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Hands pulling a lint-covered screen from the top of a white dryer in a US home laundry room, a vacuum crevice tool resting on the lid.

Troubleshooting

Clean the lint path first: screen, duct and hood

To clean the dryer lint trap properly, clear the screen before every load, wash the mesh when softener film builds up, vacuum the slot it slides into, then inspect the duct behind the dryer and the hood outside. The whole path, not the screen alone, decides how fast clothes dry and how hot the dryer runs.

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At a
glance.

The lint screen is only the first stop on a path that runs through the cabinet, out the back and along a duct to a hood on the outside wall. Clearing the part you can see, then the parts you can reach, fixes more slow dryers than any replacement part.

Read the whole guide

Every loadEmpty the screen

CPSC and Whirlpool both ask for it before or after each load.

Now and thenWash the mesh

Softener residue lets a clean-looking screen block the air.

Duct behind the dryerRigid or semi-rigid metal

CPSC recommends replacing plastic or foil accordion duct.

The whole ventEvery one to two years

Whirlpool's interval, and sooner when drying slows down.

The route lint takes through a dryer

Lint is fiber shed by the clothes and carried off in the exhaust air. The screen catches most of it; whatever slips past travels with the air through the blower and out of the house, settling wherever the air slows down. In order, the stops are:

  1. The removable screen in the door opening or the cabinet top
  2. The housing slot the screen slides into
  3. The blower wheel and the exhaust channel inside the cabinet
  4. The transition duct between the dryer and the wall
  5. The duct inside the wall, floor or ceiling
  6. The hood or roof cap outdoors

The screen and the slot below it

Learning to clean the dryer lint trap and the slot beneath it takes a minute, and it is routine owner work. Before cleaning, look the screen over; a damaged one should be replaced rather than patched, since it is an inexpensive part that slides straight in.

  • A tear or a pulled seam in the mesh
  • A frame that no longer closes flat or snaps shut
  • Lint on the dryer side of the screen, a sign it was not seated

Before every load

Pull the screen straight out, roll the lint off with your fingers and push it back until it is fully seated. A screen left out or pushed in crooked sends lint straight to the blower. CPSC names cleaning the screen before or after each load as the first step in preventing dryer fires.

Washing the mesh

Dryer sheets and liquid softener leave a clear, waxy coating on the screen. Test it under the tap: water that pools instead of running through means the mesh needs washing. Whirlpool's advice is a gentle scrub with warm water and a soft-bristled brush on both faces, a rinse, and a full air-dry before it goes back in.

Down in the housing

With the screen out, shine a flashlight into the slot. Lint that got past a torn screen collects there as a gray mat, and coins or a small sock sometimes fall in. A narrow crevice tool on a vacuum reaches most of it, and a long, flexible lint brush reaches further. Never push anything down that you cannot pull back out.

Source: CPSC — Overheated clothes dryers can cause fires (Pub. 5022) — Clean the screen each load; replace foil or plastic accordion duct with rigid or semi-rigid metal; reconnect ducting before use; have the chassis interior cleaned periodically; Whirlpool — Dryer is not drying or experiencing long dry times — Wash softener residue off the lint filter with warm water and a soft brush

A long flexible vent brush pushed into the lint screen slot of a dryer, a small pile of lint on the floor.
A long flexible vent brush pushed into the lint screen slot of a dryer, a small pile of lint on the floor.

Behind the dryer: the transition duct

The short connector duct at the back of the cabinet takes the most abuse, because it gets squeezed every time the dryer moves. CPSC recommends replacing plastic or foil accordion duct with rigid or corrugated semi-rigid metal, which resists kinking and crushing and traps less lint. Ease the dryer forward, loosen the clamps at both ends and look through the duct toward a light.

Vacuum the dryer's exhaust collar and the wall opening while everything is apart. Then, as CPSC reminds owners, reconnect the duct at both ends before the dryer runs again; a duct left loose behind the cabinet blows lint and humid air into the room and the wall cavity.

Moving a gas dryer safely

A gas dryer is joined to the supply by a flexible connector, and pulling the cabinet too far or twisting it puts strain on that joint. Move it only as far as the connector allows without tension. Any smell of gas after moving it means everyone out, and the call to the gas utility is made once you are outside.

Source: CPSC — Overheated clothes dryers can cause fires (Pub. 5022) — Clean the screen each load; replace foil or plastic accordion duct with rigid or semi-rigid metal; reconnect ducting before use; have the chassis interior cleaned periodically

The wall duct and the hood outside

Outdoors, the hood flap should swing open when the dryer runs and fall shut when it stops. Pull lint off the flap, remove any nest and cut back plantings, keeping the clearance around the hood that the installation instructions ask for.

