Talk to your fire department.

Talk to your fire department for straight info. A single piece of cloth laid out flat should probably be ok. If any heat develops, it will vent away. Crumpling up, bunching up is bad and if then placed into a confined space, worse. I would think all oil and similar present this problem.

 

Spontaneous combustion is real, and dangerous. No bagges, no cans, leave them out, if you cant stand the smell throw them out.

 

Not trying to be a wise arse, but how do you throw them out without committing the same problem as discussed in the prior post(s)? If you lay them out flat to dry before disposing of them, won't you still be smelling them?

NEVER MIND - My brain just woke up! Dry them outside!
:bonk:

 

IIRC, one of the worst offenders is linseed oil or boiled linseed oil. I don't remember if it's both types or just one, and if it's just one, I don't remember which.

Hector

 

I would like to know more about the conditions that cause combustion. I've put them in baggies, I've put them in bottles, I've put them in ammo cans. Never seen one ignite on its own either motor oil or 3 in 1, nor WD40. Is there maybe a particular combination of cloth and oil that is more likely to react on its own? I know in shops you should not keep a whole barrel of oil soaked rags but it's just super flammable. Maybe during a renovation something sparked. I would think a 30 cal steel can would be a good place. Even if it ignites which I doubt, the can would be fire proof and the oxygen would be so limited it would put itself out. I think there is a much greater risk from a pile of damp hay.

 

Just had a close friend, building his house. Was to the point of doing the interior trim. Was staining it in the garage portion of the new construction. Left the rags sitting on the floor afterwards and left for the night. That was about 1900. At 2300 the whole structure was ingulfed in flames. The fire marshal just came back with the findings, the stain rags ignited and started sawdust on fire, moving to the walls and the whole structure. Total loss and 8 months of construction gone. Thank heavens he had construction insurance on it. Fully covered.

I've always been told to treat oil stain rags and BLO rags, as combustible and put them in a metal container or in water.

Never been told that any other oil will spontaneously combust.

Anyone ask Rhody? He was a pro firefighter in an earlier life.

Craig...

 

For this characteristic, there are two types of oils - curing and non-curing.

BLO, linseed oil, Tung oil, etc; react with oxygen as part of their curing process.
This generates heat; and can spontaneously combust if cooling airflow is restricted.

Other more typical oils - lubricating oils or common solvents - are far more stable in air, and do not cure. These aren't really an issue in a comparable way.

Edit: there is a very good recent thread over at CMP Forums on this topic:
PSA: Boiled Linseed Oil Flammability--It's Real.

 

Agreed Kestrel. To keep it simple I treat ANY wood finish coating rags as potential fire bombs. When done applying finish I lay them flat out in the grass to dry off and then into the shop dumpster.

Had a floor refinishing business in a unit behind us go up in flames overnight a few years ago when their crew came back from doing a gymnasium floor and left soaked rags in a van parked inside. Total loss and wrecked several of their neighbors too from smoke damage.

I don't believe lightly oiled gun wiping cloths are a concern in this regard. But stock finishing rags absolutely!

Frank

 

A sealed metal can is the proper way to handle the situation.

 

Oily rag steel cans are what I have always seen used. They have a thermo link that will melt and close lid if left open. Made of steal about 5 gal.

 

let me clarify

Speaking of the lube/rust oils, not wood finishing. 1 small rag with gun oil.

chuck40219

 

I've worked in several industries and oily rag storage cans were acceptable from OSHA. If you are using one rag at a time throw it away. I have seen several instances the can stopped a combustion. None of those industries had anything to do with wood working.

You need a can that minimizes ventilation, or will shut completely when a certain temp is reached. You can find these cans for 70 bucks. Me I stick mine outside in a galvanized bucked and then burn them.

 

How did I make it to middle age and never hear about this?

I clean my guns with cotton patches and paper towels, so I don't have a rag storage issue, but this thread was an education.

 

Thinking about my cleaner & oily gun cleaning stuff, cotton and paper products in an open waste paper basket next to my gun bench, again. So far so good but I don't let em accumulate. Coffee can with a plastic lid's a no go eh?

IMA residents here got a chastising in the local paper for folks tossing flashlight batteries and wotnot in garbage and us taking the blame for waste management's landfill fire supposedly ignited by said batts. Fire on the news showed tires burning out of control. hmm

 

Disposing of old flashlight batteries.

