INFO ABOUT CLOTHES DRYERS

Someone sent this to me, and I thought it'd be worth sharing.

The heating unit went out on my dryer!
The gentleman that fixes things around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean.
(I always clean the lint from the filter after every load clothes.)
He told us that he wanted to show us something; he took the filter over to the sink, ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material - I'm sure you know what your dryer's lint filter looks like- well,...the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn't go through it at all!

He told us that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh that's what burns out the heating unit. You can't SEE the film, but it's there. It's what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free -- that nice fragrance too, you know how they can feel waxy when you take them out of the box? Well, this stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen.

This is also what causes dryer units to catch fire & potentially burn your house down with it!
He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time

(& to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out & wash it with hot soapy water & an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months.

He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long!
How about that!?! Learn something new everyday! I certainly didn't know dryer sheets would do that. So, I thought I'd share!

Senders Note: I went to my dryer & tested my screen by running water on it. The water ran through a little bit but mostly collected all the water in the mesh screen. I washed it with warm soapy water & a nylon brush & I had it done in 30 seconds. Then when I rinsed it the water ran right Thru the screen!

That repairman knew what he was talking about!

Julie Notes: I have a gas powdered Dryer. I'm not sure how old it is, but it's efficiency seems to have been waning in the past year, and most loads have to run through twice. I clean the lint out every time, and I don't use fabric softener or dryer sheets. Even then, I find that occasionally I will smell something burning and I'll pull out my lint trap, clean it, and run water over it and the water will pool instead of going strait through. So I'll then whip out an old toothbrush and scrub it till the water goes right through the mesh. I'm not sure why this still happens even when I don't use dryer sheets in my dryer. (I use them to repel mosquitoes actually.) Anyway, I recently discovered the FLY Lady, and on her website they sell a kit that helps you clean the lint out of the dryer vent and hose as well, to reduce the risk of fire and improve efficiency. I'm thinking I may need to get one of these.