everyone always says they can ignite themselves and start a fire, but no one actually shows how that looks like. I appreciate that little demonstration

Awesome advice James. As a former auto technician I've seen my share of rag fires it's very scary. Awesome video

I love how passionate you are about boiled linseed oil i can tell that you really do want to tell us more

A great video on the safety aspects of BLO. I've had paper towels with oil on them burst into flame when a "helpful" buddy bundled them up into a plastic bag and disposed of them when I wasn't looking. Luckily they were outside but my wheel barrow tire where he laid the bag has never been the same. My first BLO fire. And I'm taking steps to ensure it's my last. At least my last accidental fire. I have a wire mesh trash basket that sits outside my basement door where I place the "flat" open oil soaked paper towels. The open nature of the basket allows for lots of airflow to avoid heating up. And after a few days to a week, depending on the season,when they get crusty I just empty the trash can into the regular garbage.

As a firefighter I have been to a few fires because of this very same thing. Nice PSA also you can put them in a metal can with a lid outside if you like too but just laying them out to dry is the best thing on a non combustible service.

Great demo of how easy it can be to get oily rags to spontaneously combust. I didn't know about the postponed danger of throwing rags into a can of water, but it makes sense when you think about it. I'm lucky to have a wood burning stove -- my oily rags go in there to dry out.

Safety first. Sometimes it may not look cool, but going home to your family every day is the coolest thing I've ever done thus far.

James, I'm really enjoying this series on linseed oil. I'd watch another few videos on this subject if you have more to tell us.

Fun to watch it happen. I do the same and lay out mine to dry on my floor. Great info to share!

Hi James. When I was in seventh and eighth grade half a century ago, wood shop was required for boys. Mr Bowen would start each class with a warning about spontaneous combustion and how our work rags thrown in a trash can could burn the place down suddenly

很有帮助的视频 感谢james！似乎是唯一能找到的自制熟亚麻籽油的教程了

That is so cool! I watched the catching on fire video!

Man, I love your linseed oil Saga.

So glad to see you did this video, I have been waiting to see this experiment!

Good one James. I haven't seen that demonstration since 7th grade shop class (in the 70s) & that was filmed in the 50s I think. I use flaxseed oil on my cast iron every time it is used, and the paper towel is draped over a pickle jar on the counter, it never dries because we never go more than 3 days without cooking something in cast iron, but BLO rags always go into the wood stove.

That's was an eye opener James really helpful that you showed the process happening great safety tip👍

I’ve been wondering this, thanks for posting

Cool stuff James, thanks for the info! 👍🔥

Hey James! FYI, this is the second or third video in a row where the title card wasn't updated from a previous video (This one says Planing Stops) Thanks for the great videos!

Great tip James. My BLO rags get laid flat on concrete or gravel too, or put in the wood stove.

Couple of quick questions: 1) I've seen some videos where people use small paint brushes instead of rags to apply boiled linseed oil to furniture. If I were to use a paint brush, how do I safely clean up as to not start a fire? Can they be safely rinsed? Or just throw the brushes away after they dry? And 2) if I use cardboard to catch the excess oil that drips off during the application process, how should I dispose of the cardboard? Thanks in advance!

wow thank you i had heard of this . great to see it

Thanks you for the valuable information!!!

Do you do these videos for a living? You are a natural teacher regardless!

Thanks

Dude, you're awesome.

If you have a wood stove in your shop you could throw the oil soaked rags in there. That would be a perfectly safe disposal method.

JAMES, I HAVE FOUND OUT THAT HOW DENSE THE WOOD IS MAKES A GREAT DIFFERENCE IN DRYING TIMES.

I store mine in the wood stove. Easy to light that first fire in the fall. I have more trouble with grinder sparks. You really have to watch where they go.

Reminds me of a story. A restaurant I use to work for had a service that would supply towels and aprons for the kitchen staff. We had a hamper for the used towels and aprons. Well one day the guy that comes by weekly to restock the towel aprons and such took the dirty bag and tossed it into his truck. When he did this it caught on fire due to the sudden change in air and temp since everything is covered in greaser and chemicals such as degreaser, 409 and bleech. He was able to get it back out before the fired could spread and burn the truck.

thanks

Epic video series. You've got a new subscriber. =D

We had a fireproof container for linseed oil soaked rags and paper in every studio room in art school

thanks for the fire demo, I'd wondered whether it was an urban myth or not. Not in this case.

