Wet Towels!!!

Don't ya just hate it when you stick your hand in the dryer expecting warm fluffy fresh towels and find a cold wet massive lump instead? What a way to ruin a perfectly good thought of showering... I don't know about you, but especially in the summer when I've been working in the yard or garden and I'm looking forward to an awesome shower... I like my towels fluffy, smelling fresh, inviting, and ready to sop me up! My wife and I have four children whom live at our house all the time and there are days she pops the towels in the dryer and attends to other chores... trust me, this has happened to me on more than one occasion! And, fellas, it isn't always her fault for not turning it on for a long enough period of time... could be something wrong with the machine! Let's see what's up...

So, for all you Do It Yourselfers out there, here are three tips to get you in the right direction to dry towels. First, you have to observe a few things to number down some possible causes because your drum belt might be broken or cracked, your heating element could be going out, or the vent itself could be stopped up.

First, test your drum and see if it is turning freely. Try and spin it by hand. It should turn but you want to feel some noticeable resistance. If it feels like it's spinning easily, your drive belt is probably over worn, stretched or broken.

If the belt checks out alright, try drying a couple of wet towels next. Use a setting which should produce the full amount of heat. Let the dryer run for about ten minutes while you take care of other chores. If the clothes are just only a little warm to the touch, you probably have a heating element malfunction which you will need to make a call to the appliance repair technician (me ;) ) to change. After ten minutes you should see a noticeable fluffing and warmth to the towels. They should be quite hot actually, especially when you only put a couple in. I never recommend Do It Yourselfers to change their own heating element. It just is simply a repair that a fully trained person should complete. Thousands of dryers every year cause fires... which leads me to an aside thought. Never ever ever ever dry your clothes when you are not home, not even just doing yard work. You need to be near to your dryer so you can take care of issues quickly if there was a fire. I also suggest keeping a fire extinguisher in the general vicinity of your dryer. They look like calm little appliances... but you should hear some stories of what I've seen!

If neither of these are the answer, then you probably are having trouble with your vent. First, check your lint trap and make sure it is properly cleaned. Next, go outside while your machine is running and see if there is a good amount of air coming out. If there is not much air coming out, you could have one of two problems. Either your dryer's vent fan isn't working properly or your vent pipe is plugged. Go back inside and take the pipe off the wall. While running, if there is air flowing out of the pipe then your fan is fine and your vent line needs inspection. We here at ArchAngel can clean your vents for you for a small fee if you don't want to do this. If there is no air coming out and you believe it is the fan, we can also do that for you as well.

If you want to give it a whirl and clean your vents...Check your vent pipe from one end to the other and take out all necessary debris. This can be a nasty nasty job. I always wear a mouth allergy cover... ugh yucky. -I also recommend simply purchasing a new pipe. I know, not environmentally friendly... but if you have a metal one you can recycle it. It is good to replace the line altogether though as fires are caused by thousands of these a year. It is also more efficient for your machine to keep your vents cleaned. Just easier and safer to go ahead and replace it.

A little preventative maintenance is nice as well.... keeping the lent trap clean and vents clean helps your machine run smooth for a much longer time. Don't put unecessary pressure on your heating element and other parts. Remember, your machine works for you so you work for it!
If you do these simple things you will have nice and inviting towels every time you go for some... we are so spoiled nowadays, I couldn't stand to not have my smokin hot towels!

Hope that helps! Food for thought,
ArchAngel