Great uses for old dryer lint

Don't just throw your old dryer lint away into the trash can anymore, because it has some very valuable uses. Recycling has come a long way these days. Paper, glass bottles, and aluminum cans aren't the only hot commodity being sought after in the aftermarket recycling programs. Going green has even found daily uses for old dryer lint, which also helps reduce levels in our crowded land fills as well. Every little bit helps, and recycling dryer lint is no different, and is just one more step helping all of us going green.

Now you might just for a second just think that I'm pulling your leg with the suggestion of reusing old dryer lint, but this is the real deal and is really on the up and up. Once again I heard some D.J.'s talking about this hot new idea for old dryer lint on a morning radio show while driving to work. They were doing such a good job of selling these great uses for your old dryer lint, that I thought I would go ahead and write a hub on all of the ways that you can put that old dryer lint to good use. Now none of these ideas really look like they are going to save you all that much money, but they might just make you feel a little bit better inside because of your small contribution of helping out the environment.

The first idea for giving new life to old dryer lint is to use it as a quick fire starter. Any Maytag dryer repairman will be glad to tell you all about the fire hazards associated with old dryer lint getting stuck in your dryer's duct work and vents. (This might be a good time for you to take a short break and check to see if you have any lint build up in your dryer system.) So after somebody gave this idea some thought, they came up with the bright idea of using dryer lint as a fire starter. They work good for starting fires in your fireplace, potbelly stove, outdoor grills, and especially camp fires on those cold rainy days. Just keep some dryer lint in a waterproof zip lock bag the next time you go on a camping trip, and you can spend less time trying to get your campfire started & more time enjoying the outdoors.

The next time you scoop a hand full of that old warm dryer lint from the screen inside of your dryer, try saving it for the birds instead of tossing it into the trash can. Both domesticated birds in cages and wild birds outside like to incorporated and weave dryer lint into their nest. Who could blame them for wanting their young, as well as themselves, to be as comfortable as possible in their little nest, and dryer lint most likely feels like a very soft pillow to them.

Another great use for old dryer lint is for your small household pets. Hamsters, mice, and guinea pigs all enjoy having some dryer lint in their cages. They all especially enjoy nesting on the soft fibers of the dryer lint, which gives them a welcome bit of change from those hard cedar wood chips which are normally scattered everywhere throughout their little cages. These little guys really don't even care if it's new warm dryer lint or old cold dryer lint, as long as it's soft and fluffy.

Just when you think that you've heard it all, some genius comes up with the idea of using old dryer lint as a mulch. It's a perfect blend to conserve moisture, and improve the fertility and health of the soil for your plants while helping to reduce weed growth. The morning show D.J.'s went out of their way to especially note that a co-worker of theirs collects everyone's dryer lint at work and carries it home in little bags to use for mulch around their house. I wonder if this co-worker of theirs was listening to the program at the time. This may be a little on the extreme side, but I guess it floats this particular person's boat.

Last but not least another inventor had the great idea of using their bold dryer lint for making paper and stationary. This is an easy, but rather time consuming process. Anyone can make their own paper, and I've actually done it and tried this process before by using clean unused toilet paper as my paper base. (I figured that I might need to emphasize that the toilet paper was clean and unused to everyone.) I would also like to add that by using dryer lint in the paper making process definitely adds a rainbow of beautiful colors to the paper, as it would also for all of the other uses that are listed in this hub.

I also discussed the business end of using old dryer lint with a co-worker who also repairs dryers and washing machines for a living on the side. We both decided in the end that there was no way that a business of collecting and selling new or old dryer lint could ever possibly be a profitable business venture. After all why would people buy dryer lint when just about everybody in the world has access to dryer lint. Some people can even pick lint out of their own belly buttons. This might not be The-Hole-Story on all of the uses for old dryer lint, but it certainly should be most of the story. If you can think of anymore uses for old dryer lint, then please don't hesitate to include them in the comment section below. Thank you for stopping by!