WFMW: Only you can prevent dryer fires

Uncle Brandon writes:

So I came home from class yesterday morning and I smelled this awful burning smell in the house. I couldn't figure out where it was coming from so I called Heather to see if she had used any appliances that morning. Turns out she had used the dryer. Sure enough, the smell was horrible when I opened the front of the dryer. I got the kick panel off of it and found to my horror that it was absolutely full of now-burnt dryer lint. I talked to Whirlpool on the phone and they said that if your dryer vent gets full, the lint that gets through can back up into the dryer. You're apparently supposed to check your vent every two years. I had no idea. I connected the dryer to the existing vent when we moved in and never thought about it again. So I got under the house and sure enough, the cheap plastic venting that the former owner had put in place was 100% full of lint. There was no way that air could move through there with any kind of flow. No wonder it was taking our clothes so long to dry - we thought the dryer was going out. So I'm in the process of installing all new, metal venting to try and keep this from happening again. Long story to get to the question - have you checked your dryer vent lately? Because our house could have potentially burned down from something I never even thought about.

Sure enough, folks, BJ checked our dryer vent this weekend (and here I was, looking forward to an excuse for a laundry strike...) and found about 3 cups of lint. We've only lived here for a few years, too. So, today's WFMW tip is, "Check your dryer vent for lint, because not having a house fire works for me!"

If you're here for WFMW, don't miss my other WFMW posts:

How to use Google Calendar to organize your family.
How to save a zillion dollars with the Magic Bullet.
How to quickly cool Mac & Cheese.
How to soothe a teething baby without whiskey - oops! I mean Tylenol.
How to do Time Outs correctly.
How to improvise a changing table.
How to get a baby and a toddler into the car.
How to keep your house decluttered with an old waitressing mantra.
How to find a great baby sling.
How to manage your grocery list online.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you again soon!

Visit Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer for more WFMW tips!