It’s so frustrating to open your clothes dryer expecting to take out a warm, dry load of laundry and instead being greeted by a batch of soggy, wet clothes. You end up having to hang them all over the house to dry, and then they’re stiff and wrinkled. How did we ever live without dryers? Don’t even contemplate it — just call Kimball Appliance Parts & Service in Salt Lake City for dryer repair.
Why My Clothes Still Wet?
There are many reasons your clothes may not be dry at the end of a drying cycle, and not all of them are due to a dryer that’s not heating. For instance, your dryer may be heating but not tumbling your clothes. They will never dry that way. Fortunately, that is usually due to a broken belt, which is a quick and easy fix.
Another reason your clothes may not be dry is due to a clogged dryer vent. Each time you run your dryer, small bits of lint come off your laundry. You see this when you empty the lint trap (if you are not doing this every time you run the dryer, it could be why your clothes are not drying).
As useful as the lint trap is, it doesn’t trap all the lint. Much of it escapes into the dryer vent. Because the lint is moist, it tends to stick inside the vent. Convoluted aluminum dryer vents trap much more lint this way than PVC dryer vents.
If your vent is clogged with lint, the moist, warm air has no way to get out of the dryer, so your clothes will take a lot longer to dry — if they dry at all. Worse, a clogged lint trap is a fire hazard. The Federal Emergency Management Agency records almost 3,000 dyer fires a year in the U.S., and most are due to clogged dryer vents. It’s best to schedule professional dryer vent cleaning at least once a year to avoid this risk.
Why Is My Dryer Not Heating?
If your dryer vent or belt is not to blame for your wet laundry, it could be your heating element. Check to see if your dryer is warm by putting your hand on the door. If it doesn’t feel warm after a few minutes of running, your dryer isn’t heating.
The reasons could be a faulty thermostat, fuse, heating element or motor. If it’s a more complicated issue than that, you may want to weigh the cost of getting a new dryer. A simple clothes dryer with no bells and whistles can cost between $200 and $500, while the big new fancy ones can be up to $1,000.
If your dryer is still under warrantee, some of the repairs may be covered. If your dryer is old, it may be time to think about replacement. The team at Kimball Appliance Parts & Service will give you our professional recommendation for repair versus replacement after we determine why your dryer is not heating.
Appliance Repair in Salt Lake City
At Kimball Appliance Parts & Service, we repair washers and dryers, stoves and ovens, and refrigerators and freezers for customers throughout Salt Lake City. We also have appliance repair locations in Denver, CO and Kansas City, MO. Call us for all your appliance repair needs.