Safe at home: Clean your dryer
We all know to clean the lint trap in our dryers in between each load, but when was the last time that you cleaned the area around the lint trap?
To be honest, until today, my answer would have been ‘never’ for the one at Common Ground, and it’s been at least 3 years since I have cleaned the one at home, Even though I know better.
You see, my mom is a retired homeowners insurance claims adjuster. I heard stories daily of peoples homes damaged and destroyed by natural disasters, broken pipes, and fires. To this day, I don’t burn candles in my home because I’m afraid of accidentally starting a fire and I know how flammable lint is. So when Miss Mimi let me know that the dryer wasn’t drying quite as well as it used to, I knew just what was wrong (and just how to fix it!).
Did you know that according to FEMA, there are 2,900 home clothes dryer fires are reported each year and they cause an estimated 5 deaths, 100 injuries, and $35 million in property loss!
So Miss LJ and I got to work! We cleaned out enough lint to fill two vacuum canisters from both the front section of the dryer - where the screen goes in - and the vent ducts in the back of the dryer. There are plenty of companies out there that will come and clean the duct work for you, but its also pretty easy to do on your own! All you need is:
a Phillips head screw driver
a flat head screw driver
a small adjustable wrench
a vacuum with thin tube attachment
Every dryer is a little different, but you should be able to unscrew the plastic holder that is around the lint trap to clean in that area, or at very least you can vacuum around it. Then in the back of the dryer, there should be a flexible duct tubing that comes out of the dryer and goes to the pipe where it vents outside of the house. You’ll want to make sure you clean any areas where there are loops in the tubing, because lint can settle in them, and the trap at the bottom of where the tubing attaches to the ductwork.
Here’s a better ‘How To’ from the Home Depot to check out!
We are very lucky that the only thing that happened at the center was that our laundry was taking a long time to dry! Hopefully our whole community can use this as a reminder to stay safe at home and perform this important home maintenance!
Love,
Miss Liz
