Fire Safety and Your Dryer

As February warms up, many people will be looking to start their spring-cleaning journey. This may include such items as pulling stoves out to clean up crumbs or changing the air vents. Most will be washing floors and wiping down cabinets. And many people will be starting on the massive piles of clothing that have been gathering in the dark corners of the house.

As the dryer is used more, you may notice a few things happening that may be a cause for concern. The first concern is the drying time of your cloths keeps going up. This could be due to several reasons, but the main one is lint clogging the vent. The second concern is a large amount of lint floating in the air. This would be caused by the hose getting loose on the back of the dryer. Another concern is a constantly loosing items from your dryer. All those socks that have been missing their mate? Yep, the dryer ate them.

All these issues could cause major damage to your home and property in the form of a fire. When the vents on a dryer are clogged by, say, a sock, the dryer can no longer move the headed air outside, causing the machine to overheat. That heat will build until a fire starts. Dryer fires can move quickly if not contained and are the cause of millions of dollars in property damage and an estimated five deaths per year.

How can we prevent this? 

By doing some basic maintenance on your dryer, you can prevent this from happening to you and your loved one. (Transitional statement) Every time you run the dryer, make sure to clean out the lint trap before and after use. Additionally, once every six months, you should clean your lint trap with a wire brush to prevent any blockages in the mesh. Every three months, you should pull out the dryer and clean out the lint pipes. Lint pipes are famous for not only gathering lint, which can be a main source of blocking proper air flow, but they also like to hold onto those missing items of clothing. Socks, underwear, and even thin t-shirts have been known to slip past those lint traps and clock the lint pipes.

Basic yearly maintenance on your dryer can be helpful in preventing a fire as well. Simple tasks like checking the outdoor vents to make sure they are free from debris such as leaves and rodent nest cost nothing, while applying a simple cover designed to aid in air flow to a dryer cost you very little at your local hardware store. While most people have an electric dryer, if you own one of the gas variety, I also suggest you have a specialist come out to inspect the connections. Making sure you are free from gas leaks will not only prevent a fire but will keep your family safe from carbon monoxide poisoning.

What should you do if a fire does occur?

Call your trusted environmental clean-up crew at Soria Environmental. We understand that you are going through a challenging time, and we want to be there to help. From water damage, mold, and fire damage our crew is ready to help get your home back, so you have peace of mind.