Potential Dryer Fires

Recently I had the pleasure of working with an appliance repairman. We were looking at our clothes dryer which had stopped working. It was no longer drying the clothes.
Ben pulled out the lint screen and proceeded to run water onto it. The water did not run through as you would expect, but pooled on the screen. He asked if we were in the habit of using fabric softener sheets.
He explained that they tend to leave a residue on the lint screen preventing the proper venting of the heat and moisture during the normal drying cycle.

Although we had always been diligent about cleaning the lint from this screen after each use we were not aware of this concern with a film building up.

He then proceeded to clean this screen with soapy water and a small scrub brush. After this cleaning he then showed me how the water ran freely through the screen.
This should be done every 6 months.

Ben then described to me how this blockage of the screen had probably caused the heating element to overheat causing it's premature failure.

This situation could have also caused a dryer fire.

Because of this potential fire hazard I feel this should be passed onto all my contacts and I encourage you to pass it on to all your contacts and friends.