General

[Railgun]

I got the following quote from a friend that likes to send me such stuff along with many a joke. A year or so ago a local girl I know had her clothes dryer catch on fire and do a fair degree of damage to her house. It's very possible that this issue was the cause.

I posted this on my motorcycle website and so far one person that checked their screen posted back that theirs was clogged almost solid. Cleaned it up and it flows with no puddling. Did my own and found that it wasnt' super bad but that there was some puddling but I had turned on the hot water and as the temp came up it seemed to wash it away. A few seconds of hot water and the flow was shooting right through the screen with no puddling at all. But I don't use dryer sheets on a regular basis so that's probably why mine was able to perk up with just a hot water wash.

If you use those dryer sheets then I urge you to check out your own lint traps right now. Dryer fires are very real.

The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean. (I always clean the lint from the filter after every load clothes.) He told us that he wanted to show us something; he took the filter over to the sink, ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material - I'm sure you know what your dryer's lint filter looks like. WELL...the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn't go through it at all! He told us that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh that's what burns out the heating unit. You can't SEE the film , but it's there. It's what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free - that nice fragrance too, you know how they can feel waxy when you take them out of the box, well this stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer units to catch fire & potentially burn your house down with it! He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (& to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out & wash it with hot soapy water & an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months. He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long!
How about that? Learn something new everyday! I certainly didn't know dryer sheets would do that. So, I thought I'd share!

Note: I went to my dryer & tested my screen by running water on it. The water ran through a little bit but mostly collected all the water in the mesh screen. I washed it with warm soapy water & a nylon brush & I had it done in 30 seconds. Then when I rinsed it the water ran right Thru the screen! There wasn't any puddling at all! That repairman knew what he was talking about!

[d4rksabre]

I'm so washing my lint screen when I get home. My room mates are retards and like to run the dryer when they aren't home. I keep telling them not to but they don't believe me that it'll start fires. I guess I better do this so I can at least lessen the chance of my house burning down.

[WilD]

Okay, I'm checking that out when I get home. I think I'll also install a smoke detector in that room while I'm down there...

[Railgun]

Let us know if they hold water for you guys as well.

Someone on the motorcycle site mentioned that this is only an issue with sheet type softeners but it sure is easy to check.

[MadCat]

My boss's sister's house burned to the ground because of a dryer fire.

I've always cleaned the lint trap with my shopvac, even before hearing about that fire. I even change the exhaust tubing fairly regularly (once every two years or so, usually when we have the air ducts cleaned). It's amazing how much highly-flamable lint will collect after just a few weeks of usage.

[Railgun]

I think it's pretty much impossible to avoid the lint or you'd have to clean the machine every couple of uses. But this trick is aimed at maintaining the airflow so the temperatures don't get so high that it becomes an issue.

[Azzy]

Dont use dryer sheets (they make me itch) and have solid (not the accordian) exaust, so should be good. I'll check anyhow, never hurts to look.

[Uranus]

Well water flowed right threw my screen. my Dryer is 7 years old, and I don't recall ever using dryer sheets.

That is some good advice, I never heard of that before.
Thanks for the heads up.

[HurtCow]

I always clean the screen every load but never realized it might have an invisible solid membrane. I'm a' rinsin when I get home.

[B]

Clean the lint trap every load, vacuum the tubes every 6 months and the associated path ways.