Save money and be safe. Clean your dryer

[hirev]

Hi everyone. So I watched a few videos on cleaning a dryer. Didn't think it would do much but I decided to clean my dryer anyway.

HOLY HELL. Mind my language but wow. I didn't think there would be so much lint past the lint trap and through out the machine but lint tends to collect at the bottom by motors and the fan that drives the air. I cleaned it out and filled my vacuum. YUP filled it up. Ran a few cycles on sensor dry and its cut anywhere between 15-20 mins off dry time.

So saving money and dryer is a little more safe

[Ciel]

Our vent pipe is metal and I have not taken it apart for its annual check/poke down length to dislodge lint (sibling screwed the sections together and they have align just so or the pipe won't go back into place). By chance two weeks ago, I was sweeping some stuff off the window near the exhaust vent for dryer and saw a tuft of lint peering out out of the vent. Between the underside of the vent and the flap or projection from which comes the lint was a buildup of some dryer lint. Pulled out as much as I could.

There was a recent story about a house fire suspected to be caused by dryer lint. Don't know how anyone could miss lint in their own dryer; the pipe cleaning/vent check probably is on some minds but not all. Towels and flannel bedding are notorious for heavy lint and sometimes I check during a drying cycle to see if there's a thick lint layer that needs removal.

Might have to get the vacuum cleaner downstairs to vacuum around the dryer in case there are dust bunnies. Thanks for the reminder.

Anyone with plastic venting pipe cannot risk NOT checking for lint buildup in the pipe or vent outside. Metal can take more heat than plastic-so maintenance remains key!

[hirev]

I cleaned out both the vent pipe and actually took the front panel off the dryer and disconnected the vent from the inside of the dryer to the dryer motor. It was so full.

how to:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMP7BW1lLs4

mine was more like this just not as easy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a73HTFkcB90

[GoJays]

I have a tool that's similar to this one just for cleaning the lint. I'll have to ask DH if he's actually taken the dryer apart to clean it out. I know that the vent tube was recently changed though.

[Ciel]

The tool looks like a bottle cleaner aka extended mascara wand!

I've never taken off the front panel on the dryer since it is a gas one. Will have to just poke crevice tool under dryer when I vaccum it. I usually sweep around the dryer to make sure spider webs and dust are not getting too comfortable around the appliance.

I'm watching part 2 of cleaning a dryer-to save the enamel coating on the dryer, use a plastic putty blade, not a metal one!

[Ciel]

Bumping this timely thread for October Fire Prevention Month.
Link to Safety & Fire Prevention tips from Toronto Fire Services for other areas to clean/be alert in:
http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/co...0071d60f89RCRD

[Natalka]

Good reminder to bump this.
Last week there was a dryer fire at a townhouse here, tens of thousands of dollars of damage.

In the summer, this happened at a suite in an apartment building, over $150,00 in damages.

Officials with the Saskatoon Fire Department are reminding everyone that cleaning the dryer lint trap after every load is important, along with periodic cleaning of the ducts.

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Now in fairness, it's not only dryers which catch on fire.
By some bizarro set of circumstances, in our lifetime, we have had two WASHERS catch fire - two different washers, different cities, about five years apart. Purely random, honestly - my husband is an electrician, so nothing was amiss with wiring, etc.

[Angela273]

I have a tool that's similar to this one just for cleaning the lint. I'll have to ask DH if he's actually taken the dryer apart to clean it out. I know that the vent tube was recently changed though.

Where red does a person buy/find something like this?

[Natalka]

home depot
https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.d...000680978.html

prob other home stores too

[GoJays]

I got mine from Winners of all places.

[Angela273]

home depot
https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.d...000680978.html

prob other home stores too

Thanks, I was thinking Home Hardware or Canadian Tire might have it.

[Ciel]

@Angela273 These two items are stocked at Home Hardware:
http://homehardware.ca/en/cat/search...yer+lint+brush