Saturday, March 14, 2009

Boring but Useful

Did you know that you're supposed to clean the lint screen on your clothes dryer?  I don't mean pulling the lint off each time you use it - I mean that you're supposed to wash it with soap and water every 6 months.

As suggested, I checked mine and water passed through it very slowly, so I guess it did have a film built up over it that was impeding air flow.  I cleaned it and the water ran right through.  I think it has reduced drying time but it's hard to tell for sure.  I need to try drying a load with the sensor - you know, "more dry/less dry."  The sensor function hasn't worked so I've  just been using the "timed dry" function, which was really annoying when I guessed the wrong amount of time needed and came back to a moldy load 3 days later. 

It took 5 minutes to clean the screen.  The hardest part was that it took a few weeks for the thought of cleaning it to coincide with being in the mood to do it and not having a load of laundry that needed to get in the dryer asap.

3 comments:

  1. Not *exists* ... yikes! too much philosophy.

    I meant "exits"... the point where it exits the house.

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  2. The other thing that can impair drying is a clogged vent. At the back of your drier there's probably a pipe going out to vent outside the house. That can get blocked...particularly near the place it exists (which is good, because you can reach in a few inches and clean it out).

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  3. OD: My husband is in the legal field and he always calls statues, "statutes." hehe.

    But YES, everyone reading this, get your vents cleaned and make sure there is a screen on the exit point outside so birds don't nest in it. It could burn out your dryer motor or worse, cause a fire.

    We had ours cleaned when we moved in and it was really bad.

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