This is a very interesting botany sh*tpost about accidental cloth-related combustion. It starts with a story about linseed oil, which in woodworking is rubbed on furniture as a varnish. Linseed oil has an exothermic chemical reaction with oxygen, meaning that the reaction creates heat. This can of course cause some inconvenient spontaneous combustion…
Hay will spontaneously combust as well in hot conditions, many farmers have lost barns and livestock to this.
it’s not due to hot conditions, it’s due to the inner core of the hay bales being damp, leading to decomposition. Decomposition creates heat, and if there is nowhere for the heat to go it can build up to the point the hay catches fire
My grandpa worked as a Ranch Forman most of my dad’s childhood and Dad has a story about some cows managing to get into the silage (green vegetation left to ferment under a tarp for later feeding) and someone noticed their hind ends sticking out. They went to haul one of them out of there and pulled it in half because the front end was cooked and falling off the bone. It was so hot inside the mound that the cows had barbecued themselves trying to get to the yummy before they realized they were in danger.
Another great one – Pistachios. Though they require movement. But if you ship too many in the same container they’ll heat up due to friction and combust!