Dust Collector:What to do w/dust???

[Carroll Courtney]

For last several yrs I have always empty the bag, and set it out for the trash man to carry it away.I was thinking surely there has got to be a better usage for the dust other than the landfill.I do have low spots in the yard that I could use it for that or maybe the few flower beds in the yard but what about carpenter ants??Will this attract them having something as fine as dust???
What do you guys do with yours,if there is something that the dust can be use for???Just wondering----Carroll

[Chris Fournier]

You can compost it but it needs to be thoroughly composted to be of use in your garden. Sawdust is a nitrogen grabber not giver when it is not composted and that is a step back for the roses and radishes.

[Gene Howe]

Know any potters? They use dust and shavings to give their work texture and different colors.
We used to till it in to loosen up our clay soil, but my biologist BIL discouraged that use. He claims that it takes more nitrogen out of the soil to break down the cellulose than it gives back. We went to straw and manure. It works.
Some saw dust (Walnut?) is actually harmful to plants.
For those reasons, we don't even use it as ground cover for the winter.
My DC is vented outside. Our winds carry most of it away. What collects in the separator, I burn. No potters close to me.

[Mike Heidrick]

I burn mine.

[Kent A Bathurst]

FWIW - SWMBO runs her own business doing gardening [not heavy landscaping] - design, install, maintenance, consulting, etc. Very well-educated on everything there is to know on the topic........It is as much as my life would be worth to even suggest sawdust as mulch on flower beds - too many different things in there, and some are deadly [as Gene pointed out]. Also - same deal on ground-up hardwood pallets, etc - verboten. Not starting an argument, just passing along this expert's position.

Mine goes out with the trash.

[Tim Morton]

FWIW - SWMBO runs her own business doing gardening [not heavy landscaping] - design, install, maintenance, consulting, etc. Very well-educated on everything there is to know on the topic........It is as much as my life would be worth to even suggest sawdust as mulch on flower beds - too many different things in there, and some are deadly [as Gene pointed out]. Also - same deal on ground-up hardwood pallets, etc - verboten. Not starting an argument, just passing along this expert's position.

Mine goes out with the trash.

yup...my wife is also a "master" gardener...i burn mine.

[David Nelson1]

Right now I have a lot of oak, some pine and very little poplar. I give it to a fellow @ work. He uses it for animal bedding. (right word?)

[Karl Brogger]

Dumpster. I feel bad for the garbage guy when he dumps it on a breezy day.

[anthony wall]

a guy comes to collect mine ,apparently he turns it into charcoal brickettes for the barbie though i have no idea of the process ,i am happy that it is being used for something useful and in the process saving other timber from being cut for the same purpose.every little helps

[John Coloccia]

A guy comes to the local woodworking school to pick up the dust. He uses it for bedding for horses, I believe.

[Curt Harms]

Right now I have a lot of oak, some pine and very little poplar. I give it to a fellow @ work. He uses it for animal bedding. (right word?)

I give mine to a wildlife rescue place. I don't use walnut or exotics so am not too concerned about toxins. I don't think the animals contact the bedding directly anyway. They're in cages and the wood chips go underneath the cages to absorb. I wouldn't want to endanger Kent or Tim's health and future happiness () but I wonder if you could compost sawdust by mixing it with green waste and a few handfuls of urea or ammonium nitrate as a nitrogen donor.

[Phil Thien]

I use it to make my own premium line of MDF.

[Aaron Berk]

U guys are all missing the obvious solution to your composting blues.

How many of us are coffee drinkers? Not just the sippers, but the heavy drinkers?

I'm one of em, all the Starbucks within a 50 mile radius know me by name lol


Starbucks gives away TONS of coffee grounds. I can go for coffee, then stop for a refill and by the time I come back home I've got 40lbs of nitrogen rich coffee grounds to dump in with my sawdust.

I've been doing this for a few yrs now, and my sandy island soil has become very plant and garden friendly.

[Luc Vincent]

+1 for coffee grinds, eggshells, kitchen scraps, shredded junk mail, etc! I got seriously into composting for awhile. I was turning the compost bins every week, making sure they stayed moist, etc. Gathering anything that vaguely resembled compost-able material. This also included 2-acres of yard clippings once a week(tons of nitrogen there!), leaves, sawdust, etc. I worked and worked at it...it became an obsession almost to feed the compost monster!

Then I tore my rotator cuff in my shoulder and had to stand down for almost 6 months. Guess what?? The bins still composted beautifully..in fact maybe even better than before. So now I just use my big cinder-block bins and load them up. Let the rain provide the water and let mother nature make the soil.

Just remember....COMPOST HAPPENS!! LOL!

[Aaron Berk]

+1 for coffee grinds, eggshells, kitchen scraps, shredded junk mail, etc! I got seriously into composting for awhile. I was turning the compost bins every week, making sure they stayed moist, etc. Gathering anything that vaguely resembled compost-able material. This also included 2-acres of yard clippings once a week(tons of nitrogen there!), leaves, sawdust, etc. I worked and worked at it...it became an obsession almost to feed the compost monster!

Then I tore my rotator cuff in my shoulder and had to stand down for almost 6 months. Guess what?? The bins still composted beautifully..in fact maybe even better than before. So now I just use my big cinder-block bins and load them up. Let the rain provide the water and let mother nature make the soil.

Just remember....COMPOST HAPPENS!! LOL!

Compost happens--------- I love it LOL