How A Malfunctioning Dryer Can Damage Your Clothes

Clothes dryers are very convenient. They allow you to have your clothes dried in a short amount of time and with minimal space use, since you will not need to hang them on lines to do so. However, the problem with them is that sometimes, they can damage the clothes. This could either be gradual or sudden. If you happen to own a dryer and face such a problem, it would be wise for you to know how to approach it in terms of identifying the cause of the damage as well as understanding when to fix it yourself or get an appliance repair specialist to do it for you. The goal is to make sure that the problem does not recur, and that you do not spend a lot of time and money on it as well. Some of the common forms of damage that users face include:

When the dryer rips your clothes

Putting your favorite clothes in the dryer only to find them having rips is not fun, even if the rips are small. In such cases, it would be wise to note use the dryer again since the problem might become worse, and the clothes that you subsequently put in the dryer might become more and more damaged.

There are many potential causes of such damage. One of the commonest of these is finding that the dryer drum drops, which creates a space above it between the body and the drum. Some of your clothes might get caught in this space, causing them to become ripped or completely shredded during the drying cycle. Damage to the drum can also result in the same problem. For instance, if part of the drum breaks or when it’s damaged by solid objects, it can make the interior of the drum have jutting edges. These can then tear into the clothing and rip them, particularly if the drum runs at very high speeds.

In the above cases, calling a repair contractor to fix the problem would be the best course of action. Remember, there might be more than one problem causing the ripping, so diagnosing the cause should be done in a thorough manner.

Another cause of ripping that the contractor might not be able to fix is if the problem lies with the clothing. There are some clothes that are very delicate, and are not suitable for machine drying. In such cases, you would need to explore other means of drying them, such as laying them on a flat surface.

When the clothes become scorched

Sometimes, the dryers supply air that is far too hot for the clothing, leading to scorching. This is normally on account of a malfunctioning thermostat. For instance, when the gap between the drum and the body increases too much, this could cause the thermostat to misinterpret the temperature readings in the dryer, forcing it to supply too much hot air. The remedy to this problem is either fixing the thermostat or fixing the problem that is causing the thermostat to malfunction.

The presence of oil stains on the clothes

After removing the clothes form the dryer, you might find that they have numerous oil stains. This could be as a result of an oil leakage in the dryer’s mechanics, or a problem with the softener dispenser. Either way, the problem has to be investigated thoroughly and the necessary repairs or replacements done. In many cases, the problem can only be solved by replacing one or more parts of the dryer.

Having your clothes get damaged by the dryer can be expensive and frustrating. Once you notice such a problem, you should put the use of the dryer on hold, and get the device repaired as soon as possible.