Hazard Posed by hot laundry

[Alasdair Munro]

A client has posed a question regarding the hazards posed by quantities of freshly dried laundry.

all I have found so far is from the IFE Principles of Fire Investigation :

 "laundry removed in commercial quantities from tumble driers and left in a large pile whilst hot, has been known to ignite"

It doen't seem to warrant a mention in Kirk's

Any ideas any one?

Any actual experiences of this?

Thanks

[nearlythere]

In 30+ years in the job I have never come across or heard of it happening. But stranger things?

[John Webb]

I believe this is to do with spontaneous combustion, and I understand is usually associated with traditional fibres, eg cotton, linen etc., when they may be contaminated with organic-based ointments used to treat patients in hospitals in particular. If not fully washed out then the remains will start to oxidise. Increase the temperature and oxidation occurs more quickly. Thermally insulate the reaction by surrounding the contaminated laundry with other warm laundry and the reaction can accelerate leading to the spontaneous combustion.
With modern synthetics the problem is significantly less - they are less likely to trap deposits and will wash cleaner anyway.
A greater problem used to be laundry workers smoking and accidently or otherwise dropping the lit butt into a laundry basket; it's possible the new restrictions on smoking in the workplace may reduce the likelihood - or may not....!

[nearlythere]

Have certainly witnessed spontaneous combustion of an oil soaked sponge left in a plastic bucket after applying teak oil to garden furniture. My shed two years ago next spring.

[messy]

I have been on a numer of fires to the same industrial laundry all caused by spontaneous ignition of laundry.

In every case, the laundry concerned came from Indian restaurants where the chefs routinely use tea towels to wipe ghee (saturated fat) from pans. Some ignited when hot from a machine, and on one ocassion, a stack ignited in a wheeled skip which was next to a gas powered tumble drier.

The laundry now no longer accept deliveries after mid afternoon so they can ensure that the laundry is cooled before they knock off. In addition, any dirty stuff left for the next day is laid flat and stacked away from heat sources and not left buried in a heap

[jayjay]

I remember some time ago concerns regarding the use of some fabric softeners that were thought to be drying oils and therfore a risk of spontaneous ignition if clothes were removed hot, then place maybe into a enclosed bin.
Sorry can't provide any details of incidents or further reference.

I have been looking more closely at the lint filter extract ducts on commercial and also domestic type tumble dryers during my assessments and found quite a few almost blocked and the majority uncleaned for some time.

Fires in tumble dryers are a common occurence and obstructed or restricted extracts could contribute to overheating. I have seen one example of a blocked extract that caused the lint to collect inside the machine which due to the partially exposed heating element  (similar to an electric fire element)  was very likely to have ignited the lint.

[firestop]

I've come across this problem a couple of times. In both cases the towels had been used for 'alternative therapy' massges and the oils had impregnated the cotton towels. By stacking them in bins and baskets and leaving them overnight for laundry, the essential oils had heated up and started to smoke about 6 hrs after the premises had closed for the night.
This process was also the cause of many chip shop fires after the scraps had been removed from the pans and put in cardboard boxes prior to disposal. The secret is cooling the items first and storing when cold.

[Steven N]

I have also been in charge on a fire like this in in an industrial laundry where table cloths etc from an indian resturaunt inginited the same way & for the same reason as messy says.