Dryer Lint Uses: What Can You Do With It?

Here at Steam Smart Pro, we’re your trusted Tucson, AZ source for professional and specialized home cleaning services. Call us today at 520-462-1183 to benefit from our range of options.

Let’s face it, some parts of your home are easier to clean than others. Luckily, here at Steam Smart Pro, we provide top-grade professional cleaning for tough jobs like tile, grout, and carpet. But we also clean less visible parts of the house, like your dryer vent.

Our cutting-edge tools and techniques help make us Tucson’s dryer vent cleaning professionals. Steam Smart Pro technicians can thoroughly clean your dryer vent and extract plenty of lint in the process. While this is good for your machine and your laundry, you may be pleasantly surprised at how many dryer lint uses there are.

Use Your Lint for Mulching   

If your home has a yard you like to cultivate for farming, gardening, or other uses, mulch can be a game-changer. Mulches are inorganic or organic dressings that you can put on the surface of the soil to improve its quality. Since manufacturers make some of your clothes from natural fibers like cotton, the lint from these garments can be useful as mulch. 

For dryer lint uses such as mulching, it pays to keep some important points in mind:

●      Keep It Chemical Free: If you plan to use lint from our vent cleaning services for mulching, be sure that the clothing where it comes from is free of chemicals from dryer sheets and similar products. That way, you won’t inadvertently transfer these chemicals to your yard soil. 

●      Keep It Sustainable: It’s also essential to use fibers from biodegradable organic clothing materials for your mulch. Mulch sits on the surface and protects your soil and plants in various ways. When you use biodegradable lint, you can count on these fibers to safely decompose over time. 

Dryer Lint can Substitute for Landscape Fabric

Each load of laundry contributes to lint buildup in your dryer venting system. If you collect enough lint from our periodic professional cleanings, you can use it to replace potentially harmful landscape fabric installations.

Landscape fabrics are permeable sheets made from a variety of substances. Farmers and garden enthusiasts often place these sheets on the surface of the soil to slow weed growth, protect plant roots, and more. Many commercial types of these fabrics are made of non-organic and non-biodegradable materials that don’t easily break down in the environment. 

Rather than using polyester or woven plastic landscape fabrics, you can employ good old dryer lint for the same purpose. After collecting enough clean and chemical-free dryer lint from our preventative maintenance visits, simply cover the target soil with a thick layer of it. You can then cover the lint with rock or plant mulches to stabilize soil, fight weed growth, and prevent erosion. 

Use It Like a Sponge

You can also harness the absorbent nature of your excess and leftover dryer lint. Because it is made up of dry fibers of various types, it can easily absorb water and other liquids. Thus, when you use your dryer lint to clean up spills, you’ll save money on paper towels, mop heads, sponges, and more. 

Polish With It

Instead of buying an expensive chamois for your polishing needs, why not just ask our cleaning technicians to save your used dryer lint? We use the latest methods to keep your dryer vent and associated ductwork clean and safe. This process can produce a lot of material, and you can use it to polish various items. 

For example, if you have tools with wooden handles, you can use a variety of drying oils to polish the grips. Substances like walnut oil, linseed oil, and tung oil dry by oxidation which gives them smoother finishes. If you use dry and clean lint as a polishing tool, you can keep your wood handles smooth and sealed.

Use It as Tinder with Toilet Paper Rolls 

Lint is one thing that makes uncleaned dryer vents a fire hazard. This same flammability can also be a gift in the right circumstances. You can reuse the volumes of dryer lint that our technicians remove from your home in places like fireplaces, campfires, and firepits.

You can also make dryer lint fire starters with a few easily found items. To do so, you’ll need:

●      Clean dryer lint

●      Empty toilet paper cardboard rolls

●      Wax 

To make these ingenious firestarters, start with a pile of lint and stuff it into the empty toilet paper rolls. You can then add a little melted wax to the ends of the rolls to seal the lint in. When you light it up, it should work like a large candlewick and start fires easily.

As always, use safety precautions when working with open flames.

Protect Your Plant Pot with Dryer Lint

If you are a plant lover who has indoor pots for them, dryer lint can keep your home free from soil spills. First, grab some of your stored dryer lint. Then, use generous handfuls to cover drainage holes in the pottery. 

When you water your plants after doing this, you won’t have to worry as much about accidental plant pot spills and leaks.

Boost Your Compost Pile

If you have a compost pile at home, clean dryer lint can add mass to it. As long as you use biodegradable fibers like cotton, you can rest assured that they should decompose properly. When you add it to other compostable items like eggshells, coffee grounds, and plant matter, it should fit right in. 

Here at Steam Smart Pro of Tucson, we take it to the next level for you. Now that you’ve learned more about dryer lint uses and benefits, follow the link to learn how dryer vents work. Call us now at 520-462-1183 for a free consultation, and see why we are the best value in town.

Author Bio:

Eric Bullard

The owner of Steam Smart Pro in Tucson, AZ, brings over 20 years of invaluable experience in the field of carpet, tile, and air duct cleaning. With a strong dedication to quality and a deep understanding of effective cleaning techniques, Eric consistently delivers outstanding results to his satisfied residential and commercial clients.