Cleaning the clothes dryer lint filter

[coldmeat]

I voted for Other, because I never check it.

 

[tranceport]

Originally posted by: GeekDrew
A heated family argument. Do you check the lint filter on your clothes dryer before you turn the machine on to dry a load of clothes (which I do, because I think it's the only way to make sure that it is cleaned before each use), or do you check it when you take a completed load of clothes out of the dryer (as the rest of my family does), or do you check it both times?

I see what you did there...

 

[SmoochyTX]

I clean it before. But then I use a laundromat so I don't give a shit about people's clothes behind me. They can clean it if they want.

 

[dennilfloss]

Originally posted by: wahoyaho
Pointless to check it after.

Not for those of us who live in an apartment building. It's also common courtesy.

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: BigJ
I check it before I put a load in.

Same. If it's full, I use a lighter to clean it out.

 

[IronWing]

I clear the lint filter prior to loading, once mid-cycle, and after I'm finished. However, since I do not own a dryer and rarely frequent establishments that do, I do not perform this activity on a regular basis. Clothes lines > dryers.

 

[tracerbullet]

I work as hard as possible to avoid work.

Therefore I clean it after drying, so that it's ready to go the next time.

 

[gorcorps]

Originally posted by: tracerbullet
I work as hard as possible to avoid work.

Therefore I clean it after drying, so that it's ready to go the next time.

That makes no sense. You still did the work regardless of what time you did it. You didn't avoid shit.

 

[Cyco]

Originally posted by: xSauronx

Originally posted by: BigJ
I check it before I put a load in.

this is what i do. i never *think* to check after i get the clothes out.

Same.

 

[GeekDrew]

Originally posted by: gorcorps

Originally posted by: tracerbullet
I work as hard as possible to avoid work.

Therefore I clean it after drying, so that it's ready to go the next time.

That makes no sense. You still did the work regardless of what time you did it. You didn't avoid shit.

Thank god *someone* agrees with me.

 

[Alone]

Doesn't change anything. It's the same shit.

If you clean it after a load, you're still cleaning it before another load, and vice-versa.

 

[mrSHEiK124]

My roommate didn't even fucking know there was a lint filter to be cleaned. Yes, 19 year old out on his own in college has never used the fucking dryer at home

So I always clean before, and after, because I know he'll never clean it, and I have the courtesy to clean up after myself. Motherfucker almost broke the damn thing (which I paid for entirely) with 5 or 6 loads of clothes in a row, and no cleaning the lint screen. By the 4th or 5th load he was having to turn it on for two full cycles, then he asked me what it wasn't working. :|

Reading threads here always brings up painful memories...

 

[Alone]

Originally posted by: mrSHEiK124
My roommate didn't even fucking know there was a lint filter to be cleaned. Yes, 19 year old out on his own in college has never used the fucking dryer at home

So I always clean before, and after, because I know he'll never clean it, and I have the courtesy to clean up after myself. Motherfucker almost broke the damn thing (which I paid for entirely) with 5 or 6 loads of clothes in a row, and no cleaning the lint screen. By the 4th or 5th load he was having to turn it on for two full cycles, then he asked me what it wasn't working. :|

Reading threads here always brings up painful memories...

You can break a dryer by not cleaning out the lint trap? I thought the worst that could happen is that your clothes would be full of lint...

 

[mrSHEiK124]

Originally posted by: Alone

Originally posted by: mrSHEiK124
My roommate didn't even fucking know there was a lint filter to be cleaned. Yes, 19 year old out on his own in college has never used the fucking dryer at home

So I always clean before, and after, because I know he'll never clean it, and I have the courtesy to clean up after myself. Motherfucker almost broke the damn thing (which I paid for entirely) with 5 or 6 loads of clothes in a row, and no cleaning the lint screen. By the 4th or 5th load he was having to turn it on for two full cycles, then he asked me what it wasn't working. :|

Reading threads here always brings up painful memories...

You can break a dryer by not cleaning out the lint trap? I thought the worst that could happen is that your clothes would be full of lint...

Dryer not drying = broken dryer, right? Our dryer is weird. If you move it wrong, it won't start until you plug/unplug it. I bought it second hand.

 

[Alone]

Originally posted by: mrSHEiK124
Dryer not drying = broken dryer, right? Our dryer is weird. If you move it wrong, it won't start until you plug/unplug it. I bought it second hand.

I'm no electrician, but I thought a dryer would still dry without a clean lint trap. I mean, the name speaks for itself; it traps lint.

 

[magicrat03]

I check it before I put a load in.

It will dry without a clean lint trap, and I hope it wouldn't take an electrician to figure that out. But some people like to clean the trap before they run a new load of clothes. As for bad things happening because you didn't clean it out, who knows? Take 30 seconds and clean it for the sake of your mother's dryer, you know she cleans out the lint.

 

[Oceandevi]

either way you are cleaning it BETWEEN loads, therefore its the same action, named twice.

 

[dawp]

I throw the clothes and dryer sheet in, close the door and start it, then check the trap, if it needs it I clean it. mine has a long screen that is pulled out the top.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

I put the load in, hit start and THEN I check it. Yeah, I'm lazy. I was taught to check it after loading, but before pressing start. Sometime ago during college I got into the habit of checking after pressing start. Sigh. I fear I'm treading down a dark path.

 

[boomerang]

You throw the damp clothes in, then, while your hand is still damp you clean the lint filter. The dampness on your hand makes it easier to remove the built up lint. You do this before turning on the dryer.

 

[awal]

I clean it right after taking out a full load, so the next person doesn't have to put up with my balls-o-lint

 

[TridenT]

Both times... :-/ Other people are too stupid to clean the thing out in my household. :| (Excluding my Mom and Dad; laundry pros) I check it before and after. I clean it both times too, even if there is very little lint.

We use POS washer and dryer right now... Any recommendations on what to get? Looking for one that does rather large loads and is great. The washer and dryer we use right now must have cost my brother and sister $100 combined, because they don't clean at all. I throw in my hairy sweater in there and it will come out just as hairy or worse. O_O Our washer and dryer at home wasn't that bad, and I thought it was bad... Wrong I was.. -_-

 

[Deviant Grasshopper]

You absolutely can burn out the element if it's electric by letting the lint filter get clogged.

 

[Rubycon]

Originally posted by: Deviant Grasshopper
You absolutely can burn out the element if it's electric by letting the lint filter get clogged.

While it's true that the heating element (nichrome wire) will run a lot hotter in the absence of sufficient airflow, there is a snap disc thermal overload (high temp cutout) that will open and disengage the element to prevent burnout. Most people will notice it taking MUCH longer to do a load before this happens anyway.

 

[smack Down]

Originally posted by: Oceandevi
either way you are cleaning it BETWEEN loads, therefore its the same action, named twice.

No it isn't.

If person A cleans it out before the load and person B cleans it out after then when person B does a load of laundry after person A, they will not have a clean lint filter.