# Dryer lint **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 11, 2011, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-lint/588679 "2011-07-11T22:47:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CheeseDonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@CheeseDonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheeseDonkey)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-lint/588679/1 "2011-07-11T22:47:54Z")
How come no matter how many times you dry something, lint always comes off of it? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-lint/588679/2 "2011-07-11T22:49:23Z")
What, you want the the fibers to be indestructible (and radioactive)? ---
**Author:** ![CheeseDonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@CheeseDonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheeseDonkey)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-lint/588679/3 "2011-07-11T23:05:50Z")
And how come 99% of the time, dryer lint is grey? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-lint/588679/4 "2011-07-11T23:08:01Z")
> [@CheeseDonkey](#): > > And how come 99% of the time, dryer lint is grey? Because most Americans wear a lot of bluejeans, and have white underwear. If you separated your clothes by colors, you would find the lint colored similarly. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-lint/588679/5 "2011-07-11T23:22:38Z")
> [@CheeseDonkey](#): > > And how come 99% of the time, dryer lint is grey? life is dull and fuzzy ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-lint/588679/6 "2011-07-11T23:22:51Z")
In fact, if you’re selective in what you dry, you can get lint in distinctive enough colors (allowing for mixing some colors of lint) that you can make a [facsimile of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper fresco](http://www.ripleys.com/blog/unusual-art/ripleys-acquires-lint-artwork-of-biblical-proportions/). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-lint/588679/7 "2011-07-11T23:35:30Z")
Eventually you’ll run out of lint. However, that’s synonymous with running out of cloth. Well before that point, the clothes will have developed holes big enough that you’ll just throw them out. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-lint/588679/8 "2011-07-12T12:52:21Z")
For some reason this just feels like a the beginning of a classic thread ala airplane treadmills or 1920s style death rays. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-lint/588679/9 "2011-07-12T12:57:04Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > For some reason this just feels like a the beginning of a classic thread ala airplane treadmills or 1920s style death rays. Maybe if you would have duplicate posted that message five or six times you’d be right. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-lint/588679/10 "2011-07-12T13:00:45Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > Maybe if you would have duplicate posted that message five or six times you’d be right. Exactly how much encouragement do you think I need? 😉 On Topic: sort of. If you collected all your dryer lint and spun it into thread and wove it into cloth and made new clothes out of it, could you have clothes forever without having to buy anything new? ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-lint/588679/11 "2011-07-12T13:02:32Z")
> [@CheeseDonkey](#): > > And how come 99% of the time, dryer lint is grey? First check to make sure there are no dolphins in the dryer. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-lint/588679/12 "2011-07-12T16:56:31Z")
> [@](#): > > If you collected all your dryer lint and spun it into thread and wove it into cloth and made new clothes out of it, could you have clothes forever without having to buy anything new? Well, there’d be inefficiencies, of course. Some lint is lost while you’re wearing it, not in the dryer, and some would go out the vent, and so on. More significantly, clothes are mostly made out of long fibers, while lint is mostly short broken fibers, so you wouldn’t be able to make very sturdy cloth out of it (maybe some sort of felt). ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-lint/588679/13 "2011-07-12T16:59:00Z")
> [@CheeseDonkey](#): > > How come no matter how many times you dry something, lint always comes off of it? Because the dryer is slowly destroying your clothes. Tumble your clothes long enough - and I mean _really_ long enough - and you’ll tear them to shreds (and completely block the dryer’s lint catcher). ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-lint/588679/14 "2011-07-12T17:09:20Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > some would go out the vent At my house, the wall and porch beneath my dryer vent seem to have a layer of lint embedded in them which no amount of sweeping will get rid of. Probably if I pressure-washed it, but I don’t care that much. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-lint/588679/15 "2011-07-12T17:36:03Z")
Personal observation: If you take your clothes out of the dryer when they are damp, they last longer and stay brighter. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-lint/588679/16 "2011-07-12T19:14:24Z")
When I wash my reds and pinks together, I get pink lint. Usually mine tends to be dark blue because I don’t wear white clothes, ever, not even undergarments. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-lint/588679/17 "2011-07-12T19:31:00Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Personal observation: If you take your clothes out of the dryer when they are damp, they last longer and stay brighter. Serious question: how do you keep damp clothes from mildewing? ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-lint/588679/18 "2011-07-12T19:54:33Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Serious question: how do you keep damp clothes from mildewing? Finish drying them on a line/rack before putting them away. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-lint/588679/19 "2011-07-12T19:55:39Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Finish drying them on a line/rack before putting them away. Fair enough, but if I’m going to do that, why bother with the dryer in the first place? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-lint/588679/20 "2011-07-12T21:01:19Z")
It’s quicker to dry them partly in the dryer, but that would only be relevant for at most one or two days worth of clothes.