Sawdust is an intriguing by-product of wood that has a variety of uses.


Although
we must be sure not to breathe it in (sawdust can contain oils & potentially
harmful compounds), for a woodworker, it’s very hard to beat the smell of freshly created sawdust.
We
probably like it so much because we adore the smell of wood in general and
sawdust is nothing more than small fragments of wood. Unfortunately, it may
have as much to do with the chemicals used to treat our wood as it does with
the inherent scent of wood. Sawdust, often known as wood shavings,
is a valuable by-product of woodworking that has numerous applications on both
urban and rural areas.
Woodworkers make huge quantities of sawdust
by cutting, planning & milling wood.
What you finish up doing with your sawdust is reliant on how much you’ve
got stashed away, and it’s a good idea to keep
your sawdust in a dedicated bin or barrel.
Sawdust has numerous uses in and around the garden. It has a wide range
of applications, from mulching plants to growing mushrooms.
Use sawdust in and around plants to repel
weeds, on a pathway between plants to deter slugs, mix with compost, clean up
spills, it’s a good fire starter when mixed with some old candle wax, make fire
bricks and smoker pellets out of it, you can grow potatoes in it, mix with glue
to make a handy wood filler, use as a mulch around plants, kitty litter
alternative, feed plants with it, and for those who live in colder climates,
I’ve heard that if you sprinkle it on ice around your home, it makes it less
slippery.
This naturally absorbent material is great
for cleaning up huge spills or helping to soak away stains that are stubbornly
stuck. Sawdust is especially great for
paint and oil spills that you can’t get up with regular cleaning and is
particularly useful in the compost bin because it decomposes slowly and can be
mixed in with heavy soils to help balance out the green materials.
It will
take about a year for sawdust to decompose into compost; turn it on a regular
basis to speed up the process. It will
feed the soil and enhance organic matter, allowing it to be used in plant soil
the following year.
If you
need your compost pile to decompose quickly, add a slow-release
fertilizer. Despite the fact that sawdust takes a long time to decompose,
it will give nutrients to the compost and aid in the decomposition of other
materials.
Turn your
sawdust in the compost pile on a
regular basis, and make sure you’re adding a diverse range of materials to the
compost pile. Keep in mind that saw dust might deplete the soil’s nitrogen
supply when used in the garden or compost pile. Using “green” or raw
sawdust might cause nitrogen deficit, thus always let it “cure” in
the compost for at least a year before using it in the garden.
Composting
toilets require a chemical reactant to absorb liquids and function effectively,
and sawdust is a great option for this because it is far less expensive than
other options like peat moss.
You can
eliminate odours for good by simply keeping a few buckets in the outhouse or
bathroom area for your composting toilet.
Technically, you can put any type of sawdust organic material on your
composting toilet, but you should avoid woods that have been treated with
pesticides or chemicals. If you use treated sawdust, it may affect the
compost’s capacity to be used in your garden in the future.
Sawdust
isn’t always easy to come by. While many homes use wood to heat, sawdust
resulting from the chain-sawing of wood may not be present; it depends of where
the wood was harvested.
If you
don’t have any, there’s a few things you could try such as contacting a nearby
sawmill, any woodworkers you know, buy it from a hardware store, enquire with
local farmers who cut wood on-site and have an excess of sawdust, tree loppers,
and your local municipal waste centre.
If you
see someone cutting trees and they are towing a wood chipper while you’re
driving about, you can always ask if they need a place to dump the wood chips
or sawdust.
Note:
Before you bring your sawdust home from a local sawmill or store, be sure to
ask them whether the wood used to make
the sawdust has been treated with chemicals or pesticides.
When
using sawdust in and around plants, always start with minimal amounts to see
how your plants react. That way, if your plants start to ‘yellow,’ you may rake
it out with less concern for plant harm. Plants that turn a light yellow colour
could be deficient in nitrogen. If this happens, use a side dressing of manure
or blood and bone.
Termites
and carpenter ants are a problem in many locations, including mine. If you
reside in such an area, keep the sawdust
piles away from your house, sheds, barns, and any other structures on the
land.
Sawdust should be entirely dried out before use.
You run the risk of spontaneous combustion if you store large volumes of
sawdust that hasn’t entirely dried out in a confined place.
Sawdust
comes in a variety of particle sizes and avoid fine particles that can be
inhaled by pets and people on your property.
Walnut
sawdust includes a herbicide that may be harmful to your plants. Use it to
eradicate weeds along a garden path, but avoid using it around plants that you
want to save.
Cherry
and apple woods make excellent smoker wood chips if you have a large supply of
the correct size wood chips on hand; nevertheless, hardwood is preferred for
heavier meats like beef and pork. A lighter hardwood is recommended for more
delicate foods like chicken and fish.
Softwoods
like pine and cedar should be avoided for smoking food, use these woods to
produce fire starters and firebricks, Pine & Cedar are too resinous and can
destroy meat and add an unwanted scent and flavour to the food being prepared.
As if
there’s not already enough uses for
Sawdust listed about, it was only a week ago I heard about a new
disinfectant created from sawdust that kills nearly 100% of harmful micro-organisms
and disease-causing microbes, including anthrax and numerous kinds of flu. It
could also be effective against spores, which are a latent form of bacteria
that can be tough to eradicate.
[…] https://www.glzwoodw.biz/sawdust/ […]