Last week, when I posted about how to make your own homemade fabric softener, there were quite a few comments and concerns about fabric softeners in general leaving residue on lint screens, etc.
The concerns ranged from the dryer being less effective to actually catching fire!
Luckily one of the comments left was from a Mom and firefighter who had some GREAT SAFETY TIPS and dryer maintenance rules to follow.
So I decided to be a good little soldier and follow the rules the nice firefighter lady gave us! (Her comments are in red.)
Anonymous said...I am a mom and a fire fighter as well. This comment is for the questions concerning your dryer lint screen and softeners. Many dryer fires are started by lint screens and clogged dryer vents. Quite common. BUT here is a simple rule of thumb to prevent a dryer fire due to build up. About once a month, depending on the amount of laundry you do, take out your dryer lint screen. Rinse it with warm water and use a soft tooth brush to scrub it clean. It is simple maintenance we should all do regardless of whether we use softener or not. The tell tale sign it is time to soak and scrub, put your screen under running water. If it holds water, it needs cleaning. There is more than one reason for this "clogging" effect: fabric softener, type of fabrics, laundry soap not rinsing completely out, lint build up not releasing when you swipe.
So, here is the lint screen from my dryer. I decided to put it to the test...and sure enough...look at the water beading up on it! Time to give it a bath!
I soaked it for a little while in warm, soapy water and scrubbed it with a kitchen sponge.
And here it is after. I did the same thing....poured some water on it....went straight through! Success!
General rules to always follow and you will have an efficient long life and fire hazard free dryer.
1. clean lint trap after each dryer cycle. (Already doing this, so I'm feeling pretty good about myself.)
2. wash lint trap after about 20-30 loads or once a month (let it air dry on counter before putting back in dryer). (NOT doing this nearly often enough!)
3. follow manufacturer instructions on clothing and heat settings. (I do OK with this.)
4. get dear hubby or assistance for this one, open the top of your dryer (if front loading) get the old shop vac or vac cleaner and use the hose to suck out the excess lint inside of your dryer, staying clear of wires and belts, Oh and unplug your dryer from outlet first!
As usual, I was too impatient to wait for the hubster to come home and help with this....so I just found a REALLY BIG SCREWDRIVER out in the garage and gently pried the top off the dryer. It popped off quite easily!
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| Under the hood. I took a LOT more pictures...but somehow they got deleted. :-/ |
There was a LOT of lint down inside where the lint screen goes in that I vacuumed out!
On the above mentioned you can also call an appliance repair service and get general maintenance cleaning for a fairly reasonable price. This should be done once a year. You will be amazed at what lies inside your dryer that you don't actually see.
5. while doing number 4, clean and clear out the hose to the dryer for discharging vent, this is a commonly forgotten area and causes alot of fires itself.
Awkward angle to try to snap a picture...but the long, black thing is my vacuum attachment. I gave the length of the hose and the opening where it connects to the dryer a thorough vacuuming. After I was done vacuuming I checked the debris cup in the vacuum and even though I couldn't see much dust and lint while I was vacuuming...there was probably about 2 cups of dirt in it!
There is no reason you shouldn't use softener in your laundry, just make sure to do a little simple maintenance and all will come out smelling fresh as a daisy.
February 3, 2012 12:33 AM
Giving one of the hardest working appliances in the house a check-up is today's.....
Wish more people knew to do this (grew up with a mom that showed me). We have an acquaintance that lost their house do to this type of fire just a couple weeks ago. Luckily they escaped with their lives.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for posting this information. I knew that I needed to be doing this, and I probably could have googled it, but I have so many other things on my plate! :) Glad you're taking care of this for us... now, I just need to get it done. :) If you have a moment, I'd love for you to visit my blog too. Have a great one!
ReplyDeleteThaks Jillee. I knew that I needed to do this, but have been putting off. I will definitely do it today.
ReplyDeleteAwsome I'm an ex maintenance man who worked at Motels, Part of job was exactly the advice you just gave. GOOD STUFF :D
ReplyDeleteThis was great advice. I didn't know you could remove the front and thoroughly get to the inside lint. Even though I clean my lint tray after every load, I didn't know about softener build up. Thanks
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU! Just last night I asked my husband to do a good clean out of our vents actually. I did not know about washing the lint trap or prying off the top though at all. I'm going to send him these instructions. Excellent post!
ReplyDeleteSo glad you all found it was useful information. Once I read it I knew it was something that needed to be shared! Some of my BEST posts come from all of YOUR comments. :-) Keep 'em coming!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the informative post, this should be known world wide to prevent fires
ReplyDeleteThank you for the helpful information. We cleaned ours out pretty thoroughly when we found out a few years ago that the previous owners of our house set up the dryer vent to vent inside a wall! But, I know we need to do another clean out...we do a lot of laundry here!
ReplyDeleteThank you for this info! the only thing I wasn't sure of is if you have a top loading dryer is there still a place you should do #4 and if so how or where?
ReplyDeleteWe had to dismantle our gas dryer to replace a part and I was shocked at the amount of lint that had collected outside of the dryer vent and drum. I took the vac to it and cleaned the cabinet entirely. It now operates like new. I suppose this build up is what leads to dryer fires. Good article and helpful hints!
