Make sure they aren’t drying cleaning rags in your dryers. Even if they’ve been through the washer, if they still have the cleaning fluid scent (Lysol, Pine Sol – any type of thing like that) – if they still have the scent, it’s still in the rag or mop,and will EASILY combust. Most institutional fires are caused by that.
My landlord cut the rain gutter off above my dryer vent when she redid the roof. I didn’t know rain water was falling on the exhaust vent when we next did the laundry. Immediately clogged and our clothes caught on fire. Fire damage limited to the dryer and clothes as this article indicates is typical, as was the time of year. F.D. broke a window before they knew the door was open, and the smoke blackened the room. Unfortunately lost some commemorative event t-shirts….but otherwise not too bad. Why don’t dryers have automatic shutdowns when the temp gets too high for some duration? Will look into that!
High temp alarms and automatic shut offs would seem so obvious, but does anyone know if they are included in newer models? I’m pretty sure the older models have no safety features.
I recently heard of a neighbor being “sold” an alarm device that is
supposed to warn them if the air flow drops – only $15.00 from COIT Cleaners. I wonder if that thing even works?
Somebody pulled a low battery out of the laundry room smoke detector. Next family meal, please remind me to talk to the girls about that. Also see note on foam rugs a atheletic shoes blocking vent. Periodically, I will try to pull dryer out and inspect the dryer end as wll aste roof end of vent hose. Love you
Just another reminder to keep that lint filter and hose clean. Don’t forget to change the smoke alarm batteries this fall and don’t leave the dryer on when you leave the house.
That’s why I have Mrs. Compman hang everything out to dry on the clothesline. Yeah, sometimes they are a little more wrinklered but that is why I bought her a nice fancy iron for her birthday last year.
I keep a small wet/dry vac next to our dryer for vacuuming the lint trap after each cycle. I do plan to place a new dryer vent hose as well. My suspicion is that condensation can occur when warm air hits the cooler surface of the dryer vent tube causing lint to accumulate in the tube. Just feeling and smelling the dryer air coming from the ending exit point of the tube on the outside of the wall is probably not a good indication of a clean vent tube. You should probably change your vent tube periodically as well. Comments would be appreciated.
Lint is not the ONLY cause of dryer fires. As someone who worked for an institutional laundry equipment company for 15 years, I took calls monthly on dryer fires. MANY are caused by cleaning rags, mops, etc. being tossed in the dryer from the washer. If you have used ANY cleaning fluid, Lysol, ANYTHING like that, (especially pine scent) and you can still smell the scent after washing, DO NOT PUT IT IN THE DRYER. It can spontaneously combust. While it is MOST important to keep the venting clear of lint, 90% of the dryer fires we dealt with were NOT lint related, but cleaning product related.
A dryer (even older ones) have upper limit switches. But they only limit the heat in the dryer……..not in the vent and that is usually where the fire starts. You have to clean the vent a couple times a year. Make the vent run as short as possible. clean filter after every load. Keep fire extinguisher handy. Always be home when running the dryer.
Okay, I’m sufficiently warned and nervous…but do us all a favor and tell us which brands/types of dryers have the highest percentage of fires. I clean my lint trap after every use, but I since I didn’t design the machine, I’m not confident that there isn’t more than one area of concern.
We apparently came very close to having a fire. We clean the lint trap after every load and have tried to snake the vent – but our laundry room is an interior room and the vent hose has to go quite a distance. COIT tried to clean the vent but couldn’t. We ended up calling a specailist who had to use a blower on one end and a snake on the other to get out a solid clog of wet lint from the vent system. The lint had backed up into the housing of the dryer (couldn’t see from outside) and was blackened in places where it had already smoldered.
Just experienced a fire at home. Luckily it went out while contained inside the dryer housing (not the drum). We have a gas dryer and have used it for 8+ yrs. Lint had built up inside the dryer around the gas heater which ignited the lint buildup and burnt the lint on the internal metal floor of the unit. Took years to build up this fine layer of lint which moved beyond the lint trap which was constantly emptied. Remove lower dryer cover and vacuum the inside to collect the lint buildup to prevent it from being able to ignite.
Insurance companies should offer a discount for homes that have the LintAlert dryer safety alarm installed. This products helps prevent dryer fires by progressively monitoring the increase in back pressure that’s commonly caused by lint accumulation.
Even though those products are fine. The fire does not start in the vent. The lint is used as fuel to feed the fire. If you are truly interested in finding out how to protect your family and your single largest investment. drop me an e mail
Have appliance manufacturers decided to lower the efficiency of theri dryers due to this issue. I have a Samsung dryer (1 year old) and it will not dry my laundry (not large major loads). Their technicians say it works within guidelines and that over 2 hours is normal for drying clothes. Is the reason my clothes won’t dry possibly the way they are setting the drying temperature to compensate for “fires”. What do you think? I am so frustrated with Samsung as they are refusing to help other than to continue to send out technicians who have said there is nothing they can do.
Our agency had 3 dryer related losses in a year and a half period. Usually bad switches.
