vacuum dirt/dust/stuff

Ok, I have been quiet for awhile but now can no longer contain another silly question. It goes like this,,,,,,,should you put the dirt, dust, & stuff that you vacuum from the house into your compost? What I wonder is should you concern yourself with maybe the materials that may come from carpet do you think or would this be so insignificant that it really does not matter. Or would the be other things to consider? We have a dog and keep looking at the dog hair that gets vacuumed up and looks like it just might fit in the compost.

Well, here's one OPINION. They also say to use dryer lint.

Of course they don't address the chemical aspect of it. I guess it would depend on how much non-organic/synthetic/chemical material you're tolerating in your current compost pile.

Personally I don't think the volume of carpet fiber in the vacuum bag would be that much. I know the VAST majority of what's in my vacuum is dog hair and dust bunnies as I only have 2 area rugs in the house. However, if you know you've specifically had to clean up something "chemically" OR if you use a carpet powder, I don't think I'd use it.

Dryer lint would depend on what you use in the dryer (speculating that the final rinse would take out MOST of the detergent ingredients).

deriter wrote:Ok, I have been quiet for awhile but now can no longer contain another silly question.

Dear deriter, how many times do we have to tell you, "There are no silly questions".

Questions make us think, and I think this question of yours is a good one.

Dog hairs and other household stuff collected in the vacuum go direct into my worm composter once I've picked out any small toys etc. that munchkin has sucked up.
The worms love it once it starts to break down as it contains decaying skin flakes and that all important decaying hair.
I had a masssive ball of red worms in one of my big composting bins all balled up in the rotting contents out the cleaner , after seeing the amount of worms in it made me decide it was rocket fuel food for the worms hence my using it in the worm bin.

I've even managed to score a large trash bag of hair clippings from the ladies hair dressing salon that my wife uses.
These are now outside getting weathered and aired of hairdressers chemicals.

I have made sure that the hair is not in a big ball but even spread over the contents of the worm bin ... did the same when I put it in the composter

I don't think I would put the contents of my vacuum bag into the compost pile. One of the ways to reduce indoor air pollution if you have a lot of electronics (electronic devices are treated with flame retardants that are hazardous) is by vacuuming often. I only use soap nuts for laundry detergent, but would only put the lint from undyed, untreated 100% cotton clothing in, if any.

I'm kinda obsessive about my compost, though.

I do recycle my dryer lint into the most beautiful writing paper, though!

Ok, so it sounds like it is the consensus that it would be alright to use the vacuum stuff in the outside compost bin or worm compost bucket. I was wondering about the nylon & other synthetic stuff in the carpet if that were something to be concerned with. We only have two bedrooms with carpeting and an area rug in the living room so maybe that's not so much. And yes from what I see that comes from the vacuum is mostly dog hair and dust bunnies. Our dog is a Vizsla and she has short hair, but still sheds alot. Seems like she should be bald by what I find on the floor.
I have often looked at the dryer lint and thought there should be some use for all that. So again, you folks wouldn't worry about other nylon and synthetic material that may be in the lint? Maybe sometimes I just over think this stuff.
Anyway I would like to hear how many of you do use both the vacuum stuff and the clothes dryer lint in your compost.
Thanks for your opinions and responses on this subject.

deriter,
We've been feeding our worms moistened dryer lint for several years with excellent results. Never thought to use vac bag contents in the worm bins, but might start adding it to our compost piles.

deriter wrote: Our dog is a Vizsla and she has short hair, but still sheds alot. Seems like she should be bald by what I find on the floor.

I've got 2 Beagles and the one with the thyroid condition sheds so much I feel the same way . . . why isn't she bald? Every time I brush her I get a small Tribble out of her.

This is from a compost book, The Complete Compost Gardening Guide:
Carpeting, rugs: synthetic fibers will never decompse. Even natural-fiber carpets may be treated with chemicals to prevent decomposition.
Vacuum cleaner contents: Pros: Diverse nutrient source. Cons: May contain inorganic fibers and materials that will not decompose. Messy to handle.
Other notes: Compost neutral at best, in spite of potential range of ingredients.

So would they act to keep things friable like peat & vermiculite? And would that be "helpful" since we don't add any of those ingredients? I would imagine it's such a small percentage of the total volume of the compost (and the Mel's Mix) that it really won't hurt too much?

Right or wrong????

Oh Gosh I don't know and the book didn't elaborate.

I guess its just a personal choice. For me, I wouldn't bother with anything that is not a well known benefit to the plants.

You have to view things in perspective & not get too neurotic over things or suffer internet information overload .

Every time a chopper or aircraft flies within 600 feet over our place I'm betting we get just as much pollution in the air as we do from the vacuum tank contents , same goes for the 6334 average number of cars , trucks , vans and agricultural stuff that climbs up the 300 feet hill , 2 .5 mile hill that runs by our place.
When the wind blows from the east and is not strong we get smells from the steel works which is 24 miles away .

All that stuff gets eaten by our crops and ingested or inhaled by us.
The few fibres of carpet in the compost heap are like as not even less than the amount we breath in whilst inside the home. The same goes for the clothing we wear & the cars we travel in .
I hate to think of the artificial substances in a home that we absorb through the skin or eyeballs.