Was just finishing up a gunstock refinish yesterday. Was using a stain pad (had extras laying around instead of using old Tshirts ) to apply final coats of BLO to stock. Decided to add 1 more coat, went to garage to apply last layer and smelled something strange. Got to work bench and my stain pad had a large very dark brown/black stain on it. I picked it up and it was smoldering hot, just ready to ignite. I quickly grabbed everything and hosed it down and layed them out to dry. The small pieces of tshirt I had been using were not a problem but when I used the much thicker stain pad I'm assuming it held much more BLO. As it was "drying" on my bench it began to heat up. These posts warning of spontaneous combustion are legit. It is very hot in Texas this week and I'm sure that did not help the situation Be careful EDIT: Spoke to paint mgr at Lowes, says that sometimes a reaction with certain materials like my stain pad can accelerate the spontaneous combustion process My pad was lying flat on workbench, not bunched up Best option, burn the rags

A.D 2019: "Man discovers new EASY way to make fire"

Thanks.

I use disposable shop rags when working with linseed oil. As soon as I’m done I take them out to the burn pit and burn them.

Threw my dirty rags on the counter in the laundry room, 2am I had a small fire lol 😆

Wow ! Wish I would have known this, I would have bought tung oil. Unbelievable ! Thanks for the visual rather than just talking about it. Guess I'll just burn all the oily rags instead of taking a chance throwing them away.

Fun demo. Great to see what could happen 🥴

GREAT VIDEO for dummys like me(that a week ago suggested boiling linseed oil in a pressure cooker.) Thanks James....rr

I have a fence outside my shop that I put eight or so small cup hooks on. I take my rags and hang them up on them and wait until either they are hard (a heavy finishing session for me doesn't generate more than 4-5 rags as I don't use disposable rags for application purposes, just clean up) If I need more space I clip them to strings that hang from the hooks if the rag needs oxygen to ignite, would a zip-lock bag with the oxygen removed work?

Great info. thanks mate. how to dispose the oil itself ?

Good demonstration... I have seen this type of spontaneous combustion on a large scale. I am a chemist working in the paint industry, My area of expertise is oil based paint, especially alkyds. It can get exciting when a dumpster full of rags and other combustible material is on fire next to a solvent tank farm. Yes it can and will happen.

I a past life I was a Fire fighter. Been to a few places that had burnt down due to Spontaneous Combustion. I'm pretty careful with this kind of stuff. Got a new neighbour. I have just built a new mail box as a house warming. Put two coats of BLO. It has take 'Days' to dry. But it is cool and wet here at the moment

Looking at the numerous KZfaq videos about this problem all seem to feature boiled linseed oil. I wonder if raw linseed oil is less hazardous. It is significantly slower to dry so although it may well liberate the same total amount of heat during the drying process it will be spread out over a longer time and give lower peak temperatures. I'm not suggesting it's safe - just perhaps less dangerous.