The run inside the wall or ceiling is the part owners cannot see. Whirlpool says venting should be cleaned every one to two years, or sooner once drying slows. Long runs, attic and roof exits, and any route with several elbows gather more lint and are worth handing to a vent cleaning service with rotary brushes and an inspection camera.

Source: Whirlpool — Long dry times — Hood at least 12 inches from the ground or obstructions; clean venting every one to two years

The part that needs a technician

Some lint always reaches the inside of the cabinet, where it settles around the blower housing, the motor and, on gas models, near the burner. CPSC advises having a qualified service person clean the interior of the dryer chassis periodically. The job means removing panels with the dryer disconnected and working close to the heater or burner, so it fits naturally into a service visit rather than a weekend.

Hints that lint has collected inside include a dusty, singed smell when the heat first comes on each load, and gray fluff gathering at the lower edge of the door or around the front feet. Mention either one when you book.

Source: CPSC — Overheated clothes dryers can cause fires (Pub. 5022) — Clean the screen each load; replace foil or plastic accordion duct with rigid or semi-rigid metal; reconnect ducting before use; have the chassis interior cleaned periodically

Step
by step.

Five steps, in the order worth doing them.

01

Clear and inspect the screen

Roll the lint off and look for tears or a bent frame.

02

Test the mesh with water

If water pools on it, wash with warm water and a soft brush, then let it dry fully.

03

Vacuum the slot

Use a crevice tool or flexible lint brush in the housing below the screen.

04

Open the transition duct

Disconnect, look through it, clear it, and replace foil or plastic with metal.

05

Check the hood with the dryer on

The flap should open fully and the flow should be strong and warm.

A parent and a child folding warm towels together on top of a front-load dryer in a bright laundry room
For the heart of your home.

Questions
owners ask.

Is a household vacuum enough for the long duct?
For the short duct behind the dryer, often yes. A long run needs a rotary brush worked from one end with the other end open, so the lint comes out rather than being packed further along.
Can I run the dryer while the washed screen dries?
No. Without the screen, lint goes straight into the blower and the duct. Pat the mesh with a towel and wait until it is dry before the next load.
Do ventless dryers need this too?
They have no outdoor duct but usually more filters: the main screen plus, on many condenser and heat-pump models, a second filter guarding the condenser. The manual shows where each one is and how often to clean it.

The problems
behind it.

Each has a page of its own: what it usually means and the causes in the order worth checking.

All 17 problems
An exterior dryer vent hood on the painted siding of a US single-family house, its flap half open and a mat of gray lint caught around the edge. Problem

Dryer Vent Clogged

5 causes, cheapest first

 A lint screen held under a running laundry sink faucet in a US home laundry room, water beading on the mesh instead of passing through. Problem

Dryer Takes Too Long to Dry

5 causes, cheapest first

 A crushed silver foil dryer duct pinched between the back of a dryer and a painted drywall in a US home laundry room, lint caught at the fold. Fire or gas risk

Dryer Overheating

5 causes, cheapest first

 A front-load dryer in a US home laundry room with its door open and the lint screen pulled halfway out, a thin gray layer of lint visible on the mesh. Fire or gas risk

Dryer Burning Smell

5 causes, cheapest first

When it needs
a technician.

The repairs on the right are where this guide ends when the checks do not settle it.

Vent cleaning and inspection

The visit that prevents most dryer fires and many of the repairs above it: the duct, the hood and the lint inside the cabinet.

Motor and blower repair

A humming dryer that will not start, a rattle behind the drum, or weak airflow, traced to the drive motor or the blower wheel.

Diagnostic visit

One visit that turns damp clothes, a silent drum or a hot smell into a named part and a price.

More in
troubleshooting.

The checks you can make on your own dryer, and the point where going further stops being a good idea.

The whole section
What an owner can safely check

Five checks before you call for dryer repair

The breaker, the door and control lock, the lint screen, the vent hood outside and the gas valve, in about fifteen minutes with no tools.

 What an owner can safely check

Find your dryer's model number

The label hides inside the door opening, behind a water tank or on the door of a stacked unit, and it unlocks the manual, the parts and any recall.

 Guides

All 18 guides

Six sections, by what you are trying to find out.

Back to your everyday

Read it and still not sure?

Book with what you checked and the model number, and the technician starts where the guide stopped.

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