The tale of the dryer

    This past Monday, I changed the sheets on our bed. I have another bottom sheet, so I remade it right away. I took the sheets downstairs and put them in the washer. When they were done, into the dryer they went.


    After an hour, I went down to check on them. Sometimes fleece sheets need a second cycle. I opened the dryer door and inside, the sheets were still wet! Hmmm. I cleaned out the lint screen, closed the door and set another cycle. After the second hour, I checked again. The fracking sheets were still wet! Once again, I cleaned out the screen, and started the dryer. This time, I hung out for a minute then opened the door, to check if there was heat. There was heat. Hmmmm again.


     This time I set the kitchen timer for 30 minutes to remind me to do down before the cycle was finished. When the bell rang, I went downstairs. This time the sheets were damp and cold, so the dryer had shut off long enough for them to cool off.  I started it one more time, this time I stayed downstairs. I didn't have to wait long. The fracking dryer was turning off after 5 minutes!


    I took out the lint screen, and reached my hand down into the vent pipe. It was pretty clogged, and my hand didn't fit too well. But I pulled out what I could reach. Then I took a closer look at the screen itself. Almost all the little holes were solidly clogged. I unclogged out what I could, hoping it was enough to at least finish the sheets. I crossed my fingers, and started the dryer again. This last time, the bottom sheet was finally dry enough to fold and put away.  The top sheets, I put back on the bed.


    For those of you who don't remember, Hubs and I have separate covers on our bed. I credit that fact with the success and longevity of our marriage. Anyway, I brought the lint screen up with me, and found a bucket so I could soak it. It took several hours, but finally most of the goop was gone.


    While soaking the screen, it occurred to me that quite possibly the clogging was caused by the new fabulous laundry detergent I had made. I let the screen dry overnight, and the next day put it back in the dryer. This while time, I was pretty upset thinking "What if this doesn't work? How can I tell Hubs I need a new dryer?"...


    I kept my mouth shut, figuring with any luck I wouldn't need to do laundry until after Christmas. Unfortunately, Hubs needed me to wash some clothes Christmas Eve, so he had something nice to wear to our future daughter-in-law's parent's house for Christmas dinner.


    With great trepidation, I put the clothes into the dryer. I even sat down there on the steps for a while to see if the dryer would work. I sat there for 10 minutes, and it kept running!! I think we have success! I also used my old liquid detergent, just to be safe. Of course, Hubs wanted to know what took me so long, so I had to explain the whole thing to him. He told me that he had recently cleaned out the main vent pipe that goes out the wall, so that made me feel a bit better. I was worried that the whole thing might have been clogged solid.


    And that was my pre-Christmas drama. Next time you get to hear my report about Christmas! Lucky you! I'm sorry if you found this boring, but life isn't always exciting.