That’s what I love about this place- a racist rant about a trivial thing can turn into a discussion of how to beautify bird nests. Wonderful!
I can kinda sorta see what the OP’s on about (the lint trap, not the racism). It is something from other people’s dirty clothing and I’d rather not touch it. He’s blowing it way the hell out of proportion, though.
Also, really dumb question: The lint trap is the little rectangular depression thingy in the front of the dryer, right? I never bothered with it because I don’t mind lint, and I thought it was just a convenience thing. I had no idea it could actually be any kind of a hazard.
You know, one of the things that learning to camp has taught me is to always bring a zip-lock bag with a few handfuls of dryer lint stowed inside. Its very useful as tinder for starting fires from scratch and without a lot of technology…even if the wood you are trying to light is wet.
Johnny Hildo, this might be useful to you on those nights when the cross just won’t light or when you have either a “Mexican, East Indian, Somali or Hmong” tied to a stake and you need to light the fire quickly.
Just put a sign up.
What I did was simpler. I put a sticker inside the door corner edge, where it wouldn’t get rubbed away by the tumbling clothes.
I just said that your clothes would not dry unless you cleaned the filter first.
There should be a little removable fine mesh screen somewhere on the top or front of your dryer. Right below the door is a common place to find it, though my dryer has it on the top. Look for a strip of plastic that you can pull on, that should be attached to the screen. That is the lint filter.
Its purpose isn’t to keep lint off your clothes. It is there to keep lint from plugging up the vents for letting hot air in and out of the dryer, and to keep the flammable lint away from the heating element of the dryer. Air ducts getting clogged with lint can mean that your dryer won’t do a very good job of drying your clothes, or can mean the dryer will overheat, which could cause damage to your clothes or even a fire. The government estimates that, in 1998, there were over 15,000 fires caused by dryer lint in the US.
If you own a dryer, and you haven’t been cleaning the lint filter regularly, you should look for it and clean it before you dry your next load of clothes.
The lint should come off if you gently pull it off the filter. You might not need to clean it after every load, but you will need to clean it every so often.
I don’t think the possibility of a fire is a trivial matter. If no one else is cleaning the lint trap and Johnny decides to move out or stop doing his laundry there those people could be in danger. I don’t agree with his racist comments however I can understand his ire.
I’d suggest checking to see if the fire dept has some pamphlets on dryer fires and sticking them in everyone’s mailbox and paste a copy of one over the dryer. Maybe you could convince one or two people to clean the lint trap.