Dryers are a major convenience, as opposed to hanging every single piece of clothing out to dry. Dryers dry clothes fast, efficiently, and help get wrinkles out. They do also collect lint. Why do dryers collect lint, and how do you get rid of it?
What is lint?
Based off of popsci.com, “Lint is composed of tiny bits of fabric fibers that are shed from the edges of our garments. Bits of fiber break off from our clothing from the friction of wear.” Some fabrics generate more lint than other fabrics do like, wool and cotton. Other fabrics with natural fibers will leave more lint in your dryer.
How does your dryer collect lint?
Like I described above, lint comes from clothes. When your clothes go through the washer, the laundry detergent and water pull up the lint from your clothes, but because the clothes are still wet, the lint sticks to your clothes so you won’t see any lint left over in your washer. When your dryer pushed hot air and tumbles your clothes, that’s when the lint is released from your clothes and onto your lint screen.
What are some problems that are caused because of lint?
Most (if not all) dryers come with a lint screen. This is what catches the lint from your clothes, and prevent the lint going into the dryers exhaust pipe or vent. (It is very important that the lint screen is cleaned every time a new load is going into the dryer.) The problem is, not every piece of lint will be stopped by the lint screen. Have you ever had to restart your dryer because your clothes weren’t dried yet? This is a problem caused by lint slipping through the lint screen and going into the vent. Overtime, the vent will be clogged and it will restrict airflow into the dryer.
Restricting airflow doesn’t seem that big of a deal, but it is. Restriction of airflow to the dryer causes hot air to be trapped into your dryer. This is problem, because a sensor goes off saying your dryer is overheating, and the dryer will automatically turn the heat off, leaving your clothes to tumble in cold air. Leaving your clothes damp.
How do you remove lint from the vent?
The best ways of cleaning your dryer of any lint is to use a vacuum cleaner or a leaf blower. One thing that my mother-in-law used for her dryer was a vacuum cleaner with a dryer vent cleaner attachment. It connects to the hose of your vacuum, and it is fairly cheap on Amazon.
If you have tried the vacuum or leaf blower, the next best thing would be to call a technician. They have the proper tools to fully clean out the vent without damaging anything.
Why do dryers collect lint?
Now we will answer the question that everyone has been wondering about. Why do dryers collect lint? Dryers collect lint, simply because lint falls off of your clothes, and fabrics in the dryer. Dryers collect lint in the screen to prevent lint going through the vent and restricting airflow.