Ott Light Fire
 

Dont panic, not the Ott Lights Fault. I have a floor standing one with the attached magnifier, standing between my recliner chair and a window. Bend your magnifier down out of harms way, coz the sunlight thru the magnifier set the headrest of my recliner on fire, right next to my ear.
I had mentioned this in another post but thought I'd warn everyone that hasn't read it.

Thank you for this information! Several years ago my youngest daughter borrowed a strapless prom dress from a friend and I sewed on some straps as she was very thin and did not have much to hold the dress up. When she was done with the dress, I tried to "unsew" the straps and could not see the stitches very well so I took the dress outside in the sun, along with one of those magnifying glass that you put around your neck. I was "unpicking" away and kept smelling some sort of burning smell - lo and behold - the dress was on fire from the magnifying glass! Not too bad though.

Glad no one was hurt and that you were there and the fire didn't go unnoticed. Thanks for alerting everyone on the dangers of a magnifying glass and sun. This is something we probably learned in scouts or science but never thought we would use in a daily setting.

Thanks for the tip. My Mom is using magnifiers now to do handwork and sew on her machine. I will tell her to keep this in mind now.

So lucky that you were there and able to stop the fire. Glad you didn't get hurt.

Gotta be careful with those sorts of things. Even a piece of crystal can reflect light in surprising ways!

WOW !! Thanks for posting. I have a magnifier and I will put it away so the sun won't have an opportunity to heat up something. Maybe we need to make a thick cover over them when not in use so that the sun can't shine thru them. Just a thought.

Since reading about a magnifying light fire years ago, I now make covers to place over any magnifying item I have.

I am glad you were ok.

Tartan, you beat me to it!

A sock will also work - seriously - it is a good idea to keep those magnifiers out of the light when not in use.

Thanks so much for the post, My set up sounds identical to yours. My ott light did come with a little drawstring bag for the magnifier glass but I rarely use it. Gonna start now!

:shock: Bet that got your attention; so glad you weren't hurt! :shock:

Most of us are so far past our Brownie/Girl Scout days that we've forgotten this little trick!
Makes me wonder what else important I've forgotten over the years (besides the daily 'oldtimers' disorder!);):D

Very glad you were not hurt and there was not much damage done.

Our Boy Scouts use this trick - especially for the Wilderness Survival Merit Badge. But I tend to forget about this while indoors in the sewing room.

Cheers, K

Grade school science....but a great reminder to be careful too! Yikes!

sandy

Guess we've all (at least us old folks) have forgotten the marvels of frying things on sidewalks with magnifying glasses in our childhod! Or was that just me? Thanks for the reminder!

Glad you're okay. Bet that was a scare. Whew! No more sewing with the sun on the magnifier, OK?

Very good to know. I was using a heating pad on my back and went out into the kitchen to get something ready for supper and came back into the living room and found my couch on fire. I would never sleep with one again. Glad no one was hurt.

How coincidental my friend just yesterday said her matress started to smoke from her ott magnifier. wow

Stained glass sun catchers can do the same thing if they are in the wrong window.

Good info to put out there. We had a guild member that this happened to. Now most of us now hang a cute homemade bag over the magnifying glass.

I'm glad you were not seriously hurt, but sunlight and magnifiers can be a dangerous combination. Thanks for the heads up.

omgoodness, glad u r o.k.

Thanks for the warning - I hadn't even though about it!

And, Tartan, I like your idea!

Thanks for the reminder and glad you caught it before much damage. I am thinking about getting a magnifier and will heed your warning, I wouldn't have thought about it. I guess my brain is getting as dim as my eyes.