How to Reuse Dryer Lint

Waste is aptly named, it is a waste of time, money and energy plus it takes up valuable space or land that could be put to better use as a park, garden or wildlife refuge.

Recycling, reusing, rethinking and reducing all make sense. However, some items are tougher to reuse than others.

When we first moved to our present city the duplex we rented had a great view of the river but did not come with a washer in dryer. It was also quite small and had little room for these common appliances. For years we had used laundry mats, either paying someone else to do our laundry or doing it ourselves. Except for a few small personal items everything went to the laundry and came back all nicely folded and clean.

This was our plan; find someone to do our laundry for us or failing that use the laundry to do our own. The snag was the laundry had just closed and while the dry cleaner would do laundry one towel cost two bucks and that just was not going to happen. So we bought the Wonder Wash.

The wash is designed for boats; a camper etc. and does about 2-3 pounds of laundry at a time. It worked well and the clothes line did the rest. In the winter a rack set up in the bathtub did the drying.

We were determined to purchase a washer and dryer when we moved , after two years of working with Nature and the Wonder it was time to upgrade the washing anyway.

The house we settled on came with a washer and dryer and a very large backyard which was ideal for a clothes line. The dryer would see some duty, towels mostly. Now that we have used these handy appliances we have encountered forgotten situation dryer lint and what to do with it. Most of our clothing is cotton so the lint is natural except for the black dye in much of my clothing.

Dryer lint will burn so certain uses are out, stuffing dolls or puppets, for example.

In the past, I had put the lint in the yard and watched the birds gather it to make nests; some would be used that way. I also need to plant some trees and shrubs, the yard is all gravel with only a large garden shed.

If you have houseplants, you can use dryer lint as mulch, water will seep through and the lint will reduce the soil’s drying out rate. This saves water as you will need to water less often.

Another use for dryer lint is as a fire starter. Dryer lint catches fire easily so it makes a good starter. This use also enables you to recycle toilet paper rolls. You stuff the lint into the rolls and have kindling for the fireplace or woodstove. You can also use paper towel rolls for longer fire starters.

When thinking about how to reuse an item consider its properties and allow them to suggest possible ways to reuse that item.