5 Tips On How To Clean Your Dryer
Dirty clothes dryers are the cause of about 14,630 house fires in the United States each year. An accumulation of lint is responsible for one-third of these fires. While this number is disturbing, the good news is, you can prevent this tragedy from happening to you by cleaning your dryer.
Doing so properly involves more than just cleaning the lint filter, although this is an important part of an effective cleaning routine. Learn how to clean a dryer in order to prevent a fire and improve its performance:
1. Clean The Lint Filter Every Time
It is not enough to clean the lint filter every once in a while – or even once a week if you use it several times in that week. It is imperative to clean it every single time you use the dryer. The few minutes that it takes is well worth keeping your family safe.
Plus, a clean dryer will dry clothes more quickly and more thoroughly. For these reasons, getting the lint out of the filter is well worth the time and effort you spend doing it.
2. Remember To Clean The Exterior
While you may not think the exterior can affect the internal operations, it can actually contribute to a fire or make its performance sluggish. Why is doing this so critical when you learn how to clean a dryer? Over time, a significant amount of lint and dust build-up on the surface, as well as the knobs and buttons.
It is critical to unplug the dryer before you begin cleaning the exterior or interior. This is the very first step you should always take. Once you pull the dryer away from the wall, apply an all-purpose cleaner and run a microfiber cloth over the entire surface and hardware.
3. Tackle The Immediately Accessible Interior Parts
Next, wash the lint trap in warm, soapy water and clean the inside of the dryer’s drum, including the drum walls. You can easily remove sticky residue with warm olive oil. Follow up by spraying the interior of the drum with the all-purpose cleaner.
4. Clear Out The Hose
Carefully separate the vent tubing from the dryer and pull out any lint you can find. You can vacuum the walls of the tube if they have accumulated lint build-up, but replacing the tubing with 4” rigid metal duct pipe is certainly your best bet.
5. Take Care Of The Inside And Outside Vents
While the vent tubing is disconnected, remove lint from the inside vent. Vacuum any lint you cannot reach with your hands. Inspect the outside vent next, checking for debris and cobwebs. Once the exterior vent is taken care of, you can reconnect all of the dryer parts.
Keep Your Dryer Clean & Properly Maintained To Prevent Fires & Improve Performance
In addition to making sure you know how to clean your dryer, finding a dependable, skilled dryer repair company is essential to maintaining a safe, high performing clothes dryer. Area Appliance Service has been repairing major clothes dryer brands including Whirlpool, Maytag, Sears, Kenmore, LG, Amana, GE, and Samsung.
You may have heard about us from some of your neighbors. We service Arlington Hts, Buffalo Grove, Palatine, Rolling Meadows, Barrington, Hoffman Estates, Lake Zurich, Northbrook, Deerfield, Vernon Hills, Mundelein, and most surrounding areas. We take pride in delivering exemplary work and customer service to the local community, which is also our own community.
Our commitment to high quality includes showing up for appointments on time, being transparent about costs and whether or not work truly needs to be done and waiting until we get your approval to start any work. We also offer a 90-Day or 12-month labor and parts guarantee.
The credentials we have earned during more than 50 years of service include:
- A+ BBB Rating
- HomeAdvisor Screened, Approved & Awarded With Elite Service
- An Average Online Rating Of 4.8 Stars
Give us a call today at 847-459-8070 to experience the Area Appliance Service difference!
