Pin Busters! Is your dryer sheet making your lint trap a fire hazard?

I saw several pins on Pinterest about the importance of cleaning your dryer's lint trap. Not just removing the lint, but actually washing/scrubbing it to remove any residue. I couldn't find where the story originated, so my apologies to whoever started it - I would give you credit if I could!


I think everyone knows that you need to clean the lint off the lint trap before or after every use (it doesn't matter when you do it as long as it's clean before you start it up). But not everyone knows that there can also be an invisible build-up on the screen that prevents proper airflow. This makes the dryer work much harder than it should - taking longer to dry the clothes, and using more electricity or gas.

It makes perfect sense to me - and I was concerned about my dryer because while I always clean the lint out, I have never washed the screen. And I use fabric softener and dryer sheets in every load except the towels. So there was a good chance that there would be a build-up on the screen. All of the comments I read from people who tried this said that water pooled on their screen.


I ran water over the screen...


The water ran right through it! It didn't bead up or stay in the screen at all.  I guess that's a good thing, but it just seems weird that with all of the dryer sheets and fabric softener I use, there was no build-up.


So I'll keep checking mine, and since this is true, I'll say it's Pin-worthy. But I still think it's weird that there wasn't any build-up on my screen.  :-)

(FYI: According to Snopes.com, this email/story/warning started making the rounds back in 2005 - it's not something amazing and new that just popped up on Pinterest, LOL!)