So I used some boiled linseed oil and beeswax to refinish some wood a year or two ago, I disposed of the rags correctly and everything. I have a question that I can’t seem to find an answer to though. I learned about this method from my dad, and I think it was great advice. But he also showed me this small container of the linseed oil that he poured (it’s a mini sized jam jar, like the kind you get in a hotel or a restaurant, about the size of a golf ball), which he thought would be a good idea to carry in his “survival kit” and test its effectiveness in making a fire.... because magnesium, flint, and a dozen other tried and true survival tools that we already own aren’t good enough apparently. I talked to him about it later and he reluctantly admitted that even though it was sealed extremely well (I’m impressed by this jar’s airtight seal honestly), I still think it seems very unsafe to take the oil out of its original container and especially dangerous to store in a truck or a backpack, just for the extremely rare chance that we would get lost and not be able to make an emergency survival fire any other way than to pull out a little jar of... wood finisher... again, this is strange logic in my opinion. But he agreed after rethinking this, and left it on the shelf by the original container and we both forgot about it for a while. Anyway, now I want to get rid of this pointless little fire hazard on our shelf, and when I looked up the official safety procedures for disposing of boiled linseed oil I could only find procedures for disposing of rags, and only one small sentence about how to safely dispose of the oil itself, which basically said to leave the container with the lid off in a well ventilated area and it will harden and can be thrown away with regular garbage. I want some confirmation on if that’s true; how can I be sure it won’t re-liquify in the dumpster outside and start a fire? I currently have the jar airing out without the lid inside a 10 inch wide bucket that is designed to be a small charcoal grill that I haven’t used yet, so I assumed that’s as safe of a place for it to dry out as possible. I still don’t feel entirely certain though, is there any chance the jar could ignite as it dries out? There are no other objects in the bucket or jar at all, just a tiny jar with about 4, maybe 6 fluid ounces of the oil inside of the jar. It would be reassuring if someone could confirm that I’m going about disposing of this small amount of extra oil properly, and that I can throw it in the regular garbage after it cures and it will be safe. Oh, and does it matter if the bucket is outside on my balcony, in indirect sunlight? I live in a small apartment so I don’t have a lot of room to let it air out indoors, and if it is going to spontaneously ignite, my garage is full of storage and it would be a lot worse than out on my balcony, so I put it out on my balcony. It’s not in direct sunlight, but it’s pretty close and might make it warm inside the bucket. Is that bad? And finally, if the jar does start on fire, will it burn cleanly like alcohol or gasoline would, or will it explode and set my balcony on fire?

I am using a blend of BLO, mineral spirits and poly, which I mixed in a small mason jar with rubber seal. I've just put a first coat on a table with the blend, and will add a second coat tomorrow. Is it safe for me to store the rag I used in the mason jar, which still has more blend in it?

I throw my rags in a any disposable water tight plastic container with a lid add some soap and water and shake it up good and throw the whole container away.... It truly is as easy as that. The rags will never ignite with this method, even when they dry out.

I always soak the used rags in water for about 5mins before I dispose it inside a plastic bag in a separate trash can.. I use this Boiled Linseed Oil for my inside tubings of steel bicycle frame as rust inhibitor..

I know that most every thing you make gets BLO and wax. Do you ever add another coat of BLO (I am thinking a year or so later)? Does the wax impede the second application? Do you recommend a light mineral spirits rub or rubbing alcohol to remove the wax before another coat of BLO?

Going to start doing some oilskin tarps (cotton canvas) ... does it only ignite/burn from a rag or can a paint brush or any other items that have been in contact with the linseed suddenly ignite? Would hate to see my entire cotton canvas (9' x 12') burst into flames while drying in the sun. New to linseed oil, so kind of scary!! Thanks.

I've never really had this problem, though the UK generally is colder and damper than your region I imagine

Thanks for this video! I do have a question, the back of my can of store bought BLO says to dry the rags by lying them flat outdoors at temperatures above 40 deg F. Is the temperature critical to the drying process? What do you do in the winter?

Go go rocket spaceman, use them fire 🔥 rags for fuel...🔥🔥🔥

Just the video I was looking for!

You’ve got me wondering how fire resistant the plastic 55 gallon drum our used ultra red rags go in at work is

I've had some panicky situations with BLO. So, I dispose in a half water filled freezer bag with zipper lock, squeezing out as much of remaining air without squeezing water out. Then in another bag. Call me paranoid, but damn thing heats up like crazy.

I thought you might have a video or two on BLO :)

Next time im working on something i might bag up my rags and put that in the fire oit with logs iver then just wait, by the time my projects done the fire would be just starting

My son’s garage, with two cars inside, an apartment above the garage, is a total loss due to linseed oil spilled, cleaned up with rags, rags placed in an open container ( not aware the rags could combust. ) 😱

Thank you for this video James. Just wondering what is the fire risk for applying raw linseed oil? I assume there is a similar risk, except it would take longer for the heat to build up to potentially self-ignite?

I have started wood carving. A lot of carvers say boiled linseed oil is great for wood carvings but be careful. What if I applied the boiled linseed oil with a brush instead of a rag?

Is commercial linseed "stand oil" ok to use, or does that also have chemical driers in it?

