Justrite container for oily rags.

[Bill Szydlo]

I am wondering if anyone uses one of the red hazardous waste containers for their finishing rags? Here is a link to one on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001DSKBXE/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_5?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&th=1
It seems like a good idea except on the side it states to empty every night. I can understand once a week to put out with the trash but my question is where do you go with them every night? I'm sure the volume of finishing rags you generate would affect the disposal rate but for a home shop it would be pretty minimal.

Currently I lay the rags out, let them dry and then put them out in the trash. Does anyone have any experience with this type of container and how you use it?

Thanks in advance,
Bill

 

[hockenbery]

I have a couple of galvanized pails by the door. It’s a steel building minimal risk
The open pails make combustions unlikely.

 

[Ron Solfest]

I’ve had this heavy plastic red hazardous waste can in my shop for 30yrs or more:

Eagle 943BIO Biohazardous Waste Polyethylene Safety Can with Foot Lever, 6 Gallon Capacity, Red https://a.co/d/9OHPurd



I empty it every few weeks as needed, but never put more than a couple/few oily rags in it at a time (not a balled up lump). If I have a dozen or so oily rags at a time I lay them out to dry.

 

[Roger Wiegand]

For small quantities, as I'd generate when finishing a turning, I flatten them out and hang them over the edge of my trash can overnight to dry and them pitch them the next day when they are dry. Storing them in a small container seems like it might add to the potential risk, hence the caution to empty the bucket daily.

If I'm doing a big finishing project that's generating a lot of waste I put the waste towels and such in a 5 gallon bucket half filled with water until the contents can go out with the trash.

 

[Joe Penn]

I have that safety can and I've had it for years. I put anything I use for finishing in it, including latex gloves. I empty once or twice a month after anything I put in it has been sitting for a couple of days. I've never had any issues with it and I rarely fill it.

 

[Bill Szydlo]

I have that safety can and I've had it for years. I put anything I use for finishing in it, including latex gloves. I empty once or twice a month after anything I put in it has been sitting for a couple of days. I've never had any issues with it and I rarely fill it.

Do the rags dry out in the can? I'm just wondering since it seems the lid closes to limit oxygen exposure.

 

[Russ Braun]

I keep mine in a container of water until I dump them in the trash; anything that comes in contact with oil based stuff goes in this. I’m not sure how something in water can ignite so having a special container never made sense in my dome. I do check to make sure the water is topped off and not evaporated.

 

[Odie]

If I'm doing a big finishing project that's generating a lot of waste I put the waste towels and such in a 5 gallon bucket half filled with water until the contents can go out with the trash.

I keep mine in a container of water until I dump them in the trash; anything that comes in contact with oil based stuff goes in this.

This sounds like a pretty good way to neutralize the fire danger. ^^^^^

For myself, I never leave used flammable rags and materials in the shop.....they go right outside to the trash can, daily.

-----odie-----

 

[Joe Penn]

Do the rags dry out in the can? I'm just wondering since it seems the lid closes to limit oxygen exposure.

Yes, the rags do dry in the can. I'm not sure how long it takes, but when I toss them they are dry.

 

[Dean Center]

I use a galvanized steel pail from Ace Hardware, which comes with a lid.

 

[Mike Drake]

I have used them at various industrial sites, where they are often required, for decades. They work well. I believe that I will buy one using your link, Thanks!

 

[Lou Jacobs]

I have an old #10 can. When I’m finished with an oily rag I take it outside the shop, put it in the can and burn it. I had a rag spontaneously combust 45 years or so ago after I finished a dining room table I had built. It was in a new half duplex we were renting in Akron, OH. Movers hadn’t come yet with the rest of our furniture, so I did my work on the new table, threw the rags out in the under-sink trash, and we went to stay the night with my in-laws in Cleveland. Late at night got a call that the family upstairs smelled smoke, called the fire department, and next thing we knew we owed the landlord’s insurance company $5,000. (We didn’t yet have renter’s insurance). I haven’t trusted oily rags since.

 

[Greg Carles]

FWIW,,,, I pitch mine daily in the fireplace daily. Now when summer comes I will probably do the water in a bucket method. Or lay out to dry on a flat metal surface,, IE... table saw top.. I did notice when I lay my oily rags on my table saw they don't dry over night but remain oily for about a month,
The finish I use most is tried and true products which recommends you place used rags in a bucket of water to soak before disposing of in a sealed container in the trash.
While working during the day I keep a designated bucket that all finish rags go in and then dispose daily.

 

[Mark Jundanian]

I flatten them out and hang them over the edge of my trash can overnight to dry and them pitch them the next day when they are dry.

+1

 

[Jeff Nelson]

I have a couple of galvanized pails by the door. It’s a steel building minimal risk
The open pails make combustions unlikely.

If oily rags are clumped together in an open pail that makes a perfect environment for spontaneous combustion. Should have a tight lid on it to lower the risk.