TIP: Studio safety
2009 December 22
Do you think about what could happen with your trash can full of linseed oil soaked towels & paint rags?
You should!
Linseed oil (and solvents - turpentine and mineral spirits) present a very real danger of spontaneous combustion. As the oil oxidizes, the temperature rises. If the rags are wadded up and tossed in an open can, the temperature can quickly reach the flash point.
Check out this experiment:
http://www.wildwoodsurvival.com/survival/fire/spontaneouscombustion/rbjul05/index.html
The solution is to rinse out your rags, and lay them flat over the edge of your trash can, or soak them in water before disposal.
Or you can store them in an air tight container - like these - but you should also wet them first.
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Some thoughts: who soaks their rags? Don’t do that. If there are enough rags in the container with just a small amount of oil on each them, collectively that could still be a problem, so don’t let them build up. Water evaporates, so you’d need to keep them moist, and if you use paper towels that can cause more of a clean up mess. I’d suggest focusing on their exposure to oxygen and place them in a bag inside a metal container, and then cover that bag with a bag of sand or dirt, or anything that will displace the air inside. Most cities have recycle centers where people can properly dispose of hazardous waste.