Getting Crafty with Dryer Lint

Getting Crafty with Dryer Lint, Dryer Lint Catchers and Dryer Lint Traps

Put Your Dryer Lint Catcher to Good Use!

If you are a DIY or composting type of person, you probably dislike waste. In fact, one of the biggest sources of waste in your home is garbage that could otherwise serve some other purpose. Maybe you have noticed the amount of dryer lint you throw away each week and wonder, “How can I get crafty with this?” Believe or not, the lint you collect from your dryer lint trap or dryer lint catcher can serve a range of purposes in your household.

What is dryer lint, anyway?

Dryer lint is the material you collect from your dryer lint catcher and is often made up of clean scraps of fluff and threads from your clothing. If you have pets, your lint filter also catches their hairs from your laundry. When the lint trap and dryer are working as they should, you do not have to worry about your clean clothing having loose fibers or fabric cast-offs all over them.

However, this lint builds up in places beyond just the lint trap. It also drifts into the dryer vent outside of your home, whether near ground level or on the rooftop. As much as you find in the filter between each load, just imagine how much lint goes through this vent! That is why you need professional dryer vent cleaning.

Why is dryer vent cleaning so important?

Regardless of whether you decide to recycle your dryer lint or throw it in the trash, it is important to clean the filter before or after every laundry load. After all, in the Dallas area and throughout Texas, lint is a frequent cause of home fires.

You also need semi-annual dryer vent cleaning to remove this excess combustible material from your vents near the foundation level or on your roof. Otherwise, it continues to build up. Then, these vents become even more attractive to rodents and birds for nesting.

Not scheduling dryer vent cleaning also leads to problems with this important household appliance. Your dryer can stop getting your clothes dry, at all. Then, it must work too hard to keep up with your laundry needs. From there, it is only a matter of time until breakdown.

5 Ways to Re-Use Your Dryer Lint

Dryer lint is one of the most recyclable substances in your home. It is already washed by the time you pull it from the filter. It is super soft and continually in supply. So why not get crafty with it? Below are some of our suggestions for doing so.

1. Warm and Cozy Bedding for Your Pets

Whether you have pet mice, hamsters, guinea pigs or other caged creatures, they will appreciate lint for their nesting purposes. Consider first how these little guys typically bed down on splintery pine shavings. Then, imagine how soft dryer lint will feel to their little bodies. They can use lint just like pine fragments for nesting, burrowing and soiling.

If you choose to reuse your excess lint in this way, switch to natural laundry detergent and avoid using fabric softeners. These pets are typically sensitive to fragrances and other chemicals.

2. Dry Material for the Compost Pile

Few people realize that natural fibers like those found in your dryer lint trap are perfect for composting. They make up part of your dry or brown composting calculations. The material does not bring moisture to the pile and will not rot. So, go ahead and throw the lint onto your heap of carrot pieces, eggshells and apple cores!

3. Sewn Craft Stuffing

Do you make stuffed dolls or other plush toys? How about throw pillows or comforters? If so, dryer lint is one of the softest materials you can use for stuffing these handicrafts. Commercially made items like these typically have less safe fibers within them, such as polyester fiber fill or other chemically-created material.

4. Fire Starting Material

Northeast Texas winters can be chilly because the air is often damp. When winter cuts through you, there is nothing better than lighting a fire in the fireplace, fire pit or chimenea. When you need to get a fire going, keep a supply of dryer lint handy. Wrap the lint in wax paper to get things burning. You can even stuff toilet paper rolls with lint to create miniature fire starter “logs.”

5. Packing Material

Are you moving soon? Or, do you need to pack away fragile items for storage? Start cleaning your dryer lint trap regularly and save your dryer lint to cushion the breakables you need to pack. This free material works just as well as bubble wrap or packing peanuts. But it is natural material, unlike those Styrofoam nuggets that frustrate any eco-conscious soul.

Schedule Semi-Annual Dryer Vent Cleaning to Keep Your Household Safe

You can get crafty with dryer lint as part of home economy and green living. But, besides being economical and eco-conscious, you want to keep your home safe. One of the best ways to do so is to have the experts provide professional dryer vent cleaning each year. In the DFW area, call Superior Dryer Vent Cleaning at (214) 494-9740.

 

Learn more with Superior:

A One-Week Plan to a Healthier Laundry Room with the Help of Your Dryer Vent Cleaning Company

How to Upgrade Your Laundry Room

Dryer Vent Cleaning for a Dryer Vent on the Roof

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(214) 494-9740

Locally owned and insured, we offer our dryer duct cleaning service to the entire DFW Metroplex and the surrounding areas.

8401 Memorial Ln
Plano, TX 75024

© SUPERIOR DRYER VENT CLEANING​ 2020

(214) 494-9740

Locally owned and insured, we offer our dryer duct cleaning service to the entire DFW Metroplex and the surrounding areas.

8401 Memorial Ln
Plano, TX 75024

© SUPERIOR DRYER VENT CLEANING​ 2020

© All rights reserved