ReplyDeleteJillee, I didn't know about washing the dryer vent,and I will definitely start doing this, however, I use my electric leaf blower, take the vent out and blow the dust/lint, etc. all the way thru the hose to the outside! What do you think?
ReplyDeleteLOL - the leaf blower deal is my kind of thing! On my list for tomorrow! On a more serious no, tethanks for this. I also know I should be doing this. I'm sure my mountain sized piles of laundry have horse size piles of lint...
ReplyDeletehow many times have I asked my hubby to help me with this??? well, about 10 years worth. I am just going to do it myself, as outlined above. Girl power! I will rest easier knowing I have taken care of this. Thank you very much!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the step by step, Jillee. I am sending son and DIL to your link. Obviously safety is the top reason to do this, but I know from experience it will also cut your drying time if it's been a while. Hubby gave mine a good cleanout when it needed a timer repair, and loads that had recently taken an hour or more to dry were cut down by a good 25% or more. The clothes felt "hotter" when I pulled them out, too. DH thinks there is some kind of safety feature in there that keeps it from getting to the original heat settings when the sensors get gooped up, and since it's not reaching optimal temp, it's taking a lot longer to dry. Talk about an easy way to save some utility $$.
ReplyDeletewe havent done this yet and we've been here for 6 years. Oops !
ReplyDeleteHas your drying time improved since you did this?
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad I read this today! I am pretty sure that front loading washers DO NOT clean as well as the old top loaders. My dryer has been taking too long to dry (another sign of build up) so I am planning on cleaning it out as you showed this weekend. However, without this post, I would never have known to clean my lint screen! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteDenise & Honey B....I have definitely noticed it has cut down on my drying time too! DOUBLE win!
ReplyDeleteCynthia..you are welcome! I never knew about the lint screen build-up either. We need to spread the word far and wide! :-)
pinning!!!! thank you for the awesome info!!!
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for this post! It's something I never really think about so it's great to get a kick in the pants from you and a very helpful firefighter. :)
ReplyDeletethanks so much were going to take care of this this weekend
ReplyDeletemoonsword....yes...I'm very grateful to the "masked firefighter" too. ;-) Thank you firefighter mom....wherever you are!
ReplyDelete1st look at HOW to remove the top of your dryer on the web. I have a GE and there are screws that hold the top on. Did I find that out 1st before I tried the screw driver??? NOT and now I have a bent dryer - wah!
ReplyDeleteI live in a condo and have a skinny washer/dryer combo crammed in a small closet. I have been wanting to clean out the dryer vent but its not the normal type. It isn't in the front bottom of the dryer. Its in the far back on the right side. It is impossible to get a vacuum in there. I also can't reach/find the outlet to unplug it. Any ideas as to how to clean out the excess lint??
ReplyDeleteThanks.
-GemTone86@aol.com
Was told dryer sheets are the very worse to use. I started using dryer balls to fluff clothes.
ReplyDeleteThis is great! Thank you so much for posting. My cousin left her dryer going one morning when she took her kids to school...she returned to her house burnt to the ground. Since then, it has been my policy to clean my dryer often and I do not leave it going when I leave my house!
ReplyDeleteI am very hesitant to vaccuum the internal workings of the dryer, I did this to a dryer I had a couple of years ago, and when I was done and tried it- the dryer caught fire and I was wedged into a corner with a flaming dryer infront of me. The washing the lint trap is an excellent idea as well as vaccuuming out the area right below the lint trap and dryer hose- but I would be very careful when opening the dryer up and vaccuuming.
ReplyDeleteFabric softener leaves a chemical residue on your clothes which then transfers to your skin, I prefer to use wool dryer balls and avoid the chemicals!
ReplyDeleteI just took apart my dryer recently to get to the lint trap area, as my dryer was now taking at least 3 runs to dry my clothes. I was STUNNED at the amount of lint that came out of the back of the dryer! Darn near a paper bag full, and I didn't bother to measure how much came out with the vacuum. We're working a lot better now, and I had already come to the conclusion that we needed to open it up and vacuum the thing out, but this guide is incredibly helpful! Wish I had seen it a couple of years ago :)
ReplyDeleteI'm going to go clean my lint screen now. I always take lint off every load but I've never actually cleaned it. Thanks for the tip.
ReplyDeleteI've been cleaning the lint screen for several years now by using a tip to put it in the dishwasher for a better cleaning. (Put mine in the lower rack - upright). I find that I don't have to do this as much as I would by hand. Not sure if it is because using less fabric softener and more vinegar for the rinse in the wash. I also noticed that I don't have to vacuum the dust as much now. :))
ReplyDeleteGood idea to get the Lint Lizard: http://www.lintlizard.com/ $10.99
ReplyDeleteThe type of dryer hose she is using is a fire hazard on of itself. Those "collapsible" tin foil dryer hoses should be outlawed.
ReplyDeleteThis post makes me think I should install a fire extinguisher in my laundry room! I don't know why I never thought of that before. But I just vacuumed my dryer (& hose) and was shocked at how much lint was in there. I just cleaned it out 6 months ago. In my city the flexible dryer vent hoses ARE outlawed. Houses will not pass inspection with them. Only the fixed hoses are allowed.
ReplyDeletewonder if it would be easier to just put a leaf blower down the lint trap in the inside and blow it out for a minute... that way one wouldnt clog up the vacume... my vacume donsnt work that well.
ReplyDelete