Hi. I have a question, how about the wood treated by linseed oil? Won't it make it easily be combustible? I ask this question because I plan to waterproof the bech I plan to place in my backyard. Also, as an artist, my late father used linseed oil on his oil paintings for nearly 6 decades. We haven't experienced anything like that. Also, I tried using the same linseed oil my father used on a kendama (Japanese wooden toy). The rag I used did not combust. But the effect on the wood is beautiful.

Interesting series! Now I understand, why my rags didn't go up in smoke. I had not put them in a box or can. They were just lying around on the patio, cause that mimicked best what happens in my shop. I mostly do not clean up when I leave in the evening, but it's the first thing I do in the morning. So rags and papertowels float around on the bench or the shopfloor. Not saying, that this is good or secure practise!

Hey James, just a heads up - video intro says Planing Stops again :-)

What if you want to re-use the rags the next day ( newly applied to wood, once a day for a week, once a week for a month, then once a month for a year, then once a year thereafter ). That first week I dont want to waste rags on a daily basis for one item when 24 hours later I will be doing it again.

What do you do if you get a drop on your clothes? Also, how long do you think in general you should be cautious with them? Just until it dries? What about brushes or rollers? Or do you only rub it on with a cloth?

How does this compare to Danish oils flashpoint?

Thanks, this video helped.

I just toss mine on the rocks by the fire pit. They are in the open, so they never catch fire. They do make good kindling when we have a fire though.

Thanks for sharing. Can any of the oils that you had on this clip be tinted to certain shade or darkened?

What about water mixibel linseedoil??? Is it to starting a fire?

Will it light when wet? So just toss it into a firepit and set it on fire?

Is there any danger (health-wise) to burning the rags outdoors? Also, how flammable are BLO fumes when applying? If I apply to a workbench top in the garage that also has a gas water heater in it, would it be safe to close the garage door overnight (maybe apply it in the morning with everything opened up)? Thanks!

I have been skeptical about this.....but Ive always laid out my used rags on the concrete floor.....just in case.......but now I am going to give this a try....just seems kinda fun.......yes it will be in a fire pit.

James great video but your intro has said planing stops for the last couple videos

BLO powered rocket hand plane?

Hi. How about this oil itself is safe if i store it in plastic bottle once opened?

Seeing as i cannot use BLO (severe allergy to Linseed Oil) I have found that Mineral Oil works ok for me. Will Mineral Oil spontaneously combust also?

Just got water resistant terry towels online on eBay so my towel won't catch on fire because gonna use linseed oil on my truck I see videos on KZfaq of people using it on their vehicle. But then found that it catches on fire so just got a fire resistant terry towel so when I use the linseed oil the towel won't catch on fire.

Nice PSA! Now, is the combustion limited to BLO or will it affect any type of finishing oil?

I'll just chuck it in the fireplace

Very good information. Keep it up. But I want to see you make something. How about a carved white oak fridge magnet?

Can refined linseed oil combust???

Stupid question, but why use something as a finish that seems to be able to spontaneously combust?

a slower cure is going to reduce the heat won't it?

I once was commissioned to restore a Queen Anne hall table that the amateur woodworker had mistakenly finished in pure linseed oil and was still tacky a decade later. What a disaster! I had to hand scrape the finish completely off and try to expose bare wood without residue. The process took a very long time and multiple shellac washes and coats to seal it before refinishing it. The end result was a beautiful piece and a happy customer. The moral of the story is make sure that your oil is boiled so that your finish won't be foiled. Ok, bad pun...

Safety is sexy! Does this only apply to BLO or does it also apply to poly, lacquer, stain, etc.?

And when you paint with it, why doesn't the canvas catch fire? Just because the heat is spread over a large area? 😯

Stuff is crazy dangerous. I almost burnt down my house throwing away wet paper towels soaked with the stuff!

I guess tung oil is pretty similarly combustible.

Are those wooden clogs?

I almost burned my dang house down luckey my girlfriend smelled the rag burning and woke me up. I wouldnt have thought something like this could happened. Learn something everyday lol. Oops.

Burned Lindsey Doyle? 🤨

I don’t know how anybody gets these rags to combust. I’ve used store bought boiled linseed oil for almost a decade now and the rags never even got close to warm

WHAT. The flip are on your feet.

Why not put the rag in a jar of alcohol (whisky, vodka etc)