Dryer Lint Re-purposing.

When my hubby was growing up, he was in Boy Scouts for a few years. Nearly every time we set off on a family adventure (i.e. camping, hiking, exploring, fishing, going to Cabela's), he shares a recollection with me or my girls about an experience he had in Boy Scouts. The stories are usually interesting, and sometimes provide me with good re-purposing ideas.

Several years ago, when Dave and I still lived in Oklahoma, I remember him telling me about how dryer lint is good for starting fires. I found this information silly because there are lots of good fire starters readily available...newspaper works, dry leaves work... But, just in case, I started saving dryer lint anyway. It was sort of a "I'm listening" sort of a gesture. I saved the lint, and when he barbequed or burned leaves in the backyard, he would use the lint to start fires, and that was that.

However, if you read my blog, you may have seen that we have gone camping and been outside starting fires quite a lot in our short two months in North Dakota. Because I knew camping would be happening frequently with our family, I started saving our lint again in our new house. And, on our last camping trip, I brought some lint along.

Dave was so pleased. (I think I won some points.)

Shoe box full of dryer lint

The good stuff

The cool part is, though, that as we built the multiple fires on that chilly evening, I realized why lint works better than the newspaper I also brought along and the dried leaves we put on the fire. While those items burn quickly and disintegrate, dryer lint burns slowly and is more likely to catch the sticks and logs on fire before it burns up.

So, I'm thankful I tried something from Dave's childhood, and that I won some points doing it. I am also thankful to be able to find a new item to re-purpose. Because, I don't throw things away much around here. :)

I'd love to hear your camping tips or tricks! Tootles, Amber