can you put..............

human hair in a compost heap. Hair that gets caught in the plug hole of the bath or something like that.

 

Hi Newbiegrower We put all the hairs and such like from our hoover cannister onto the compost heap that has human and pet hairs in it and it all rots down,so I should think that bath plug hair would do just as well,though if I was you I would wear rubber gloves first as it might be a bit yucky,mixed in with all that soap and dead skin cells :eek: :D

 

I put the cats hair in mine once I've brushed him!

 

Sorry for crashing your thread Newbie....but can I put the fluff from the dryer in the compost heap?? Or will the non-natural fibres not rot down????

 

I put my hair in and it breaks down fine. What kid of a carpet do you have windy miller? Apparently if you have a wool carpet its ok, but I suppose theres all the non-natural things you vacuum up.

 

At this time of year, I tend to hany hair on the washing lie for the birds to use in their nests. I've watched everything from jackdaws to sparrow taking my son's hair, horse hair, sheeps wool, and dog hair from the washing line. Unfortunately, my son has decided to grow his hair!

Yes - compost it! I also compost vacuumings - the threads of carpet etc (tinsel, pen lids, odd socks! :D )that con't break down don't worry me - I either just leave them in, or fish themn out when harvesting!

Dryer fluff is worth a go (on the washing line first!) - I have childhood memories of bluetits pulling strands from my drying mohair jumper on the whirlygig!

 

Thats interesting Shiney. I wouldn't have thought to compost hair. Not in any large amount that is. Wouldn't have thought it decomposed at all really.

 

Have a feeling I read somewhere it adds nitrogen to the soil?

 

Shiney,I know I am blonde can you explain what Toluene-diamines is,it sounds like some sort of disease :eek: :D

 

Toluene diamine is another name for Xylene. Probably a caecinogen. It is derived from benzene and ammonia.

 

Well I was close!!

 

Anything natural - ie hair, wool, cotton etc will rot down. But I would not put any manmade fibre in the compost - that won't rot, or will take tens of years to do so. So cotton towels will rot, but polyester/cotton fabric will leave the polyester part untouched.

Most carpets are mixtures - such as wool/nylon mix. But I suspect that what you vacuum up is OK to put on the compost, because wool is much weaker than nylon, and what you are vacuuming up is broken wool fibres - not nylon fibres.

 

Thankyou JB,at least someone out there was listening :D

I use to use Xylene quite a lot at one comapny I worked at for 17 years.We were never given protection when using it and other chemicals,so I dread to think what is going on inside of us because surely our skin would have absorbed some of these substances. :eek: :eek:

 

I actually got the structure wrong with my 'know it all' answer!! There are actually 2 amine groups one either side of the methyl group on toluene. But yes I wouldn't like to handle the stuff without protection.