Today’s post is written by Chris Hall, president and co-founder of RepairClinic.com (a BBB accredited business and sponsor)

Every year, clothes dryers cause thousands of major residential and commercial fires in the U.S. People are often surprised to learn of the primary culprit: Lint. Dryer venting can become clogged with lint, causing a dangerous buildup of heat and an instant fire that spreads fast.

Here are three ways you can keep your home and your family, or your business if you have a dryer onsite, safe from a dryer fire.

1. Clean out venting at least once per year If you notice that it’s taking longer for your clothes to dry, it’s likely that lint is clogging the venting system. You should clean it out as soon as possible. Waiting to do this will threaten safety. A venting system should be cleaned out from inside of the dryer to the outside vent cap at least once per year.  Professionals can be hired for this or homeowners can purchase a long brush or cleaning kits with instructional DVDs to do it on their own and save money. RepairClinic also recommends Lint Alert, which monitors for lint build-up and blockage in gas dryers. Testing conducted by Consumer Reports confirmed that this product is an effective tool in preventing fires.
    
2. White vinyl venting should be replaced immediately with an aluminum equivalent. White vinyl no longer meets national fire code standards in the U.S. Aluminum venting may be purchased at any hardware store.
    
3. Clean out your dryer’s lint screen after every load. Dryer lint screens should be cleaned out after every load. For extra precaution, homeowners can use a bristled long brush to remove stubborn pieces of lint and pieces that collect in the screen’s housing. A screen with tears should be replaced immediately. You can check out additional tips about dryer maintenance in this RepairClinic video. Founded in 1999, Canton, Michigan-based RepairClinic.com® makes fixing things easy for millions of people. It’s North America’s most popular, trusted online store with replacement parts for major household appliances and outdoor power equipment.

RepairClinic.com also has a storefront at its Canton headquarters for local, same-day pick-up from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., every day. Most orders are ready for pick-up within one hour of order placement.

One million parts and accessories for 150 brands of washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, lawn mowers, snow blowers and many more products are stocked at its 86,000-square-foot headquarters. Its free advanced troubleshooting Repair Help system includes more than 700 how-to videos empower people to fix their appliances and outdoor power equipment on their own. Do-it-yourselfers appreciate the company’s no-hassle 365 Days. Period. ™ return policy. Visit RepairClinic.com for more information.