That's why I'm happy to use the vacuum bin contents ..obviously if it were a new carpet I'd perhaps not use the contents for four or five months till everything is settled down.

What I have noticed is that once the worms have eaten what they want there is sometimes a very small ball of carpet / clothing fibres left , it's not a prob to pick them out and put them in the trash can.

plantoid wrote:You have to view things in perspective & not get too neurotic over things or suffer internet information overload

Yes, I agree with that. But I believe one should pay attention to what is going on around you and try to avoid things that are easy to fix and just try to exist with the things you cannot. There is a lot that we can fix, change, or avoid. (just my opinion) Now what do you folks think, use the vacuum stuff & clothes dry lint or not?

I had no idea. Hair in the worm bin! I'm definetly going to do this with my daughter and I with long hair. Thank you! I compost dryer lint also but not vacuum bag contents. I'll have to try and remember that one!

Be careful with composting hair.

One year we collected cut hair daily from the salons. I don't know what my parents were planning. In the end, it was the most fly-ridden thing I'd ever seen. No one wanted to get near it. But it was just hair by itself. I was glad when it got tossed.

Another thing about hair comes from the cosmotology licensing boards. Hair can be very sharp...like a needle or a razor. It can cut right through skin...that's why salon floors have to be kept clean. The edge created by the sheers or the razor only enhances it's cutting ability.

That worms like it is wild!

I would be careful of using hair from a salon. Typically people that go to salons often treat their hair with chemicals and that probably wouldn't be a good thing to put in the compost.

I put my own hair in my compost because I don't do anything other than wash it.

Be careful with composting hair.

One year we collected cut hair daily from the salons. I don't know what my parents were planning. In the end, it was the most fly-ridden thing I'd ever seen. No one wanted to get near it. But it was just hair by itself. I was glad when it got tossed.

Another thing about hair comes from the cosmotology licensing boards. Hair can be very sharp...like a needle or a razor. It can cut right through skin...that's why salon floors have to be kept clean. The edge created by the sheers or the razor only enhances it's cutting ability.

That worms like it is wild!

avadgardner, I feel like I am missing something here, like perhaps a couple of syllables, or words..... OR perhaps even a picture...
WHAT the heck are you saying here

GWN wrote:

Be careful with composting hair.

One year we collected cut hair daily from the salons. I don't know what my parents were planning. In the end, it was the most fly-ridden thing I'd ever seen. No one wanted to get near it. But it was just hair by itself. I was glad when it got tossed.

Another thing about hair comes from the cosmotology licensing boards. Hair can be very sharp...like a needle or a razor. It can cut right through skin...that's why salon floors have to be kept clean. The edge created by the sheers or the razor only enhances it's cutting ability.

That worms like it is wild!

avadgardner, I feel like I am missing something here, like perhaps a couple of syllables, or words..... OR perhaps even a picture...
WHAT the heck are you saying here

I'm not sure what you are missing!

The trash can of pre-composted hair stunk like you would not believe and was full of bugs (no photo needed or wanted!)

Hair can be quite sharp...piercing feet (and hands) when you work with it...just like needles.

Someone above said worms love hair, and that sound weird to me! LOL

Ava

Hi!

I don't know the answer to whether to compost it or not, but I do have a use for dryer lint. Save your dryer lint and cardboard egg cartons. When you have a good amount, stuff the individual egg cups with dryer lint, pour some melted parafin wax over each, and insert a wick (sometimes you can twist up dryer lint to use as a wick). Let cool. When cut up, each individual "egg" is a fabulous firestarter!

I have a compost bin going (my first, so I am the opposite of an expert) and I do include dog hair and my hair, but I personally would not get salon hair.

Happy composting!

~Amanda

asilcox wrote:Hi!

I don't know the answer to whether to compost it or not, but I do have a use for dryer lint. Save your dryer lint and cardboard egg cartons. When you have a good amount, stuff the individual egg cups with dryer lint, pour some melted parafin wax over each, and insert a wick (sometimes you can twist up dryer lint to use as a wick). Let cool. When cut up, each individual "egg" is a fabulous firestarter!

I have a compost bin going (my first, so I am the opposite of an expert) and I do include dog hair and my hair, but I personally would not get salon hair.

Happy composting!

~Amanda

I did something similar a few years ago when I was getting into charcoal grilling.

I'm not sure what you are missing!

The trash can of pre-composted hair stunk like you would not believe and was full of bugs (no photo needed or wanted!)

Hair can be quite sharp...piercing feet (and hands) when you work with it...just like needles.

Someone above said worms love hair, and that sound weird to me! LOL

\

Ok that makes more sense, perhaps it is just a better day.
So your parents saved all your hair?

I saved all my hair when I went on Chemo, it was very long and I had it corn braided, and then I made it into a wig, but never used it cuz it was too hot.... likely TMI
However I still have the wig, I am thinking perhaps it might keep the deer away.... Perhaps might be TOXIC.. though
I will NOT compost hair, and I will not feed it to my worms, I might use it to keep away the deer though.

LOL...it wasn't JUST my hair. It was from a salon. I'm sure I had some hair in there though!

If salons here had it separate from trash I might consider it, but they don't and I don't want to deal with it!

If I had deer...I bag the dust bunnies!

Ava