Clothes Dryer Cleaning Day – Preventing A Potential Fire In Your Home!

Over the last several months, MCFRS personnel have responded to fires involving clothes dryers.  One way to prevent these fires is to clean in and around your clothes dryer at least once a year.

With the start of spring just a couple of days away, what better way to start your annual "spring cleaning" then by taking care of an oft over-looked part of many homes. 

Last year I cleaned my clothes dryer and, as you can see by the pictures below, there was a ton of lint build up in, on, and around it. These pictures show why it is very important you take time to clean both inside and outside the clothes dryer and not just the lint trap.

A couple of pictures show what happens to the inside of your pipe that runs in and just outside your dryer (Fig 1) that carries the hot air, and lint, out. The next photo (Fig 2) shows the inside of the flexible duct that connects to your dryer pipe and then connects to another pipe that usually runs to the outside of your house.

In the next photo (Fig 3) you can see the cleaning device I used to run up into the pipe and dryer and the large amount of lint I pulled out of the dryer. These photos clearly show the large amount of lint that builds up and can, when heated up by the hot air of the dryer, actually ignite and catch fire! The more the build up, the better chance for ignition and then – a fire in your home!

A couple of the photos (Fig 4 & 5) clearly show just how dusty and dirty the back of your dryer and the floor behind and underneath it can become. This also can create problems and hazards and you need to make sure you clean these spots as well!

For more tips please go here: Clothes Dryer Fire Safety Tips

We hope you will take this opportunity to "Spring Into Safety" and help make your home a safer place!
 

 

Fig 1

 

Fig 2

 



Fig 3

Fig 4





Fig 5