Public service announcement
I rarely use the dryer during the summer months since we have a fabulous clothesline in the backyard. The only thing that goes in the dryer during the summer is our underwear. I have issues about hanging it out there for the neighbors to view. Each fall I mourn the end of the outdoor drying season because the dryer makes laundry take so long.
This fall the dryer seemed slower than normal. Yesterday I had enough. It was 4:30 p.m. and I had only managed to wash and dry three loads of laundry despite starting the process before church. My husband took a look at it and consulted the internet. He found two problems. The first problem was a tiny hole in the dryer hose. This would explain the lint all over the washer and dryer. The bigger issue though was a big lint clog in the duct that carries the exhaust out of the house. He set up the shop vac to blow out and took care of the problem. It makes me cringe to think of the fire hazard we had brewing. I thought I was doing OK since I check the lint trap after every load.
The CPSC says that in 1998, dryers were associated with 15,600 fires. Yikes. Consumer Reports has an article on the best type of dryer hose. We have a flexible metal hose. Get rid of those white plastic hoses or the flexible foil.
Dryer lint isn’t the type of clutter I normally think of but obviously its a problem in many homes. Make plans to clean (or replace) your dryer hose and exhaust vent out soon…how about today?
How long had the clog been growing?
I’m not exactly sure. We’ve lived in this house for five years and I don’t recall we’ve ever cleaned it before. I thought by simply cleaning the lint trap every load I was doing the right thing.
I guess FlyLady doesn’t have this on her list? I know I’ve done this a couple of times in the time that we’ve lived in this house and I’m pretty sure I blogged about it once. It’s a messy job but someone’s got to do it.
Here’s how I cleared it.
-disconnect the dryer vent.
Take a leaf blower -or- connect the tube to a shopvac to the output end of the vacuum so that it’s blowing, not sucking, and use either one to blow through the dryer vent attached to the wall.
I ended up with a big wad of lint on the outside of the house where the vent exits.
Obviously you wouldn’t want to blow the lint back in the house or you have a big mess.
Hmmm … sounds like something I might want to do. I’m coming up on year 3 in this home and I haven’t done anything beyond cleaning the lint screen before every load.