I've had good luck in stuffing very tiny points with... don't laugh... dryer lint. It's very fine and fills in nicely. Stuff the points with that, then the rest with whatever batting you like.
Caron in Michigan
A little useless information (trust me, I'm chock full of useless info!): Dryer lint is what we regularly use as a firestarter when camping (it's cheap and in my house, MORE than plentiful - I could supply enough for 12 Cub Scout *Packs* alone!!)!
It takes a spark even quicker than the commericially prepared firestarters that you find in your camping or sporting goods department! And HOW!!
-- Connie :)
I've had good luck in stuffing very tiny points with... don't laugh... dryer lint. It's very fine and fills in nicely. Stuff the points with that, then the rest with whatever batting you like.
Caron in Michigan
I guess that's why they tell us to keep the lint screen clean huh? Actually a frightening thought!
The rice is also to give it a bit of weight. Otherwise putting pins in the top might make it fall over. Maybe a good substitute would be a little bag of sand down under the wool stuffing. Roberta in D
"nzlstar*" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:fmj39e$8t2$ snipped-for-privacy@lust.ihug.co.nz...
Bird cage sand would also work, and seems appropriate. Roberta in D
"amy" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@s12g2000prg.googlegroups.com...
What a great tip -I've been using unprinted paper from packaging along with candle stubs to get a blaze going in the wood stove. Dryer lint sounds like a great alternative. Roberta in D
"SewVeryCreative" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:8ac33$478e1350$18d6c25a$ snipped-for-privacy@KNOLOGY.NET...
Lanolin is what some people are allergic to with sheep's wool. So the llama/alpaca/vicuña (??) wool is usable by many people who can't wear regular wool. But the lanolin is part of what helps keep pins/needles nice and shiny. It also helps the pins glide through the fabric easier. Some of you may remember an older person occasionally running a needle through their hair? That was/is another way to help it move through the fabric more smoothly/easily. (Of course if you wash your hair every day, or even every other day you may not accumulate enough natural oils to help much.)
Pati, > A quick Google search confirms that Llama hair has no lanolin ...
Flutes don't need their joints oiled or greased. The recommended way to just slightly lubricate the tenon of a flute joint is to rub it on the side of your nose.
It has never occurred to me to lubricate a needle, but given how much hair I haven't got, the nose it's going to have to be.
============== j-c ====== @ ====== purr . demon . co . uk ============== Jack Campin: 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland | tel 0131 660 4760 for CD-ROMs and free | fax 0870 0554 975 stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, & Mac logic fonts | mob 07800 739 557
Be careful though ... it lights in an instant!
A few years back, we did a program (for Cub Scouts) on firestarting and had the boys start fires (hoooo-boy ... was that a day!) with flint rods and various types of kindling. One of our military friends had told us about using dryer lint so we tried that, too, not really thinking that it *would* work (our military friend is a bit of a prankster) - it lit up quicker, brighter, and bigger than paper, moss, dry twigs, packaged firestarting material ... you name it!!
-- Connie :)
firestarters
Oh, trust me ... after we did that program and I *saw* how quickly dryer lint (versus other kinds of lint - we tried it ALL) caught fire from a teeny-tiny spark, you'd better *believe* that I became obsessed with making sure my lint trap is clean as a whistle. I empty it with each load - no exceptions.
I think it was Miz. Polly that warned us a while back about dryer lint fires. And she did not have to tell me twice!!
-- Connie :)
firestarters
As I recall, and recall it being mentioned here as well, human hair was sometimes used to stuff pincushions (they didn't waste _anything_ back in the day). So I imagine that if human hair has enough oils, llama might also. I dropped a query to Lee on the goth group. She raises llamas and will probably be able to give me chapter and verse about their wool.
If you have ever met a live sheep, or even a raw fleece, you know just exactly how oily a sheep is! They are truly filthy animals through no fault of their own. It is just all those pounds of wool impregnated with all those pounds of lanolin that they have to tote around makes them dirt magnets. Fleeces have to be cleaned quite harshly (boiling water and lye is how the people did it when I was a kid) just to be sold, and then they are cleaned some more when they are processed.
NightMist
Agreed! pour on some petroleum jelly and mix it in real good and the stuff will burn for 15 minutes versus 30 seconds
Kellie soon to be "boy scout mom" and not "cub scout mom"
Ooooh! Same here! My son's already (unofficially) earned his Arrow of Light and is halfway done with his Compass Points!!!
Are you excited? Nervous? Both?? :)
-- Connie :)
firestarters
both! Jacob got his "super achiever" award in December!!!! Not sure how he managed that... lol We will cross over adn get Arrow of Light next month. I just got the arrow to start wrapping all the colors on it. But the shaft is cedar and I am allergic, so Daddy gets to do that!!!!
