The Proper Disposal Of Oil Soaked Finishing Rags 

Thanks so much for this video, it's very important! As an artist I paint with oils a lot and therefore I have a lot of oily rags. I let them dry at washingline. Same approach as you have, drying the rags on the garagefloor: simply allowing it to drie with open air surrounding the rags. Hanging them to dry saves me some valuable space 😂

Very much appreciate you posting this.

You can also put all the used finishing rags in a 55 gallon steel drum and put the lid and retaining ring on. Than if it did catch on fire, the fire will run out of oxygen very quickly and auto extinguishes itself. Then the CO2 forms a barrier while the rags are still drying.

Thank you SO much. Just caught a small fire at my home. . . It was scary. I also feel very foolish. This was very informative!!! 🤘🏼 Thanks, again, for the the tips!

thanks so much! this was very helpful

I tend to soak brushes in water in the process of painting and now there’s a small layer of linseed oil on the top of the water cup how can I dispose of it?

What about brushes that are used to coat wood with linseed oil? Will they dry just fine by leaving them out in the open or is the closeness of the bristles cause combustion?

I stick my oil soaked rags inside an empty beer can (I never seem to have a shortage of empty beer cans) fill it with a little water and give it to the trash man.

Would a through rinsing in a water-based solvent work as well?

I don't understand putting them in a water filled bag and throwing them away. If they need to be in a water filled bag, you are sending them off to start a landfill fire.

What do you do with the dirty bucket of water, throw it on your lawn? Also, is it ok to lay out the rags to dry in direct sunlight?

Throw the rags in the fireplace?

I'm here because my friends house caught on fire for same reason. She threw the wet rags in the trash. I had no idea....but now I do! Thanks for making this video.

My friends cafe burnt down after linseed oil rags were put in a bin. Nobody had realized the danger before. Thanks for bringing this to attention mate🤘

I'm an advocate of the bucket of water, I've got a dog that wonders the workshop looking for wood to chew so oily rags on the floor is not a good idea. There is also sawdust on the floor a lot of the time, combustable oil + sawdust is not a good idea. Much easier to sling them in a bucket of water, out of reach of the spaniel, tie them up in a plastic bag on bin day and put them out for the rubbish collection, once they're watered down, they're not going to catch fire, especially in an air tight bag. oily water goes down the drain, job done.

Tanks for the video, I flatten mine out and when the wife isn't looking, I hang them flat and open with no folds in them on the clothes line with clothes pegs and the next morning they are dry. I then still leave them for another day or two and then crumble them up and leave them on the lawn for a day or two before discarding them in the dustbin.

Just stained my new gun rack i just built. Im sure they'll end up in the burn barrel in the morning.

What about cloth rags and oil painting ?

I wouldnt want the oils on my floor. I prefer to simple put the rags/towels in a fire basket/bin. Next fire lites easy and its in a safe place. Thats assuming you have a fire basket. Good eeminder though.

What if you have a gas water heater and furnace in the garage? Is the pilot light going to blow up the house? 🧐

Ill normaly just burn it. Problem solved...