Make sure they aren’t drying cleaning rags in your dryers. Even if they’ve been through the washer, if they still have the cleaning fluid scent (Lysol, Pine Sol – any type of thing like that) – if they still have the scent, it’s still in the rag or mop,and will EASILY combust. Most institutional fires are caused by that.
You can also have a fire with the items such as towels. The towels can ignite after they are taken out of a dryer and put in a basket.
My landlord cut the rain gutter off above my dryer vent when she redid the roof. I didn’t know rain water was falling on the exhaust vent when we next did the laundry. Immediately clogged and our clothes caught on fire. Fire damage limited to the dryer and clothes as this article indicates is typical, as was the time of year. F.D. broke a window before they knew the door was open, and the smoke blackened the room. Unfortunately lost some commemorative event t-shirts….but otherwise not too bad. Why don’t dryers have automatic shutdowns when the temp gets too high for some duration? Will look into that!
High temp alarms and automatic shut offs would seem so obvious, but does anyone know if they are included in newer models? I’m pretty sure the older models have no safety features.
I recently heard of a neighbor being “sold” an alarm device that is
supposed to warn them if the air flow drops – only $15.00 from COIT Cleaners. I wonder if that thing even works?
I am thinking similar to alarm credits have insurance companies considered giving premium credits for an annual vent and dryer cleaning service.
Somebody pulled a low battery out of the laundry room smoke detector. Next family meal, please remind me to talk to the girls about that. Also see note on foam rugs a atheletic shoes blocking vent. Periodically, I will try to pull dryer out and inspect the dryer end as wll aste roof end of vent hose. Love you
Send your clothes out and have somebody else clean ’em.
Just another reminder to keep that lint filter and hose clean. Don’t forget to change the smoke alarm batteries this fall and don’t leave the dryer on when you leave the house.
That’s why I have Mrs. Compman hang everything out to dry on the clothesline. Yeah, sometimes they are a little more wrinklered but that is why I bought her a nice fancy iron for her birthday last year.
I keep a small wet/dry vac next to our dryer for vacuuming the lint trap after each cycle. I do plan to place a new dryer vent hose as well. My suspicion is that condensation can occur when warm air hits the cooler surface of the dryer vent tube causing lint to accumulate in the tube. Just feeling and smelling the dryer air coming from the ending exit point of the tube on the outside of the wall is probably not a good indication of a clean vent tube. You should probably change your vent tube periodically as well. Comments would be appreciated.
Lint is not the ONLY cause of dryer fires. As someone who worked for an institutional laundry equipment company for 15 years, I took calls monthly on dryer fires. MANY are caused by cleaning rags, mops, etc. being tossed in the dryer from the washer. If you have used ANY cleaning fluid, Lysol, ANYTHING like that, (especially pine scent) and you can still smell the scent after washing, DO NOT PUT IT IN THE DRYER. It can spontaneously combust. While it is MOST important to keep the venting clear of lint, 90% of the dryer fires we dealt with were NOT lint related, but cleaning product related.
A dryer (even older ones) have upper limit switches. But they only limit the heat in the dryer……..not in the vent and that is usually where the fire starts. You have to clean the vent a couple times a year. Make the vent run as short as possible. clean filter after every load. Keep fire extinguisher handy. Always be home when running the dryer.
Okay, I’m sufficiently warned and nervous…but do us all a favor and tell us which brands/types of dryers have the highest percentage of fires. I clean my lint trap after every use, but I since I didn’t design the machine, I’m not confident that there isn’t more than one area of concern.
I have also read that when you use dryer sheets, it contributes to it because it puts a film on the lint catcher.
We apparently came very close to having a fire. We clean the lint trap after every load and have tried to snake the vent – but our laundry room is an interior room and the vent hose has to go quite a distance. COIT tried to clean the vent but couldn’t. We ended up calling a specailist who had to use a blower on one end and a snake on the other to get out a solid clog of wet lint from the vent system. The lint had backed up into the housing of the dryer (couldn’t see from outside) and was blackened in places where it had already smoldered.
Just experienced a fire at home. Luckily it went out while contained inside the dryer housing (not the drum). We have a gas dryer and have used it for 8+ yrs. Lint had built up inside the dryer around the gas heater which ignited the lint buildup and burnt the lint on the internal metal floor of the unit. Took years to build up this fine layer of lint which moved beyond the lint trap which was constantly emptied. Remove lower dryer cover and vacuum the inside to collect the lint buildup to prevent it from being able to ignite.
Insurance companies should offer a discount for homes that have the LintAlert dryer safety alarm installed. This products helps prevent dryer fires by progressively monitoring the increase in back pressure that’s commonly caused by lint accumulation.
Even though those products are fine. The fire does not start in the vent. The lint is used as fuel to feed the fire. If you are truly interested in finding out how to protect your family and your single largest investment. drop me an e mail
Have appliance manufacturers decided to lower the efficiency of theri dryers due to this issue. I have a Samsung dryer (1 year old) and it will not dry my laundry (not large major loads). Their technicians say it works within guidelines and that over 2 hours is normal for drying clothes. Is the reason my clothes won’t dry possibly the way they are setting the drying temperature to compensate for “fires”. What do you think? I am so frustrated with Samsung as they are refusing to help other than to continue to send out technicians who have said there is nothing they can do.