How to Clean your Dryer

OK so we just cleaned our washing machine. Now it is on to the other important machine in our laundry room. The dryer.
A few weeks back I made a post about how to get the musty smell out of your towels because I was having a smell issue with my dryer that I thought was the towels. Fast forward to last week and I was hid with a rancid smell when I walked into my laundry room. Now I had not done laundry in a few days and it had not smelt when I had removed my last load, so what was the problem?

1. First I cleaned the inside with my trusty vinegar. Now if you don't have a smell, you should still do this every so often to clean the machine. Simply spray the inside and wipe dry.

2. Then I emptied the lint tray. Here is where I noticed the smell getting stronger. So I unscrewed the trap and vacuumed it out well. Also a good idea to do twice a year even if there is no smell. Lint can collect over time and cause the machine to catch fire so maintenance is key.

3. Then I unscrewed the tubing at the back of the machine that vents out the wall to outside. BINGO! The smell was very bad there. We had found the source of the smell!!! So we ended up replacing that tubing as it reeked. Now we had some major storms pass through the week before and we are not sure if water came inside the vent and went down the tubing from outside or if the lint collected in the tubing and got moldy. You don't need to replace your tubing if there is no smell, but occasional vacuuming of the tubing will help with the lint from backing up.

 

Happy Laundering!!