A Thump and Whoosh

Dear FlyLady,

I use the brushes once a month and I’m amazed at how much lint comes out each time. A few days ago, I washed my dog’s bed (which recommends machine washing and drying on the care label). When it came from the dryer, there was a small tear in a seam and some green “fluff” had leaked out. It didn’t seem like a big deal and I shook it off outside, cleaned the lint trap and used the long skinny brush to get out what I though was the rest of the fluff.

A few days later, I stripped beds and threw in a couple of wash loads of sheets and towels. My teenage son had also cleaned out his gym locker, so I had an extra pile from him to wash. I had just put the second load in the dryer and was loading the washer when I heard sort of a thump and whoosh from the dryer.  I never would have heard it if I had not still been in the laundry room. And I had done at least 5 loads in the dryer before this happened and not noticed a difference in performance or any extra fluff in the lint trap.

I immediately turned off the dryer to investigate, pulled out the lint trap and saw nothing. Stuck in the long skinny brush and got just a bit of lint. Then I went outside and took off the vent cover and there was a plug of “fluff” the size of a softball–obviously from the dog bed–stuck in the end of the vent hose. I immediately grabbed my hose brush from my dryer kit and used it to pull out more fluff from the hose. The ball I had when I was done was about the size of a cantaloupe. I used my Dryer tools to thoroughly clean the rest of the dryer. The amount of fluff was incredible. There were little balls of it everywhere. And I wouldn’t have done a scheduled cleaning for another couple of weeks.

Since I have a gas dryer, I can only imagine how easily they could have ignited. I am thanking God that I was there when that first plug came whooshing out for me to hear it. And that I had the tools at hand to take care of the problem before it became a tragedy.

Thank you.

Cheryl
FlyBaby in Pennsylvania

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