Thanks for the warning. I wasn't aware of this. I always run my dishwasher at night but never the dryer.

I never run my washer or dryer when sleeping or not at home, but I am guilty of leaving my dishwasher unattended. Thanks for the reminder.

A dryer fire is much more likely than a dishwasher fire.

Dryer fires are usually caused by lint buildups in the vent line. It's an easily avoidable problem that few pay attention to.

Lint is highly flammable. Plastic accordion vent lines are the worst for this, the lint accumulates in the rib depressions. Foil covered flexible ducts are second worst, for the same reason. Also,many people don't clean their lint filters after each load and so excess lint can blow out into the vent line.

Hard metal ducting (like for forced air ducts but smaller) is the best choice. Regardless of the material used, all ducts should be cleaned every few years. If you haven't done this recently, I suggest it would be a good idea for you to turn your dryer off before going to bed or leaving the house with your pets inside.

You just never knowâ¦..Friends' ice maker malfunctioned while they were asleep and water ran all night onto first floor and into finished basement. Awful mess. All carpeting and flooring had to be replaced.

Had ours cleaned out last month.....best $115 we ever spent. Lots of lint and amazingly 2 1/2 gallons of water. Who knew that was possible, and gosh, my dryer was getting hot to touch in the laundry room. Now room & dryer is nice and clothes take less time to dry.

BTW, I had been worrying about it for months.... what a relief.

Water, Nanny? I wouldn't have imagined that. Glad you've got yourself a safe appliance now.

I'm religious about cleaning my lint trap after every load, but Snidely's post inspired me to get a flashlight and look in the opening where the trap resides. Uh-oh....lots of lint. And I haven't figured out how to access the vent in the back.

So I'm looking on Amazon for a vacuum attachment that would get down in there to pick up the lint. So far I haven't found anything that looks decent. Lots and lots of products with bad consumer reviews though.

I think I found a flexible crevice took that will work on my Shark vacuum:

Vacuum attachment at Amazon

I ordered it, and look forward to doing battle with the lint.

Running my dishwasher in the middle of the night is my way of preventing frozen pipes on the nights we've been cold enough (for several days) to possibly freeze and burst the pipes over night. I've had frozen pipes leak, but the dishwasher never has.

Running the DW is better than running the water all night. With an evening bath or two, and some toilet flushing, we're good until the wee hours of the morning. Dishwasher goes on at about 2-3 am, and that's enough to keep the pipes free and running.

I understand that I'm in Central Texas - and we don't get cold enough, usually, for enough nights to burst pipes. But we sometimes are that cold for multiple days and the pipes will freeze if the faucets aren't being dripped. I'd rather use that water for baths, flushing, and running the DW.

Oh, and I clean my dryer vent twice a year, when I pull out the washer and dryer to clean behind them. I'm kind of surprised more of you don't do that.

Of course, I also clean the lint trap in the dryer after every load.

This post was edited by mary_c on Sat, Jan 24, 15 at 23:13

Alisande, if you use something like this you can loosen the lint build-up on the sides of the vent, then turn the dryer on in order to blow out the lint.

Here is a link that might be useful: lint brush

Alisande, if you use something like this you can loosen the lint build-up on the sides of the vent, then turn the dryer on in order to blow out the lint.

Here is a link that might be useful: lint brush

I am always reminding my son, who is single and lives alone, not to run the dryer when he's sleeping or leaving the house. An unattended dryer has always worried me.

If you have an uninsulated vent duct that runs through a cold area (like under the house or through the attic), you'll most certainly get water condensing as the very humid air blown out by the dryer passes cold duct surfaces. The solution for that is to insulate the duct run.

Those little brush wands and extensions are fine if your duct run is just a few feet long and you can disconnect it at both ends. Some are 10 or 20 feet long and have bends and turns. Short devices won't do much for those, a professional service may be needed.

Cleaning and regular maintenance is the best way to avoid fires with dryers and DW.

