Dish soap, water and a soft brush. Rinse well. Do you use dryer sheets?

Yes, i use dryer sheets from time to time. Mainly dryer wool balls with a touch of lavender essential oil. Are the dryer sheets the offending culprit?! :-(

Jill please make sure you also check your vent connection, the tube at the back bottom of your dryer. I checked mine a few months ago when loads were taking longer to dry. I had a ridiculous amount of lint built up back there. I just had hubby get it from the outside of the house. Now it worries me so I try to let everyone know about it. I use dryer sheets and liquid fabric softeners but not all the time. I always kept my lint filter clean but that's not enough!! Just a FYI

Sandy, the brush was the trick!! Thank you so much! I guess water and lint don't mix! ;-). And Jean, you are so right about the tube of the vent, it can be dangerous if too much builds up in there. My WDs are only about a month old, so it can't be my vent at this point...or can it?! DH jokes that the WDs have been running 24/7 since we got them! I am channeling my best 1950s housewife and washing everything in sight!

I have never had to wash my lint screens, ever. They never clog. I do what Mamap says above, I use the lint to remove the lint, like an eraser. I bet your screens are clogging because of the dryer sheets. I've heard of this happening. I never use dryer sheets nor FS.

I have no issues with LFS but dryer sheets will clog the screen in a few loads. Without dryer sheets I wash the screen every few months. Just easier not to use them IMO.

I don't use dryer sheets but once in a blue moon and my lint screen still gets clogged occasionally. I take an old toothbrush and clean it. It is just lint that is persistent.

Liquid softener will NOT, NOT, NOT clog the dryer lint screen. Dryer sheets WILL, WILL, WILL clog/build up the dryer lint screen ;)

I've never encountered that problem. I can just run mine under the faucet and it comes clean. I too use the lint to remove the lint, but every once in awhile I wash it. Isn't this pretty, I found it in an antique shop today. I use it to hold the lint.

I have never had to clean the lint screen. The lint just easily lifts out. But, I don't use any fabric softener in any form.

Everyone should wash their lint screens with warm water and mild soap occasionally. By the way build up on the screen fron dryer sheets or anything else is invisable you won't know its there until you try to run water thru it.

How about running them through the dishwasher? LOL!

Jean, I was just wondering the same thing!

Will it warp??

Probably not a good idea, i'd hate to ruin a dryer filter.

Thanks everyone for the help! Been working like a charm once I got the residue off the screen. I Think i didn't clean the lint off enough when i put the water on the first time, and didn't use a brush! It created a dried film. Now the discussion on not using dryer sheers begs the question....how do you keep the static out? I try not to use that much liquid fs, as we are on a septic, and I heard it's not good for septics. I have four wool balls I use (had been with dryer sheets before...) - how often do I need to buy new ones? I can't get over how smart all of you are on this forum!!!

I've never had any luck avoiding static with the wool dryer balls. Man made fabrics generate more static usually. And for me its more problematic in the winter. I've solved this by hanging many of these man made fabric garments to dry. If you use dryer sheets for static, try 1/2 sheet it will probably work as well as a full sheet.

I put a tablespoon of citric acid powder in where the fabric softener is indicated. Since doing this I have no problem with static. We don't wear polyester, and I don't wear nylon either, and those are the main culprits for static.

I have always wondered what exactly citric acid rubbing against your skin could do?

I've heard of baking soda in the rinse also and can't figure out why ....it would for sure make fabrics scratchy

Static is caused by electrical potential in the fabric, which is promoted by removal of moisture. Overdrying causes higher static ... but depending on ambient humidity just normal dryness can also cause it. Liquid fabric softener or dryer sheets coat the fabric with lubricant which lessens fabric friction and thus reduces static. Can't say what is the physical effect of citric acid or baking soda other than perhaps having some bearing on the fabric's electrical potential. Very lightly spray-misting with water would also cut the static. I've run across at least one dryer that has an anti-static function which engages the steam water nozzle to mist very lightly toward end of the cycle and then (presumably) heats for a few minutes longer time to dissipate the mist.

I've never understood how balls of wool (or whatever) can reduce static ... what's the difference between a couple/three wooly balls tumbling around vs. the clothes doing the same?

I read mention somewhere that stainless steel drums may drain away static but I don't know if that has been confirmed by tests.

