Maintaining the home so that it remains a safe place to live is essential for any homeowner. One important safety step to take is to do a fire risk assessment of your property. Some areas of the home may be more susceptible to fire than others, the laundry room is one of those areas. Why?
The dryer is one of those appliances that, if not checked regularly, can quickly become a fire hazard. Tumble dryers work by forcing hot air into the rotating drum. As the wet clothes move around the drum, water vapor begins to evaporate from the clothing so that they dry. The water vapor extracted from the clothing then needs to leave the machine which it does through the dryer vent. Another byproduct that comes off clothing during the drying process is lint, this also needs to be extracted from the dryer.
A dryer becomes a fire risk when water vapor cannot exit the dryer leaving it at risk of overheating. Lint which is also extremely flammable cannot be allowed to build up in the machine as this could cause a major fire hazard. To avoid these things from happening, regularly check that the dryer vent is connected to the dryer and has not become damaged. You must also make sure that it is properly vented to the outside. You also need to empty out the lint trap each time the machine is used to prevent lint buildup.