How I’m going to “burn down the house.”

Posted on September 17th, 2008 by admin

And by house…I mean tiny apartment.

And I don’t really think that I’m going to be burning it down, but that’s what T said when he saw the lint filter on the dryer. He also followed that up with, “When was the last time you emptied it?” As if I had any clue.

Srsly!

It’s a good half inch thick! The lint filter on the dryer is sort of one of things that I just forget about. I think it’s supposed to be emptied/cleaned after every load, but I always forget. I know it’s there and I know how to clean it…I just forget about it.

I found this info from a website that actually belongs to a lint removal business. AKA: you can pay people to come and clean out your lint. Oh to be rich and not have to clutter my mind with such senseless worry.

Take from: www.clearchoicelintremoval.com

According to a 2007 study by the Topical Fire Research Series, dryer fires account for 15,600 structure fires each year nationwide. In Florida, the number of dryer fires rose from 1 percent of all fires in 2005 to 4 percent in 2006, according to the state fire marshal.

What’s with those Floridians? They can’t get anything right! The website does go into some more detail about the fact that dryer fires aren’t always started from the actual lint in the lint filter. They usually ignite from the rest of the lint that somehow gets past the filter and into the tube thingy. Apparently that also needs to be cleaned. How a regular non-handy person is supposed to go about cleaning the tube thingy is beyond me. I guess that’s what the lint businesses are for. And the magnificent Internet.

Here’s a rather lengthy step-by-step set of instructions to help you de-fuzz:

http://www.wikihow.com/Clean-a-Clothes-Dryer-Vent

I don’t know about you but that just doesn’t seem like at easy task for the average person. But that article says that it really only needs to be done every one or two years. Whew… One statement that sort of baffles me is:

Run dryer on air fluff for 10 minutes. Debris you just loosened may fly out, so don’t stand right outside.

OK…is there really a possibility of sharp objects flying out of the dryer vent? I think I could take a shot of lint to the face.

And come to think of it…I really have no idea where my dryer is vented to. I always see and smell the dryer vents when I walk around the complex, but I don’t know where mine goes. I just stuck my head back there and can’t tell where it leads to. Probably nowhere. But I did spot a bottle of Febreeze that I didn’t even know I lost.

T: Where is our dryer vented to??

He will know. He knows everything. Except how to match his own clothing.

So that’s just a little random Wednesday information for you! If you’ve never done it, maybe you want to take a minute (or day) to thoroughly clean out your dryer vent thingy. I’m not going to, but you could.

You can thank me in advance for helping you to prevent death by dryer lint.

*Side Note: I have actually seen “dryer lint art” in a gallery that I visited in Canada. It was really cool! Not really sure how they were able to get so many different colors of lint. Mine always seems to be that ugly grey color.

*Double Side Note: Where the heck does all that lint come from? I can understand that something might shed some lint for the first few dryings, but you’d think that after a while it would stop producing lint? That question alone with cost me a good two nights of sleep. Dammit!