Don't throw away your dryer lint! In the winter birds love it to line their nest with. Also, if you burn wood, it makes a great fire starter. I stuff ours in toilet paper tubes and light the end. Works every time.
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Hey! Great idea! I put out the pet and human hair from our brushes, didn't think about the dryer lint!
Putting the lint in th empty toilet paper rolls is a great idea. You can then use it to light charcoal in the bbq chimney.
As an avid birder please DO NOT use dryer lint as nesting material there are perfumes, soap residue and most important it doesn't make good nesting material as dryer lint hardens after getting wet providing a poor nest for baby birds and the birds can get trapped in the hardened lint.
Safe things to use are pet hair cat and dog hair are great, natural cotton balls and cotton yarn cut no longer than 3 inches. Stuff into an old onion mesh sack or an unused suet cage and hang from trees and bushes. Then enjoy the hours of fun watching the birds come and take the nesting materials and know you are providing safe, warm and soft things for the mother bird and her babies. Enjoy :)
Please do not reuse the netted onion/produce bags for the wild birds. The birds' feet and/or legs can become tangled in the mesh. I have experienced this happening when I used these bags when feeding them.
Good to know. Personally I buy pre made nesting material and then add my own pet hair. :)
Thanks. Good to know. I personally buy nesting balls from the unlimited bird store and then add extra things to it. :)
I belong to a national birding club and their advise is not to use dryer lint. As in the previous post, there are toxins in the lint, when it gets wet it emits these toxins and is very deadly to the baby birds and their parents.
We sort of got off topic here, but I was glad to see the information about the onion/net bags for birds. I had been thinking of using them but will scratch that idea.
I don't think my dryer lint would be very good for birds as I do like to use fabric softener but I sure am accumulating lots of cat hair as my kitty sheds this time of year. I guess I'll just put the fur in the yard.
I love the great ideas here!
I recently read that dryer lint can contain some harmful particles that are irritating to birds' bodies -- please don't leave it out for the birds to use!
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