# So, I put my debit card in the dryer machine....... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 7, 2015, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-put-my-debit-card-in-the-dryer-machine/717025 "2015-04-07T05:43:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-put-my-debit-card-in-the-dryer-machine/717025/1 "2015-04-07T05:43:53Z")
Had my debit card in my pockets, forgot about it, put the clothes in the washer and the dryer. The debit card went through the dryer’s full cycle. I’m not concerned about the card, but rather, the dryer. Is it going to have some melted plastic residue or fumes in its interior from now on? ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-put-my-debit-card-in-the-dryer-machine/717025/2 "2015-04-07T05:45:58Z")
Did the debit card stay in the pocket? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-put-my-debit-card-in-the-dryer-machine/717025/3 "2015-04-07T05:50:20Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > Did the debit card stay in the pocket? I don’t know, actually, I haven’t seen it yet (the dryer already finished its cycle some time ago.) I’m guessing that if it stayed, its melting might stay in the pocket, but if it’s out there rattling against the dryer wall with everything else, then it might smear? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-put-my-debit-card-in-the-dryer-machine/717025/4 "2015-04-07T06:44:58Z")
By the time I realized the mistake, it was was too late; the dryer was almost done. ---
**Author:** ![48Willys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/db5fbb/32.png) [@48Willys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/48Willys)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-put-my-debit-card-in-the-dryer-machine/717025/5 "2015-04-07T07:52:02Z")
If the dryer is getting hot enough to melt plastic, you should address this overheating problem. I have inadvertantly washed & dried the plastic student ID cards that the college issued me. No ill effects were noticed. The magnetic strips even worked as well as they ever did. They were clean though. No worries, mate! ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-put-my-debit-card-in-the-dryer-machine/717025/6 "2015-04-07T08:40:37Z")
You may get arrested for money laundering though 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-put-my-debit-card-in-the-dryer-machine/717025/7 "2015-04-07T11:23:33Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > You may get arrested for money laundering though 😃 Well played, sir, well played. Did the card actually melt? Lots of fabrics are essentially plastic and they go through your dryer all the time without any problem so I’m not sure why a credit card would cause any problems. Unless the card is visibly melted I wouldn’t expect any lasting effects. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-put-my-debit-card-in-the-dryer-machine/717025/8 "2015-04-07T13:50:31Z")
I inserted my card in the dryer, but no money came out. Bummer! ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-put-my-debit-card-in-the-dryer-machine/717025/9 "2015-04-07T15:15:22Z")
> [@48Willys](#): > > If the dryer is getting hot enough to melt plastic, you should address this overheating problem. > > I have inadvertantly washed & dried the plastic student ID cards that the college issued me. No ill effects were noticed. The magnetic strips even worked as well as they ever did. They were clean though. > > No worries, mate! QFT. If any of your clothing is synthetic, that kind of heat would have melted it long ago. Synthetics are basically very fine threads of certain plastics. Those plastics have the same, or lower, melting temperatures as your CC, but they’re fine fibers meaning they’d heat through completely and melt if the temperature were high enough. The card may de-laminate, or maybe warp a little, or the magstrip or chip might be damaged (unlikely), but it didn’t melt unless it got trapped against the heat source. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-put-my-debit-card-in-the-dryer-machine/717025/10 "2015-04-07T15:33:57Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I inserted my card in the dryer, but no money came out. Bummer! There may be some cash caught in the lint trap. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-put-my-debit-card-in-the-dryer-machine/717025/11 "2015-04-08T00:02:04Z")
What have I got in my pocket? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e79b87/32.png) [@The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Joker_and_the_Thief)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-put-my-debit-card-in-the-dryer-machine/717025/12 "2015-04-08T00:33:27Z")
The simplest way to resolve your problem would be to exchange your plastic credit card for a metal one. The [Palladium card](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palladium_Card) and [Centurion card](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centurion_Card) only require a few million each. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-put-my-debit-card-in-the-dryer-machine/717025/13 "2015-04-08T02:14:45Z")
> [@The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](#): > > The simplest way to resolve your problem would be to exchange your plastic credit card for a metal one. The [Palladium card](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palladium_Card) and [Centurion card](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centurion_Card) only require a few million each. If I were eligible for either of these two cards, I would not be doing my own laundry.