I was remodeling my boys bedroom a couple weeks ago. Put up shiplap pine and was looking to finish it with something low VOC for their health and came across Linseed oil. Tried one coat and it looked good, only slightly whiffy, but I left the windows open to air it out. That night, a skunk decided to pay a visit and sprayed right outside the window. Needless to say, the house stunk, so we decided to grab the tent and take the kids camping locally.
Another Helter Skelter Sunday saw us setting up camp, grabbing supplies, rushing back to the house to apply a second coat, and off to roast hot dogs and marshmallows over the campfire. I never expected to get a call from our next door neighbor at 6:30, telling us our house was gone.
The rags I used to apply the oil spontaneously combusted, they think. If we’d been there, all four of us would have fit into a shoebox.
There’s a lot of things I’m going to miss. My signed photos from David Sloan, Barry Sanders, Eric Beverly, and all my Lions stuff, but those are just items.
Today is my sons birthday, four years old. I am so thankful we’re all here to celebrate it. That skunk probably saved our lives. Funny how things happen. We have a long road ahead of us to rebuild, but at least we’re here to do it, and for that I owe that skunk, wherever it is.
Wow , so very sorry for your loss , but at least you and your family is safe/alive…someone was looking out for you !
and now you can get another fresh start in a new/ different house , AND start to rebuild what you lost memorabilia -wise again , so happy that nobody got hurt -or worse.
Sending love, my bro.
Glad you guys are all healthy and fine.
This will be just a “life story” soon. Love that you are anchoring to the truth of it.
You’re going to love your new living situation and upgrade your life.
Out of curiosity, where did you store the rags, and how? The instructions always say to seal them in a metal container, soaked with water, but I’ve never done that. I tend to wash them, and then hang them up to dry somewhere away from anything else flammable, so if they do spontaneously combust, nothing else goes up with them.
spiritual meaning of skunk encounter.
Skunk symbolism has a lot to do with danger, fear, warning, and alertness . A skunk may be reminding you to become aware of your environment so you can protect yourself from harm. Skunks are solitary creatures and skunk medicine can help you become more independent and self-reliant.
Yeah, any oil-based finish will have some very clear warnings about spontaneous combustion on the container. Not paint, but linseed oil, tung oil, varnish, etc. are all dangerous. As mentioned in my previous post, I’ve never followed the instructions but rather just tried to mitigate risks by putting rags where they wouldn’t catch anything else on fire if they did go off. After TCLion’s experience, maybe I’ll be a little more careful.
Tossed them in a bucket and left. I never even gave it a second thought. Investigator said he’d seen it happen with towels that had been washed, but still had VEGETABLE OIL in them.
A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I used to work in a grocery store. Sophomore year in high school. I remember they said oil activates some things. They told us to never clean up oil spills with cat litter. They said the oil would activate it and it takes a lot of time, but it is extremely common to have dumpster fires as a result of this. The stuff takes forever to ignite.
I remember hearing about oily rags spontaneously combusting but frankly I might have piled them up too not thinking about it. Glad you and your family are ok. In the end that is really the only thing that matters. I’m going to toast that skunk tonight with a little Blanton’s on an ice sphere.