Searching for a shadow box to put it in. Someone sent me a pic of a really neat one done with patches and arrows adn belt loops, pins and the kerchiefs. Wanted to put the arrow in it too but am not finding anything big enough.
Think after 6 different visits we found the troop he wants. They are going to Colorado this summer... sigh... might have to be an AL for that trip
Howdy!
Girl/Cub/Boy Scout "recipe" is to melt old candles in a tin can, put dryer lint in the cups of a paper egg carton, dribble a little recycled wax on the lint, tear apart the egg carton and put these fire starters in a bag to take camping.
Several years ago a couple of quilters here on the ng thought that using dryer lint for stuffing was a great idea. Clothes dryer lint is dust. And highly flammable. Not the kind of little pillow or toy I'd want, but... .
Next: reusing the clothes dryer fabric softener sheets!
R/Sandy --- my chicken p> What a great tip -I've been using unprinted paper from packaging along with
Wow!! Super Achiever?! Can I send my son to live with ya'll for a while?! ;)
We don't do the Arrow of Light for another month or two ... we usually do ours at the Blue & Gold, but it's had to be postponed for a little while (parents all voted) because an issue came up with the hosting facility. :/
This might smack too much of DIY, but what about an old dresser drawer? A friend of mine's wife take pieces of old furniture, refinishes them, and they end up looking so upscale. I saw her create a custom shadowbox like that once using a drawer (in good condition) - she removed the pull, puttied it, sanded it, and refinished it. Then she got some glass and some plywood and put the glass on the front (sealed in somehow - I can ask her if you like) and put the plywood on the back using those little hingy things you find on the backs of picture frames. It turned out REALLY nice - I think she charges somewhere like $150 for one of those (since they're "custom" LOL!). But I've seen her do it and it's not that much work ... but don't tell her I said that! ;)
*rolls eyes* We only have 2 within a 20 mile drive ... and I've heard horror stories about both of'em. But, seeing as how the people who were complaining aren't even in Scouts anymore, I don't take them *that* seriously. Could be that they were just groaners.We'll be doing the "tours" in the next couple of weeks. Hubby will be taking him (and the whole den, actually) and gladhanding/networking ... while *you* might have the constitution to be an AL, I don't!! I have serious issues with shyness ... and a roomful of parents and kids ... well ... yikes!! I like fabric better - fabric doesn't judge you!! ;)
Hubby's been a DL and CM (and now, because of his knee, he's Committee Chair instead of CM) for the past 5 years ... and he's thinking about being a volunteer come BS time. Are you guys going to?? I don't even know what's involved!!!
Well...that I have done to great success!! I ran a bunch of them thru the wash (in a mesh laundry bag) after using them in the dryer - wanted to get rid of leftover softener. Then they make great bases for foundation piecing. They are also good as a stabilizer layer for machine embroidery. Waste not, want not!!
Allison in Montreal (the Queen of the Scavengers!)
what good ideas!! i like the dryer lint idea, that's something i can get for free!!! i usually save bags of it for the birds in spring for their nests, but i dont think they'll mind if i take some for a "feathered" friend! ( i just throw it in the back yard and it's gone in minutes )
amy in CNY
But be careful, Amy ... dryer lint is VERY flammable. We use it all the time as a firestarter when we camp!!! It lights up quicker than you can "Whoa!" Or "Call 9-1-1!"
-- Connie :)
what good ideas!! i like the dryer lint idea, that's something i can get for free!!! i usually save bags of it for the birds in spring for their nests, but i dont think they'll mind if i take some for a "feathered" friend! ( i just throw it in the back yard and it's gone in minutes )
amy in CNY
Please don't put out dryer lint for nesting birds. Birding groups and Audubon have talked about this for years. Not to even go into the stuff in the lint from dryer soaps, detergents, fabric softener, etc but dryer lint attacks moisture from the air like a sponge and doesn't shed or dry rapidly from rain. A nest that doesn't dry can cause rapid hypothermia in the baby birds. The dryer lint also retains any moisture from bird waste, this harbors disease and parasites even more than natural nesting materials. I belong to a local birding group, the Audubon and several birding NG. The warning goes out every spring....PLEASE DON'T PUT OUT DRYER LINT FOR NESTING BIRDS. I know it seems like a good idea but it's not.
Val
what good ideas!! i like the dryer lint idea, that's something i can get for free!!! i usually save bags of it for the birds in spring for their nests, but i dont think they'll mind if i take some for a "feathered" friend! ( i just throw it in the back yard and it's gone in minutes )
amy in CNY
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