Thinking about Lint
By AnjaP
@Rollo1 (16676)
Boston, Massachusetts
October 14, 2015 12:11pm CST
The load of towels in the dryer was still damp after a long tumbling. I knew that meant I needed to clean the lint trap. I always forget that.
Such a nice, thick, soft wad of lint. I love lint, its many colors woven together even as they take on the shape of the trap. Lines and squares swirl around inside a circular galaxy. Fibers of red, grey, blue and black join together, wrapping themselves around one another. Individually, they are no more than specks, but together they are a work of art.
Lint is so soft. I hate to throw it away. Every time I pull out the trap and remove its downy contents, I want to save them. I want to hoard them until I have enough to stuff a pillow. A pillow that would willingly yield itself and conform to perfectly hold my weary head, while surrounding me with the faint scent of Spring Breeze deposited in it by the fabric softener sheet.
But I won't do it. I won't collect up the lint and keep it in a bag until I have sufficient resources to stuff a pillow.
The neighbors already gossip enough about the ball of tin foil under the porch.
31 people like this
29 responses
Maybe you could save that lint in some foil - make bigger balls of foil! 
@GardenGerty (169406)
• United States
14 Oct 15
I would be thinking along the same lines. I have also seen things where people make "art" out of lint.
4 people like this
@MarshaMusselman (38865)
• Midland, Michigan
16 Oct 15
I store mine in a garbage bag, but it goes into the garbage once it's full enough. Much of it sits on top of the dryer waiting to be deposited into a new bag which forgets to come downstairs with me when it's time.
2 people like this
@MarshaMusselman (38865)
• Midland, Michigan
16 Oct 15
@Rollo1 Mine would dry inside okay, but it would take a lot longer and I ususally need my clean clothes fast than that. Also, I wash the towels used for washing windows each day we work and those need to be done daily. I'd be behind every day if I did it that way. Also, I don't have time to take them outside onto a line in the summer months, so the dryer is my only way at the point in time.
And now I get to leave you lovely ladies and head to work for eight hours-working the midnight shift currently and this is my last night.
1 person likes this
@crazyhorseladycx (39503)
• United States
14 Oct 15
great pic, ms. anja! had quite the giggle o'er it. i actually save lint to make fire starters fer the wood burner here. what i don't need goes into gomer (the compost pile) - the birds 'n other critters pull out what they like 'n then the rest gets 're-purposed' 'n feeds the garden next spring.
3 people like this
@crazyhorseladycx (39503)
• United States
14 Oct 15
@Rollo1 no ma'am, that's where those empty toilet paper rolls come in handy 
2 people like this
@Marilynda1225 (91013)
• United States
14 Oct 15
Your humor always makes me laugh at such simple things....I always clean my lint trap after each dryer use so i don't have a nice, fluffy lint ball to enjoy
2 people like this
@BelleStarr (61463)
• United States
15 Oct 15
I love the way your mind works!! I have to admit I do think about what I could do with all that glorious lint!!
1 person likes this
@MarshaMusselman (38865)
• Midland, Michigan
16 Oct 15
@sofssu does that seem to help your soil or plants? I never thought to recycle it in some way.
1 person likes this
@Dragonairy1 (1722)
• Newcastle Upon Tyne, England
15 Oct 15
I like the idea of a lint pillow, but I haven't got a tumble dryer 
why have you got a tin foil ball, and should I have one 
why have you got a tin foil ball, and should I have one 1 person likes this
@Rollo1 (16676)
• Boston, Massachusetts
15 Oct 15
@Dragonairy1 Who are you kidding? Dr Who is popping in and out constantly, kidnapping young women.
1 person likes this
@Dragonairy1 (1722)
• Newcastle Upon Tyne, England
15 Oct 15
@Rollo1 That's true you do live in the us, so I know from films you're at risk from aliens, i'm about 500 miles from London so I should be pretty safe 
1 person likes this
@MarshaMusselman (38865)
• Midland, Michigan
16 Oct 15
THat surely isn't an image of your lint swirled together? It looks like a fruit tray or something like that. I remember to clean my lint trap each and every time for when we do towels it's loaded. What I need to do is clean the tubing leading to the outside world and make sure that's not trapping some too, but I probably won't do that part. I have a long tool to put down my trap to get what's missed with the regular trap, but that usually doesn't produce all that much.
Lint is also filled with dust and dirt, I surely wouldn't want to sleep on it ever.
1 person likes this
@troyburns (1405)
• New Zealand
15 Oct 15
I don't know how you get such pretty and poetic lint. No matter what goes in our dryer, the lint comes out the color of ash. Soft though, and I can see how it could be a pillow or cushion stuffing.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40843)
• Laguna Woods, California
15 Oct 15
What a cool idea! I have never thought about making a pillow from lint, but it makes sense.
1 person likes this
@ElizabethWallace (12069)
• United States
15 Oct 15
Ha Ha. There you go again, making me smile. I like to use lint to help birds make nests in the spring. I put little balls of it outside where I see them forage. Shhh. Don't tell the neighbors.
1 person likes this
@Tampa_girl7 (54714)
• United States
15 Oct 15
I had a neighbor that put it out for birds to build nests with.
1 person likes this
@cahaya1983 (11116)
• Malaysia
15 Oct 15
You just gave lint a whole new definition. I don't think I'll ever look at it the same way again. 
1 person likes this
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
15 Oct 15
Hmmnm, a lint pillow. I don't know, might be comfie, might contribute to allergies, lol
1 person likes this