I always use dryer sheets. I have NEVER washed a dryer screen in fifty years. I just pull off the lint when I unload the dryer and periodically clean the through-the-wall vent. I don't hang-dry most laundry.

I don't use fabric 'softener'. I put a little white vinegar in the FS compartment to be sure all the detergent gets rinsed out of my laundry. Towels, etc. are soft and fluffy. (If you use a dryer and your laundry needs 'softener', you may be using too much detergent -- and 'softener'.)

I'd recommend you run water over your screen and see if the water runs thru freely..remembering clogged screens from dryer sheets are invisable, you won't see it.

I think there's a bit of an alarmist-angle to the idea of softener sheets clogging the lint screen. Water will tend to hang in the mesh because that's what water does (surface tension). Same thing happens on a window screen and they're larger-size mesh than dryer filters.

That being said, washing the filter does no harm unless it gets torn in the process. I'd make a guess that a stream of water runs through the filter better after washing due to a bit of residual detergent making it "slippery."

Sounds reasonable Dadoes expecially when one actually thinks about it...but still I'd think if someone has never washed a dryer screen in 50 years its long padt do

I'm sure the dryer is not 50 years old, but I could be wrong. If it is, what brand is it? Plus dryer sheets havent been on the market 50 years either. Do you remember when Bounce came out, they were on a roll like foil and you unrolled one as needed? Better smell back then also IMO.

I don't think ChiSue means she has owned the same dryer for 50 years ... she means that she has not washed any dryer lint screens in over 50 years of owning/using various specimens of them, whether or not dryer sheets were involved. :-)

Yes. And I said if someone has never washed a dryer screen in 50 years its past due...figure of speech...

How often should the screen be washed?

Jill, sounds strange but try a ball of aluminum foil. I throw one in with synthetic dog blankets. My bulldog is allergic to nearly everything and I can't use FS on his bedding.

Sandy, I've heard of the foil ball but haven't tried it. I've also heard of clipping safety pins onto a clean cloth and throwing that in the dryer, again I never tried it.

I was afraid the clothespins would somehow ding up my dryer. I'm sure I was just being paranoid but it's the same idea.

Dryer screen still working great! In retropect, I think I made a lint paste trying to wash it when all lint wasnt off! Anyhow, on the static topic, i have been drying everything on line dry (cycle abt 1.5 hours) thinking it is less harsh in clothes, and keeps the towels softer than on shake and bake mode! Is this ling cycle maybe contributing to static? (Of course, I live in CT and its dry and cold here, meaning low low humidty...)

"... i have been drying everything on line dry (cycle abt 1.5 hours) ..."

1-1/2 hours for a dryer cycle? Sheesh, what kind of dryer (brand/model) is this machine? My dryer finishes a load of shirts/casuals or sheets in maybe 35 minutes (on low temp). Towels or jeans probably about 40 to 50 mins depending on load size.

Yes that a very long time even for jeans or towels.

I don't think the dryer cycle is making static worse. It's just winter in the North. When we lived in Michigan we had a humidifier on the furnace and it was still a battle to keep any humidity in the air when the furnace ran a lot. Dry air means more static.

Excess drying time will increase static by removing too much moisture from the clothes. Jill even asks "Is this ling [long?] cycle maybe contributing to static?" so she apparently is aware 1-1/2 hours is a long time ... but she also conversely refers to it as being "less harsh." She also refers to "shake and bake mode" which I am unclear on what she means by that terminology. The details would perhaps be clarified if we knew what brand/model of dryer is involved. I thought maybe it's a non-vented condenser dryer (which does take a longer cycle to dry) but I read back over her posts and she mentions venting so that's not it.

Hi gurus! I have an electrolux 60 model. When I say 1.5 hours, its the Mixed Load on Air Fluff/Line Dry. No heat, right? I was getting rough towels when i did the normal or heavy duty cycles, which is what I meant by Shake and Bake! ;-). I just feel the long and low cycles gently dry my clothes and everything. Everything comes out so soft, so I am afraid to go back to the normal cycles ;-) . I dont know what a non-vented condenser dryer is, mine has a flexible foil pipe venting to the outdoors - your standard dryer set-up, I think! I know you think I am crazy at this point :-) (I am not, I assure you!) but I was intrigued by some of your comments and am having fun learning from all of you!!