HELP!!! My dryer is making my clothes smelled burned.. Update in OP!!!

[hey mommy]

I haven't washed any of my clothes yet, but DH's clothes keep coming out smelling burned. He washed them a few days ago and they smelled horrible so he last night we washed them again. 4 times. once using vinegar in the rinse cycle. Didn't take the smell out very much. So I threw them in the dryer last night. They still smelled burned!

What could be wrong?? I have over a weeks worth of laundry that needs done today!


Last weekend I wiped the inside down w/a Clorox wipe. Could that be the problem?? Did I mess it up really bad??? I wiped it down w/vinegar yesterday but it doesn't seem to be helping.
Great Update

It's not my dryer!!! It's dh's horrible pants! He went out and bought some high end big name brand pants(something we've never done) and one pair apparently is making them all stink. I washed a load of towels today & they came out smelling just fine. So it's DH's fault. So I told him to wash them one at a time and find out which ones are causing the stink.

YAY!!

[Aerynne]

I would be really worried that the next step is an actual fire. One possible cause of that could be lint build-up in your dryer vent. You can buy a kit at Lowe's that allows you to snake it out- snake it out all the way to the outside wherever the vent ends. If you find some burnt-looking lint, that would be an indication that that is the problem. Or you could load up and go to a laundromat, then have someone come look at it on Monday. Please be very careful!

[mamacat]

certain things in my dryer get scorched if I have the heat on too high.I have to turn the thing down to low and then just dry a bit longer.I would also check out a clogged vent like the other poster suggested.

[hey mommy]

yowzers.. Hopefully DH will be home soon so he can look at it.. Baby won't let me do much today. Thanks for the info.

[Rabbit]

Does it smell like burnt cotton or burnt hair?

[hey mommy]

certain things in my dryer get scorched if I have the heat on too high.I have to turn the thing down to low and then just dry a bit longer.I would also check out a clogged vent like the other poster suggested.

We have tried it on med. & low and had the same problem.

[Quiteria]

dh had to put out a dryer fire once :shiver ...basement filled with flames, fire department came...very lucky the building wasn't lost

check the outdoor vent for lint

vaccuum the area where the lint trap is, in case lint is stuck that the screen didn't catch...ours used to be near the floor on our machine, in the same room as the cat litter before I became so allergic, and when we cleaned it, grains of that clay scoop-away stuff had combined with the stray lint to make a matted layer stuck inside deep under the removable screen. :sick

make sure the drum is turning...maybe put in a pair of overalls or something that will clank if you can't tell otherwise...if it's not turning properly, the clothes will scorch just like cooking or ironing too long in one spot. That might be DIY fixable, like a motor or belt.

Does it smell like burnt rubber? It could be the wires shorting out and thus melting the coating. Might be professionally fixable depending on where it's happening, but electrical fires are particularly dangerous because they keep throwing more sparks while they burn. :shiver Go straight to the circuit breaker, fast, if you ever suspect this.

Do not run the dryer unattended, that is, don't run it at night while sleeping, or in the day when y'all are gone. If there isn't a clear source like the vent being clogged (and then you clean it and know that it's definitely fixed), then it probably WILL catch on fire if you keep using it. If you have a warrenty, you might get it fixed, but if it's old, you might have to try the cheapest new model you can find. :hugheart If you can't afford to fix or replace, you might try investing in a couple wooden drying racks. Place them over the heating vents overnight if you have a hot air furnace, and that will help. In a pinch (like today while you're desperate), you can also hang stuff on hangers in the closets (if there's enough spcae to separate them) or on the shower curtain rod.

It stinks. I'm praying. :( :hugheart

[hey mommy]

Thanks. I have to wait for dh to get home b/c I don't know where the attachments for the vacuum are at. Otherwise I would have done that. I'm going to Home Depot to get a thing to clean the outside vent part.

It doesn't smell like burnt rubber. I wasn't paying attention to the noise when the pants were drying last night.. Now I'm really wishing I hadn't run it while we were sleeping. I'll give it a whirl w/some old noise clothes and see what happens.

[ThirstyTurtle]

Have you tried drying a different load of clothes or just that same load of clothes? If not, maybe there is something in the pocket of a piece of clothing that is making the burned smell.

[hey mommy]

It's mostly just DH's pants. I'm washing a small load of old towels, so we'll see what happens with those.

[mamaKristin]

We had a similar issue a couple of weeks ago. Turns out, one of DH's shirts got caught in the dryer and was twisted and scorched. It was actually one of his clergy shirts, which was really kind of funny :shifty, but it was just that one load. I did a clean out of the lint trap, under the screen, and it ended.

I'd probably do a clean out of the lint vent and all, not run the dryer unattended, and maybe get it looked at.

[Quiteria]

Now I'm really wishing I hadn't run it while we were sleeping.

:hug Yesterday is past, and you're all still fine. :hug It's just an extra precaution now that you're thinking about it. ;)

I know better, but I still run most of my laundry at night.:blush

[Cookie Momster]

I had that smell a couple weeks before my dryer belt went out. It didn't smell like rubber but once the new belt was put in the burnt smell stopped.

[Quiteria]

:woohoo

(Check labels...see if one of them says dry clean only)