Q-tip necessary.The Benefits
- Efficiency: innie. Waste: outie. You can decrease your dryer's energy usage by up to 30% just by cleaning the lint filter (clogged ducts resulting from lint buildup reduce its efficiency).
- Saving up for that navel piercing. Cleaning out your lint filter could save you up to $40 per year in energy costs.
- Not setting your midriff-baring tube tops aflame. Stop dryer fires (usually a result of lint blocking the exhaust duct) before they start.
Personally Speaking
Jen is so obsessed with dryer lint that she'll stop the drying cycle halfway through (especially on fluffy, lint-y towel loads) to clean the filter. We're not kidding.Wanna Try?
- Take out lint tray. Remove lint. Reinsert lint tray into dryer.
- A few uses for dryer lint: compost; kindling for fires; nesting material for birds. Hit us with more in the blog.
Jul 24,2008
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Need-to-know (L)in(t)formation
Since you were dying to know, check out the results from the Great Bellybutton Lint Survey.
Some highlights:
- 96% of people with belly button lint had an innie.
- 73% of people with belly button lint were male.
- 80% of people with belly button lint had a happy trail leading up to their belly buttons.
-Toshio...off to contemplate something a little more trivial...
Biter Comments...
Please let people know not to leave lint out for birds to get it for nesting! When it gets wet it falls apart according to my mother who was an avid bird lover
Another tip from my dad... the chemicals in dryer sheets that keep clothes soft and static-free (and maybe in liquid softeners too, though I'm not sure) can build up on lint filters also reducing efficiency and even the effectiveness of your dryer. Simple fix: remove lint filter, remove lint, wash filter with warm water and mild detergent. For added fun, try to look through the filter before and after, Dad claims it goes from a door to a window! Well, a screened window anyway.
The intention of using lint for birds' nests, compost, etc., is a good one, but ONLY if the clothes have been washed and dried with non-chemical agents. Lint does fall apart quickly in the rain; if there are residual chems, though, the birds will be affected by those as well. Not good, especially for the youngsters.
Same for compost: residuals will leach into the compost and, thus, into one's foods, plants, and environment.
The modeling material suggestion is great! Some people, too, use cleaned lint -- how that's done, I haven't a clue! -- for weaving and/or knitting. Like dog and cat fur, I suppose, as well as sheep wool.
I once went to an art exhibit which had sculptures completely molded from dryer lint. He had red lint, purple lint, blue lint, etc. And, i'm honestly not sure that the artist had added anything other than water to shape the sculptures.
I have used dryer lint, for the smell of humans, plus cat & dog hair and dog poop (from my own dog, of course - I did not scout the neighborhood) for the smell of predator to (PRE-nesting season) block a hole under my neighbor's garage, to discourage last year's skunk mommy, or any other wildlife mommy, from using this cosy den for raising a litter - way too close to the road for the safety of babies, and way to close to my living room windows, and very way too close to the back door when I let the dog out at night.
It worked, so I also drape lint around the garden fence and have not yet had any night time raids from my four footed friends, though plenty of the 6-legged.
Anyone know of organic solutions besides handpicking? I live with a chronic illness (my best buddy, who has taught me to never take things for granted, and be very grateful for what you have) but I am losing my pincer grasp, essential for handpicking. If you spray with mild soap(biodegradable, yes) and water, what time of day is it best to do this?
I don't eat flesh, but I recently saw a cooking class advertised: Cooking with Insects. Would eating bugs disqualify me as a vegan? Are they tasty? It would certainly trip;e the yield of my garden...
If anyone camps out, you know it's sometimes hard to get a fire started, and if you're needing to start a fire, it's usually as a result of teh elements making it difficult to begin with. To solve this, all you need to do is carry some of that DRYER LINT with you. It weighs next to nothing and will act as the perfect kindling in the backwoods. Happy camping!!!
Dryer lint is great if you make paper - it can be mixed with the pulp to create "cloth" paper if you have one of the simple paper making kits that you can get at a craft store. Also, an old tissue box is a great place to dump the lint - either if you're collecting it for a project, or just want to save trips to the compost heap...
You might THINK that your lint screen is clean after you remove all the fluff, but here's another reason for fires in dryers: years of using dryer sheets and fabric softener mean a build up on the screen, and after a while no air can get through. To be sure yours isn't clogged with 'invisible' stuff, run it under the water and see how quickly the water runs through. If water doesn't get through, neither will air, resulting is lots of heat build-up. If it's clogged, give it a good soap and water washing!
i bet if you saved enough dryer lint it could be used for pillow stuffing. :)
How about a lint stuffed comforter to go with those pillows? No robbing geese & ducks for their feathers & down, and a natural alternative to making the holofil(?) stuff, made from petroleum products?
Quick, someone write a business plan!!
All that energy Jen is saving by cleaning the lint filter after each dryer load is likely lost when she cleans the trap in the midst of a dry cycle...lots of wasted heat when she opens the door!
I cannot believe that nobody has suggested to forego the dryer altogether and allow clothes to air dry. That is the greenest tip related!!
I use my dryer lint in my handmade paper. It adds subtle hints of color to the paper and it uses something that most people just throw away.
For those with a house and a reasonable amount of sunlight, try saving your dryer for the winter, rainy season and go out there and make a clothes line! It will save you more than 30% of your dryer electricity and is a passive way to make your clothes smell good. Clothes pins cost about $1 for 40 which is enough to hange the average load. Oh and a clothes line never caught on fire due to lint.
I used a clump of dryer lint, a piece of thread, and a short bamboo stick to make an impromptu cat-toy, and a cardboard box with a sliding door in it for a live trap. I then proceeded to play with the feral kitten living under my girlfriends house and eventually flicked the piece of lint right into the door of the box. In went the kitten, down went the door, and off we went to my house. Three years later and she's a very fat, happy kitty.
you can use the dryer lint to feed the red wiggler worms that are busy making compost for your garden in their own worm chalet. "yum" say the worms!
I saw a show years and years ago about Art made from Lint, but it's not that unique anymore:
http://www.studiocapezzuti.com/lint/lintguys.htm
http://www.highstarrstudios.com/page3.html
http://heidihooper.com/lint.htm
And, here's the original inspired by Alzheimer's:
http://www.explorela.net/lint.htm
My mom would carefully lift the lint from the filter, layer few batches, cover it with fabric, quilt it (i.e. sew criss-cross over the fabric) and voila` a pot holder was born. I still have the ones she made for me over 20 years ago
I don't use my dryer much as God has given us the sun and wind for that purpose but my husband found a great way to use dryer lint and help the environment. Put the lint into an empty toilet paper roll and dip each end in old candle wax. It then becomes a great fire starter for the grill.
I have been thinking of stuffing pillows with dryer lint or building a couch and using the lint for the stuffing. I have many organic cotton items and use non toxic detergent. it's pretty soft.
Here is something i practice a lot in the summer.
First of all, I am rarely dressed at all and so my clothes don't get dirty all that often. But of course they do get sweaty a lot faster. Rather than washing them in the washer for that, I put them out in the rain and wring them out several times before hanging them up for the sun to dry.
As long as there is no or very little grease or body oil on them, they will be almost as fresh as having been washed. Barring accidents, I can go the whole sumer with two actual washings.
By the way, I own no undergarments and am always barefoot so have no "wash every day" items.
PHOTO ALBUMS
Posted by: Ellen Van Dalinda | July 24, 2008 at 07:42 AM