I will take masking tape and cover the ends of the flashlight batteries I am throwing away, and since I usually have two or more, will them tape them together so that the ends can't contact other ends. Less chance of them starting a fire. I also unplug the toaster, coffee maker etc. when not in use as the few penny internal switches can sometimes fail and you end up with a house fire.

 

From https://www.firehouse.com/rescue/article/10528863/the-phenomenon-of-spontaneous-combustion

Materials subject to spontaneous heating are listed below:
Alfalfa meal
Animal hides
Castor oil
Charcoal
Coal
Cottonseed oil
Fertilizers
Fish meal
Fish oil
Lanolin
Lard oil
Linseed oil
Manure
Metal powders
Olive oil
Peanut oil
Powdered eggs
Soybean oil
Used burlap
Whale oil

"Some types of combustible liquids, such as animal and vegetable oils, have a hidden hazard: they may burn spontaneously when improperly handled. They have high boiling and flash points, narrow flammable ranges and low ignition temperatures, and are non polar. Carbon-based animal or vegetable oils, such as linseed oil, cooking oil, cottonseed oil, corn oil, soybean oil, lard and margarine, can undergo spontaneous combustion when in contact with rags, cardboard, paper or other combustibles. These unsaturated compounds can be dangerous when combustible materials containing residue are not properly disposed of or they come in contact with other combustible materials."

I do a lot of wood working. When I use any oil based finish I lay the rags flat on clean concrete or in a metal pan like my old oil drain pans from my mechanic days (which is not oily, now, except for the finish rag). When dry, in just a few days (they'll be hard) I simply toss them in the regular trash. When I first saw the list of potential fire starters I was quite surprised.

 

Spontaneous combustion is real and I have witnessed it myself, one of the things I do is drop the oily rag into a container with water until I can spread out the rags to let them dry, I make sure the container has a lid in case it gets knocked over.

 

i just get one of those red? self closing steel cans where its designed to snuff out those flames.

also, dont keep them in the house/garage for any amount of time.

I try to keep those things inside to a minimum. Once im done, they are in the garbage for next weeks pickup.

 

also, dont keep them in the house/garage for any amount of time.

I try to keep those things inside to a minimum. Once im done, they are in the garbage for next weeks pickup.

As do I; which begs the question... how long does spontaneous combustion take?... pertaining to 'average' gun cleaning solvents & oils, whatever average is.

 

That's too variable a process to put a specific time on it. It depends on the amount, how much it is packed, and even the ambient temperature, since it would be easier to ignite if it was hotter out, or at least could ignite sooner. There are plenty of videos on youtube; if you're a pyrophiliac go watch some. Just be sure to type "rags" as part of the search string, or you'll get a bunch of hooey about spontaneous HUMAN combustion.

NB: A pyrophiliac is a person who likes fire. A pyromaniac is one who uses fire for destructive purposes.

 

"NB: A pyrophiliac is a person who likes fire. A pyromaniac is one who uses fire for destructive purposes."

Technically sexually aroused by combustion...I get that way around muscle cars and hot rods sometimes

Frank the Demented

 

Ba-domp-tsh! Go listen to Paul Gilbert and his song "Muscle Car".

 

while id not depend on spontaneous combustion as the fuse for igniting anything i want to burn , ive always been aware of is and cautious , there was a garage that burned once a long time ago maybe 20 or more years ago , and they blamed oily rags in improper storage , i never heard what might be proper storage

 

I heard about Linseed oil and as a result, I toss those out on the ground after use and pickup later to dispose of. Out of caution same for any wood finish, like TrueOil, Tung oil etc...

I never gave any though to a small cloth that spread a few drops of gun oil or CLP. I hope those are safe enough. They even sell gun wipes for that purpose, no warnings on the box or baggie.

 

I like to live vicariously on Bring-A-Trailer Al. It's safer than our Trading Post because I can't afford 99% of the stuff I want

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1970-dodge-charger-9/

Closed gas cans aren't any worry as long as they're stored away from open flames/combustion sources.

The OP wanted to know specifically about gun wiping rags, or at least that's the way I took it. Most of us have a gun wiping rag with oil on it in our range bag or on or in our work bench and have no need to worry about it catching on fire.

That's my opinion and unless Rhody or another fireman comes along with a conflicting expert opinion I'm sticking with it.

Happy Saturday you old coot

Frank