Maintaining Your Dryer

The key to maintenance of any appliance in your home is to set a schedule for maintenance and to stick to it. Maintaining your dryer is simple and will improve its efficiency and possibly even the longevity of your dryer. By increasing the efficiency of your dryer, you could potentially save a few dollars on electricity and gas that powers your dryer during operation.

Your dryer sees a very abusive environment. It see moist conditions, continuous motion, and high temperature. This environment can be brutal, but there are a few simple things that you can do to keep your dryer working optimally.

On a daily basis, make sure that you remove lint from the lint screen or lint trap. Built up lint blocks airflow, makes the dryer work harder to dry clothes, and increases the temperature within the dryer. The lint trap also catches small combustible material that could ignite if it came into contact with the burner portion of the dryer. To clean the lint screen, simply remove it and wipe the lint off.

Now if you use fabric softener, and most of us do, you will have to do an additional step when cleaning your lint screen. Fabric softener contains certain chemicals that can actually clog the lint screen at a microscopic level. To test this, remove your lint screen and the lint on it, then run the screen under cold water briefly. Turn off the water and see if the water flows through the screen, or just puddles on top. If it puddles on top, you will have to clean the lint screen with warm water and dish soap. Once clean, test again and you will see that the water flows through. Perform this test periodically and clean as needed.

Finally, once a year you will need to remove lint from the ductwork leading out of the back of the dryer. Simply slide your dryer forward, remove the duck from the bottom of the dryer and slide the hose attached to a shop vac up the dryer vent. Turn on the shop vac and remove the lint. Once done, put the duct back on the dryer and slide it back into place.

You have completed the maintenance of your dryer. It will now perform as intended and it will operate as efficiently as possible. Do not forget to include yearly maintenance of your dryer into your busy schedule and find time to maintain the other appliances in your home as well.