Spontanous Combustion a word of warning

[ZKULPTOR]

Hi guys,
I was cleaning up my studio tonight, and as I was cleaning the area where I keep my used steel wool I saw one of them spontaneously ignite before my eyes.
it was sitting next to some sponges I use to place wax projects so they won't get damaged, I am sure someone's brought this up, but I was not aware of the fact that steel wool soaked in lighter fluid can ignite without the aid of any flame etc.
I am a very lucky guy as It happened right before my eyes, so I put the flame out, but already it was extending to the are where the foam was, that would have been a disaster.
From now on I am disposing of them right away and will soak them in water before I get rid of them.
This is what I found:

As part of HY-TECH's ongoing public awareness efforts, we would like to remind you of the dangers of spontaneous combustion. A number of common materials such as linseed oil, alkyd enamel resins, and drying oils can ignite spontaneously under certain circumstances.
The only HY-TECH products which may contain these ingredients include Metal Shield, Auto Guard, and EcoPel Wood Oil.

Spontaneous combustion can occur when towels, rags, booth filters, paint scrapings, steel wool, masking and other materials wetted or saturated with these products are not handled or disposed of properly. Saturated rags, filters and other materials can combust spontaneously when the oils or resins generate enough heat through auto-oxidation to exceed the ignition temperature of the rags or other materials. Spontaneous combustion can begin without any flame, spark, heat or other ignition source. Saturated rags, filters and other materials contaminated with the coating material should not be disposed of in regular waste containers. To dispose of these materials properly, thoroughly wet the contaminated materials with water and place them loosely inside a separate, sealed metal container.

Just wanted to let people know about this, please help me spread the word.
Thanks,
-Erick

[jollyskeleton]

wow, really got to be careful around such materials

[jansen]

You are so lucky!

This reminds me a bit of what happened here in Australia a few weeks ago. This women was filling up a can at the petrol station and the static electricity caused the fuel to ignite and burn down the whole shop.

[VinReaper]

Thanks for the heads up!

VR

[Vince-Vell]

One of the reasons i try to keep my area clean weekly or every 2 weeks. Also try to stay away from flammable products as much as possible.

Also dont like Steel wool for this reason. I remember growing up and watching my father and uncle at the body shop they owned seeing how Steel Wool would ignite working on cars. back then it was the norm and seeing a steel wool dropped into certain chemicals would just start to burn up.

[DD_fan96]

Wow. Thanks for sharing. Was not aware of that at all.