How to Prevent a Dryer Fire

One of the most common sources of house fires is the clothes dryer. No matter how new your dryer, it's a fire risk. Fires begin in clothes dryers for a number of reasons. Lint gets trapped in air outflow pipes as well as in the lint trap and can catch on fire. Motors can burn out. And all those socks you've lost? They sometimes wiggle through the lint trap or other parts of the dryer and become a fire waiting to happen. Here are simple steps you can take to prevent the tragedy of a clothes dryer fire in your home.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Clothes dryer
• Dryer brush or cleaning kit
• Vacuum with hose attachment
• Approximately half an hour of time

1. Never run a clothes dryer and leave the house. Always stay near the dryer when it is running. If smoke develops, get all people and pets out of the house right away and call 911.

2. Clean the lint trap in the dryer after every load of laundry you dry. Take the lint trap to a the garbage can, hold it over the can, and use your fingers to scrape the lint off and into the trash. A stiff brush can also get all the lint particles off the lint trap.

3. Avoid using dryer sheets. Dryer sheets can add a sticky film to the lint trap and clog the tiny holes that allow air to circulate. Over time this can cause a lint buildup. Dryer sheets can also slip through the lint trap in some units. After multiple heating cycles, they become crisp little wicks waiting for a light.

4. Once a month, use your dryer cleaning kit and vacuum hose to clean the air pipes in the dryer. Unplug your dryer. Remove the air outflow pipe and use the long-handled brush that came with the dryer kit (or a brush you have) and wipe out the pipe as far as you can reach. Use the vacuum hose and suck up any lint that may be trapped in the pipe. Reattach hose.

5. Watch for signs that your clothes dryer is about to stop working. Here are some signs that your dryer is ready to give up the ghost: clothes take longer to dry, the unit gets extremely hot to the touch (but clothes may not be dry), it makes funny noises. Call a repairman and start saving your pennies if you notice any of these signs.

6. Remember those missing socks? One story reported on the Flylady (home and cleaning tips) website from a reader indicated that when her dryer caught fire, she found 12 missing socks that had slipped behind the drum! Somehow the socks had wiggled through the lint trap or another part of the mechanism and were trapped between the drum and the unit. They heated up and acted like kindling. If you miss a lot of socks, you might want to unplug your dryer and check out the lint trap to see if those missing socks are somewhere close at hand.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure your home has both a fire extinguisher and working smoke alarms. Many dryer fires start with heavy smoke. An alarm is a life saver!
• Test and replace smoke alarm batteries yearly. Doing this when you change the clocks in the spring and fall keeps it to a regular schedule.
• Always unplug your dryer when you are going away on vacation. It's even a good idea to unplug it between uses.
• If you smell smoke or see fire, get people and pets out of the house and call 911. Do not try to go back and save anything - people and pets are the most important things, and things that cannot be replaced!