I clean the lint after every load, and I vacumn my lint trap out once a month, clean the vent pipes twice a year, use daylight savings time change as the guide. I also give the air intake on the back of the dryer a good vacumn or dusting off then, as well.

Cleaning out the traps in the DW, wiping the build up of crud on the inside lower portion of the door is done once a month or so, and removing the bottom plate on the DW and the air intake plate on the bottom of the fridge and giving both a good vacumn is done about once a month or so. The amount of lint that can collect around the coils on the fridge, especially if one has pets, is unbelievable. Same with under the DW.

As stated, lint is very flammable. But fresh air flow around your appliances is critical as well. Not only does cleaning these areas regularly lessen the chances of the appliance overheating, it also prolongs the life of the motors.

With summer coming and A/C units being put back on, making sure the air intake vanes on the units are cleaned as well. It amazing the leaves, bugs, spiderwebs, that get stuck in there.

This post was edited by prairie_rose on Sun, Jan 25, 15 at 8:28

It is a very scary thing for me I don't run it if I am going to leave the house either...I turn it off until I get back home. Thankfully My dryer hookup is right on an outside wall....

Now all I have to concern myself with is birdnests so a piece of wire mesh stops that. if you ever have a dryer that stops drying as it should, it could mean that the vent is plugged.

This post was edited by ruthieg__tx on Sun, Jan 25, 15 at 11:41

Love my laundry room, but for the first time my dryer is not on an outside wall. It's vented into the floor, the duct work runs 16' under the room and cabinets, a utility closet, and exits in a shallow grated well at a sidewalk near my back patio. Moving the dryer to do anything including clean under it is a two person job that DH doesn't enjoy. Most of the room is tile and cabinets but there is a bit of painted surface too that I would like to change the color of....funny how DH loves the color it is now ;)

After moving in, I was noticing a bit of a steamy moist smell when I'd been doing laundry and needed something from that utility closet, and my dryer turned off before my clothes were dry a few times and the dryer was brand new.

I'd called the heating and cooling place for a well-furnace check-up and when they were here and since they do duct work, I asked if they could check and replace the clothes dryer vent/duct material. It's now stainless end to end, it wasn't cheap. No more ridges, seams, only a slick surfaced straight shot to outside, no warm moist scent in that closet, and my dryer dries my clothes.

I had no idea. As a matter of fact, I like to fall asleep to the woosh, woosh, sound of the water spinning around. Guess I'll end that one! I had already stopped running the dryer a long time ago, but I'll add dishwasher. What do I know? I don't leave any appliance that has a heating element plugged in except the clothes dryer/range. I will not leave the coffee pot, curling iron, hair dryer, toaster, whatever I am forgetting, plugged in in case of dysfunction.

Hi Rob,

You unplug the toaster every day ... or several times, in case of multiple usings?

I should move mine, that stays plugged in, off of the kitchen table, as it never gets used ... now that I have no teeth.

One of my electric kettles has no switch, works all of the time that it's plugged in. The other has a switch, and the cord is plugged in almost all of the time unless I unplug to carry it somewhere.

As for cleaning the dryer vent a couple of times a year ... that's about the number of times a year (or double ... or triple, maybe) that it gets used during a year. And it's a walk up a flight of stairs (well, half-way up - just to ground level, and the kitchen floor's above ground level) and some outside to get to the line ... and use a duster on the line, to air-dry ... plus, not comfortable, this time of year. When not too cold outside, stick hands down among unhung items when they get cold; when quite cold - hang stuff on lines in the basement.

Dishwashing - occasionally, by trusty hands ... but no worries about them getting on fire.

o j

After every single usage oj. It's really easy to reach, so it's not a problem. It gets used at least once a day, some times multiple. The boy, he does love his toast.

Wow--sounds like a dishwasher that should be recalled! Good for you for not leaving a dangerous appliance behind when you sold the house.