Monday

tip number 17 ~

image from the internet

You know how you get distracted when doing searches for stuff on the internet ... and you end up looking at something that is so completely off course from what you were originally looking up?? I'm sooooo bad with that.  I was either looking up a smoked catfish recipe or was it baked cheese?  Anyhoooooooo.... I ended up on this site that had household tips. 

I can't remember the site; but do remember the tip was number 17.  Again ... if this was from your site ... whomever you may be ... I apologize for stealing your post ... but then again ... thank you :)

Here's the post I had copied to my notebook ... Yes, I have a file on organizing and household tips  ... HA ... that in itself could be classify as my JOKE OF THE DAY!

the post ~

The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean. (I always clean the lint from the filter after every load clothes.) He told us that he wanted to show us something; he took the filter over to the sink, ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material – I’m sure you know what your dryer’s lint filter looks like. WELL…the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn’t go through it at all! He told us that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh that’s what burns out the heating unit. You can’t SEE the film , but it’s there. It’s wha t is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free – that nice fragrance too, you know how they can feel waxy when you take them out of the box, well this stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen This is also what causes dryer units to catch fire & potentially burn your house down with it! He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (& to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out & wash it with hot soapy water & an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months. He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long!
How about that!?! Learn something new every day! I certainly didn’t know dryer sheets would do that. So, I thought I’d share!
Note: I went to my dryer & tested my screen by running water on it. The water ran through a little bit but mostly collected all the water in the mesh screen. I washed it with warm soapy water & a nylon brush & I had it done in 30 seconds. Then when I rinsed it the water ran right thru the screen! There wasn’t any puddling at all! That repairman knew what he was talking about!



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Now wasn't that interesting :)

I'm not a dryer sheet user ... I use the liquid fabric softener ... and clean my screen off every load from lint; but I imagine the liquid still gunks up that screen just as the dryer sheet would.

I'm going to go and wash my lint screen.  Hubby will flip when I tell him how I saved us money ... AGAIN!! ... an the possibility of burning down our house.

Until next time ...
So it goes in my neck of the woods
~mel


11 comments:

  1. well, I'll be danged. Now I have to go to the wood shed, pull the filter out of the dryer that just went ka-put and see if the dang thing is plugged...go figure.
    Love tip #17 and you too sis.
    BlessYa

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  2. Makes me glad I don't use dryer sheets. :-)

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  3. I tried that several years ago. Water stood on mine also. Now I can't remember to wash it. Thanks for the reminder.

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  4. I have heard that before. I now use dryer balls, work great!! Thanks for the Public Service Blog today!!!

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  5. Who knew? INTERESTING factoid.

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  6. That is the reason I don't use those dryer sheets any longer.

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  7. Not only does it do that to your dryer, it builds up on your clothes... you wear your clothes and it goes through your skin, into your system, much like a medication patch.

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  8. IMMA gonna check that when we get back to our real dryer at base camp.

    Love from here. WE are short on power and signal here in the woods.

    Love ya!

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  9. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  10. The deleted comment was me. I misspelled a word and that just won't fly!
    ANYWAYS ...
    I read this somewhere before and because I DO use dryer sheets, I had to try it. I clean the lint trap with every use and when I went to rinse it there was NO problem with the water going right through. I'm not saying it wont clog up some dryers but mine was fine.
    'love & hugs from afar'

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