# dumb question on what to do with dust...



## Rhaugle (May 12, 2017)

He guys,
What do you do with the dust when you clean our your systems? Do you put it into a garbage bag and throw it away? just dump it in the trash? Burn it?


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## Pineknot_86 (Feb 19, 2016)

I save it and plan on using it to start a fire to get rid of a lot of tree branches, etc. this winter.
My father said the only dumb question is the one not asked.


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## Catpower (Jan 11, 2016)

I am in the process of finishing up on set of cherry cabinets for our house, I diligently saved all the planer shavings for my wife, she uses them to smoke meat in the smoker, damn it tastes and smells good

But with other woods or mixes it goes into a pile to burn


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

It is dumped around trees or plants in my yard. Or if the season it right it is dumped into the garden. Be aware that it uses nitrogen to decompose this waste material.

George


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

It doesn't burn very good. I burn it but some of it is so compact it can smolder for days. Soon I may start using it for mulch in places I'm trying to create a non-mow areas.


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## bargoon (Apr 20, 2016)

I take it to the landfill - they have a section for wood and sawdust.


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## WhoWoodHaveThought (May 21, 2017)

I either use it as a really cheap fertilizer, to start fires, or I store my lead nose ammo in it. It absorbs moisture very well, so if anything needs to be kept dry I keep it in a box full of sawdust. And last but not least, I also use it as temporary bedding for my ferret when I need to buy more. He seems to like it :wink2:.


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## J.C. (Jan 20, 2012)

In the winter time we burn the planer and jointer shaving in the wood burner. The saw and sander dust gets thrown away or dumped in a pile in the yard to be mixed with dirt and leaves at another time and the planer and jointer shaving also end up in this pile during the warm months. The saw and sander dust doesn't burn very well and is dangerous trying to throw it into the wood burner.


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## JoeFromSD (Feb 23, 2015)

I wait until I have at least 5 big trash bags full of planer shavings,

and then put an add on Craigslist, people love this stuff! Mostly for mulch but a lot of horse people put it down in their corrals.


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

WhoWoodHaveThought said:


> I either use it as a really cheap fertilizer, to start fires, or I store my lead nose ammo in it. It absorbs moisture very well, so if anything needs to be kept dry I keep it in a box full of sawdust. And last but not least, I also use it as temporary bedding for my ferret when I need to buy more. He seems to like it :wink2:.


It is an anti-fertilizer. As I noted above it takes nitrogen FROM the soil.

George​


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

JoeFromSD said:


> I wait until I have at least 5 big trash bags full of planer shavings,
> 
> and then put an add on Craigslist, people love this stuff! Mostly for mulch but a lot of horse people put it down in their corrals.


Real shavings (not sawdust) are good for growing tomatoes. (and any other vegetable) My Dad used to grow great tomatoes in bushel baskets full of shavings. He would water every day with a weak fertilizer solution. He lived in West Palm Beach with a small back yard. 

When I was growing up we had a garden bigger than his whole city lot in WPB.

George


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## Catpower (Jan 11, 2016)

Walnut saw dust is toxic to a lot of plants


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## WhoWoodHaveThought (May 21, 2017)

GeorgeC said:


> It is an anti-fertilizer. As I noted above it takes nitrogen FROM the soil.
> 
> George​


Thanks, I no longer use sawdust for this purpose. I do use the shavings in my tomato plants, like others have said. (although it's usually not shavings, I always almost make dust, and a lot of it).


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## J.C. (Jan 20, 2012)

Catpower said:


> Walnut saw dust is toxic to a lot of plants


And horses. It can cause laminitis and should never be used in bedding. Butternut should also never be used in horse bedding.


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## Toolman50 (Mar 22, 2015)

Question: 
Can sawdust/woodshavings in the flowerbeds promote termite activity? 
I've heard both ways. 
Some say no wood on the ground anywhere close to the house. 
Others say it's no different than putting mulch in the flowerbeds. 
In Florida, contractors can get big fines for burying wood on new home lots because termites are such a problem. That's why most ground floor walls are built with concrete blocks in Florida.


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