# Oily rags in the shop ... public service announcment **URL:** \ **Category:** Finished Projects\ **Created:** [March 25, 2023, 5:15pm UTC](https://forum.onefinitycnc.com/t/oily-rags-in-the-shop-public-service-announcment/19671 "2023-03-25T17:15:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CandL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@CandL](https://forum.onefinitycnc.com/u/CandL)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2023, 5:15pm UTC](https://forum.onefinitycnc.com/t/oily-rags-in-the-shop-public-service-announcment/19671/1 "2023-03-25T17:15:02Z")
I may be violating a forum rule by posting a youtube link but I do so with the help of keeping folks safe, and it is not looking for money. I have always hear even from high school shop class …“Dispose of you oily rags SAFELY” … well we all know that after a while it starts to sound like an old wives tail … well “Bourbon Moth Woodworking” runs a test. [![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/uploads/onefinitycnc/original/3X/3/4/349e4127995272db9a92585fa328a933c8880b2a.jpeg "I Tried To Burn Down My Shop || This Video Will Save Yours") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gqi2cNCKQY) ---
**Author:** ![349iq2345](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/bb73d2/32.png) [@349iq2345](https://forum.onefinitycnc.com/u/349iq2345)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2023, 5:52pm UTC](https://forum.onefinitycnc.com/t/oily-rags-in-the-shop-public-service-announcment/19671/2 "2023-03-25T17:52:10Z")
Hey Carl and Lynn, of course you can’t warn about this often enough. Thank you for warning once more. Usually you learn this in studies or apprenticeship, it’s in every woodworking textbook before 1950 (unfortunately **linseed oil** use decreased since then, even if it is such a superior material, not only for finishing, with a comeback in connection with the hand tool woodworking comeback since the 1980ies). Not everybody thinks that “after a while it starts to sound like an old wives tail”. As a child and researcher, I tried out the conditions for the self-ignition of the linseed oil rag under safe conditions. I didn’t need to have my workshop burning to continue to be convinced it’s true 🙂 In short: **[Polymerizing oils](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drying_oil#Safety) exposed to oxygen on a larger a surface like a rag can autoignite at any time**. They don’t need heat or sparks to autoignite, it is the polymerizing process itself that produces heat sufficient to ignition. Always enclose them after use in a small airtight container. Note: Autoignition (at ambient temperature) only happens with polymerizing oils, not with other oils, even if they are combustible. ---
**Author:** ![MstrODstr](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/forum.onefinitycnc.com/mstrodstr/32/26808_2.png) [@MstrODstr](https://forum.onefinitycnc.com/u/MstrODstr)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2023, 10:52pm UTC](https://forum.onefinitycnc.com/t/oily-rags-in-the-shop-public-service-announcment/19671/3 "2023-03-25T22:52:32Z")
@CandL Just watched that video earlier today…love Bourbon Moth Woodworking. This is a great PSA. Thanks, Jay ---
**Author:** ![WaywardWoodworker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e79b87/32.png) [@WaywardWoodworker](https://forum.onefinitycnc.com/u/WaywardWoodworker)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2023, 11:44pm UTC](https://forum.onefinitycnc.com/t/oily-rags-in-the-shop-public-service-announcment/19671/4 "2023-03-25T23:44:37Z")
Floor refinishers destroyed a 38 story high rise with linseed oil soaked rags left in boxes. > **[One Meridian Plaza](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Meridian_Plaza)** > > One Meridian Plaza, formerly known as the Fidelity Mutual Life Building, Three Girard Plaza and Three Mellon Bank Center, was a 38-story high-rise office building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The 492-foot (150-meter) tower was designed by Vincent Kling & Associates and completed in 1972. > On February 23, 1991, a twelve-alarm fire began on the 22nd floor and raged out of control for nineteen hours. Philadelphia firefighters fought the blaze but struggled due to a lack of power in ... ---
**Author:** ![349iq2345](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/bb73d2/32.png) [@349iq2345](https://forum.onefinitycnc.com/u/349iq2345)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 1:07am UTC](https://forum.onefinitycnc.com/t/oily-rags-in-the-shop-public-service-announcment/19671/5 "2023-03-26T01:07:40Z")
Hey Derek, > [@WaywardWoodworker](#): > > Floor refinishers destroyed a 38 story high rise with linseed oil soaked rags left in boxes. as far as I read the article, > Workers had been refinishing woodwork in a vacant office earlier in the day, and workers left **a pile of rags** soaked in [linseed oil](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linseed_oil) **on the floor**. You can enclose linseed oil soaked rags in a used jam jar. In the event of spontaneous combustion, the oxygen would be quickly consumed and the flame would die. Furthermore the consumption of oxygen already occurs during polymerization and ends when the oxygen has been consumed. That is why a too thick layer of linseed oil will never cure, because no oxygen reaches the lower layer. ---
**Author:** ![CandL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@CandL](https://forum.onefinitycnc.com/u/CandL)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 2:58am UTC](https://forum.onefinitycnc.com/t/oily-rags-in-the-shop-public-service-announcment/19671/6 "2023-03-26T02:58:53Z")
One thing to point out here is that newer finishes such as Rubio, Osmo and Odies oil all seem to fall into this category.