Soot

Hi folks. Pretty soon I'm going to have to get my chimney swept. I was wondering, is there a use for the resulting soot ? BTW, I burn coal. Cheers...freddy.

 

If you`ve ever seen the gardens of Victorian terraced houses, you will notice the black soil. This was caused by regular dressings of soot. It was used as a soil conditioner and slug repellant.:thumb:

 

Thanks Dai. I assume therefore that there's no nutritional value ? Also, is there anywhere I shouldn't use it ? Is it completely neutral ? Cheers...freddy.

 

You can put it in a hessian sack or leg from some tights, soak it in water and use it diluted as a high nitrogen feed. It's also quite good as a carrot fly deterrent if you sprinkle a little along each side of the rows.

 

There's a reason that soot is not used nowadays, and it is not just that we don't burn coal like the Victorians. Unlike ash, which is (generally, not always) free of the more toxic byproducts of combustion, we now know soot is full of nasties. Coming from a coal fired power station with all its posh filters, it is known as fly ash and disposed of as toxic waste.
Benzene: the first ever proven carcinogen, discovered to cause tumours in child chimney sweeps. What you smell at the filling station when you fill up. Even as fumes, sophisticated exhaust systems are required to limit exposure to filling station employees. (They're the tall pipes lurking in the background.) Abroad, without this, cancer levels are high in such workers.
Also, miniscule amounts of dioxins and furans, the emissions that everyone hates to have coming from waste "recycling" plants' furnace chimneys. These are some of the most toxic small molecule chemicals known to man.
None of these will make you feel ill. You will get damaged DNA though, and who knows what might result eventually.
Shame really, as soot is particularly high in nitrogen and does warm the soil. But then again, it kills the slugs by poisoning them. The Victorians weren't too good on toxicology...!:dh:

 

Interesting, I DID wonder if there might be any potentially harmful elements. I'd better just get rid of it, if in doubt...... Cheers...freddy.

 

Did you know your pc keyboard harbours more germs than your toilet seat. So the next time you eat a sandwich at your desk......................

 

Are you saying we should all eat in the toilet ? :D

 

BTW, what's that got to do with soot ?

 

The Victorians weren't too good on toxicology...!:dh:[/quote]

But they were brilliant Empire builders.:gnthb::lollol:

 

Empires built on soot.....true....that !

 

So the soot I can lay my hands on, from wood burning fires, has all the advantages and none of the disadvantages, is that right?

 

Caj said,

Depends if the wood has been treated or not, wood soot does contain some napthalines but the main problem with soots is their extreme fineness and they are easily inhaled into the lungs (not good),on the other hand wood ash from untreated wood is good it has a slight liming action and can be used to raise soil pH larger particles of ash will improve the soil texture.

 

Thanks, walnut:gnthb: None of the wood is treated and I can use all the ash on the garden as well. Great.:wink: