Operating your tumble dryer safely
Please make sure you follow these instructions fully. If you have any problems with carrying out this maintenance, please contact us.
To make best use of your energy costs and help keep risks to a minimum it is important to follow some simple ‘safe use’ guidelines.
Always check the user manual for details of this for your specific dryer, but the points below will give you some general guidance.
1. Ensure that you keep filters and condenser units clean.
- You should aim to clean the filters after each use of your dryer and certainly after two drying cycles have been run (see the “Cleaning the lint filter” and “Cleaning the condenser…” topics for more information).
- Having blocked or partly blocked filters not only reduces the efficiency of your tumble dryer, but will cause the dryer to use more energy.
- Most important is the fact that blocked filters are dangerous as this allows lint and fluff into the dryer which can then become a fire hazard. Even a tiny spark can make lint and fluff catch fire and this can quickly get out of control, keeping the filters clean is a very important part of your dryer maintenance.
2. Make sure your tumble dryer is properly loaded.
- Overloading your tumble dryer will restrict the airflow through the appliance and the items being dried. This will mean that your dryer is being less efficient and increasing its energy use. See the “Loading your tumble dryer” topic for further information.
- Having too many items, or the wrong ‘mix’ of items in your tumble dryer will also create extra strain on the internal working parts of the dryer, particularly things like the motor, bearings and the drive-belt.
- Overloading can also create a separate safety or fire hazard by restricting the important airflow needed for thermostats and the heater. You should also avoid running consecutive drying cycles within thirty minutes of each other so that your dryer can cool down in between loads.
3. Make sure you only dry items suitable for tumble drying.
- Always check the labels on clothes (and any other items) you want to put in your dryer to ensure that they are safe to tumble dry. Don’t assume that an item is safe to go in your dryer just because it doesn’t have a label. Also see the “Laundry care symbols” topic for further information.
- You must not attempt to dry anything in your tumble dryer which has plastic parts as the heat can melt the plastic and allow it into the hot parts of the dryer. So never try to dry things like mats with a plastic backing, for example.
4. Do not open the door when the dryer is still running.
- You must always allow the drying cycle to finish and the dryer to come to a proper stop before opening the dryer’s door. If the door is opened before the dryer has finished, it will stop the airflow through the dryer straight away and this can create a fault with the dryer’s thermostat or cause other damage.
- If you need to stop your dryer before a drying cycle has finished, always select a cool or ‘no heat’ setting to let it cool down before stopping the dryer and opening its door.
5. Do not use your dryer in unheated rooms
- The majority of today’s tumble dryers should not be used in garages or outbuildings and similar locations, particularly if they are unheated.
- To work properly and efficiently, your appliance should be sited somewhere which is not subject to very low or very high temperatures. Modern tumble dryers are generally not manufactured to work outside normal room temperature.