The Cellar - Spontanious Laundry?

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Spontanious Laundry?

A fire in London...

Quote:

Fire investigators believe the blaze started accidentally in a hallway cupboard when the laundry stored there caught fire.

Charlie Pugsley, Head of Fire Investigation at the Brigade, said:
“Cotton laundry like aprons, tea towels and cloths can often be contaminated with organic cooking oils that can self-ignite if dried and stored.

“Make sure you do your wash at the right temperature with the appropriate detergent to remove any oil based contaminants. Also make sure you wait for your laundry to cool down before packing it away and store it in a well ventilated place.”

What? Dried organic cooking oil can self combust?
Does anyone besides the CIA, KGB and MI6, know what kind of oil can do that?
link

That's bullshit. I don't believe it for a second.

"Oily rags" can spontaneously combust if they are a furniture finish wiping oil that cures like boiled linseed oil or tung oil. That kind of oil gives off a small amount of heat as it cures and if you have a soaking wet rag all bunched up, the heat is concentrated in one spot. But once it's dry, the curing is done and there is no heat produced and it's safe. Walnut oil is the only cooking oil that will cure, and it's a very rare specialty item that most people aren't going to be using. Rags soaked in non-curing oils like vegetable oil or mineral oil or motor oil will not spontaneously combust, but since oil will burn fairly easily, shops have special metal trash cans for motor oil soaked rags to keep sparks from accidentally igniting them.

Then you have wet hay that can spontaneously combust. That's because it begins to rot and the rotting gives off heat which gets concentrated in the middle of the hay pile.

I can theorize that wet cotton towels might also spontaneously combust if they were all wadded up in a pile and began to rot and gave off heat.

But that cooking oil theory advanced by the official sounds like complete BS. It would have to be rags drenched in fresh walnut oil and wadded up in a tight pile.

it was the swamp gasses that ignited

A day or two ago, the Fire Brigade, somewhere here in the UK, were advising against putting laundry away that was fresh from the tumble dryer and still very warm as it could ignite if not allowed to cool.
I'm just wondering if this is the same incident and opinion has been revised.

I'll see what further info I can dig out a bit later.

Laundry fresh from the dryer might have static electricity that could spark and ignite lint, maybe?

Maybe. But loose lint is pulled into the dryer filter off the clothes, so there shouldn't be loose lint in the clean clothes.

I've found the article I was looking for. It refers to the same incident as in Bruce's post but is dated 11th Sept, whereas the press release from the London Fire Brigade (as linked) was dated 9th Sept.

Quote:

Fire brigade issues warning after 'too hot' laundry spontaneously combusts and bursts into flames

A flat in Hackney caught fire after a fresh pile of washing reacted with oil residue
------------------------------------------------------------------------

A warning to people who fold and put away their laundry while it is too hot has been issued by the London Fire Brigade, who claim it could burst into flames.

Fire investigators say that washed household items could catch fire if they are put away without being left to cool down first.

The spontaneous combustion can take place when heat rises through a pile of washing and reacts with oil residue on household items such as tea towels.

The London Fire Brigade has warned people to be careful of self-combusting laundry after a fire broke out in the hallway cupboard of a flat in Hackney, east London, when the washing self-ignited.

MailOnline reported the fire, which took place on Thursday, caused damage to the boiler, cupboard and lighting circuits. No-one was inside the property at the time.

Charlie Pugsley, head of fire investigation at the Brigade, said spontaneous combustion is more likely at restaurants and pubs when items such as aprons, cloths and tea towels are washed.

“Cotton laundry can often be contaminated with organic cooking oils that can self-ignite if dried and stored,” he said.

“Make sure you do your wash at the right temperature with the appropriate detergent to remove any oil based contaminants.

“Also make sure you wait for your laundry to cool down before packing it away and store it in a well-ventilated place.”

Natural fibres such as cotton are susceptible to spontaneous heating and subsequent spontaneous combustion. However the possibility of residual materials such as cooking oils or cleaning products can increase the likelihood of fire.

London Fire Brigade said the fire was under control within less than an hour of the crews' arrival.

Daily Telegraph

Quote:

Natural fibres such as cotton are susceptible to spontaneous heating and subsequent spontaneous combustion.

Great. Just fucking marvellous. Another thing to lodge in my head and come out when I'm trying to sleep.

pffft.

you're safe.

Quote:

Cotton will self-ignite at roughly 400 degrees C (some 760 deg F), but can sustain a flame at much lower temperatures, somewhere around 200-210 deg C.

I'm sure this is how the Koreans came to believe in fan death.

Well hell, I'll self ignite at about 400 degrees...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Undertoad (Post 939234)

I'm sure this is how the Koreans came to believe in fan death.

I think you're right.
We had a supervisor at Boeing that was a little stupid... just a little. She got an email from a girlfriend saying if you clean your glasses with Windex type solutions you'll go blind from the ammonia. Right away she's on a mission to make everyone in the plant aware of this threat to mankind. A real pain in the ass, because of a bullshit email taken as gospel.

I could see every London firehouse getting notice from headquarters with some bullshit someone, with some authority, swallowed and forwarded to all. Now the guy in the firehouse says it came from the top, somebody must have verified it, and passes it on as gospel. The problem here is compounded by using that gem in the investigation of a fire, coming up with that explanation, means they may be overlooking something important. Plus once it hit the news, half the people will be telling everyone they, this new important "fact". :eyebrow: