I think it’s probably fair to assume that everyone who uses a clothes dryer at home has accidentally put something into it that they shouldn’t have at one point or another. Dryer disasters seem to be one of those inevitable human errors we can’t help but make, like when I burn my mouth on food that I knew perfectly well was too hot to eat! ;-)
In my experience, there are three types of things that tend to make the biggest messes inside of a dryer drum: pen ink, wax (from lip balm or crayons), and dyes. But luckily for us, these messes can be removed with the right technique!
And that’s what today’s post is all about, because I’ll be sharing simple solutions for cleaning up all three types of dryer messes. So the next time you discover a mess in your dryer, you’ll know just what to do to get it cleaned up and back in working order! :-)
3 Common Dryer Disasters & How To Clean Them
How To Remove Ink From Your Dryer
The best tool to use to remove ink from your dryer is a magic eraser. (Rubbing alcohol might actually work more effectively, but you don’t want to use anything flammable to clean your dryer!)
Wet the magic eraser with water and rub over the ink stain. Removing the stain completely might take a little time and some elbow grease, but it should disappear completely!
Make sure to rinse the stained area often with a wet cloth while you’re working. This will help ensure you’re removing the ink completely, rather than just pushing it around.
Bonus Tip: If there’s ink in your dryer, there’s likely ink on your clothes too! Treat those ink stains ASAP for to improve your chances of removing them entirely.
How To Remove Wax From Your Dryer
Lip balms and crayons can leave behind a mess of wax if they accidentally end up in the dryer. To remove the wax, you’ll want to melt it a bit first to make it easier to remove.
Dampen a few old towels and toss them in your dryer. Run your dryer on high heat for about 5 minutes, then use a rag dipped in white vinegar to wipe up the warmed wax.
Once the wax is gone, rinse the drum with a clean, wet towel.
How To Remove Dye From Your Dryer
Dye from clothes that aren’t colorfast can build up on the drum of your dryer over time. Luckily, that residue is usually pretty easy to clean up.
Just rub the dye off of your drum using a damp magic eraser!
To prevent loose dyes from adhering to your dryer drum, try making these homemade color catchers to add to your wash loads. These cloths will help absorb bleeding dyes in the wash and keep them out of your dryer!
Bonus Tips For Success Tip #1 – Don’t Use Flammable Cleaners
I mentioned this previously, but it bears repeating! Don’t use flammable items to clean your dryer, including the following:
Rubbing alcohol Nail polish remover WD-40 Goof Off Tip #2 – Don’t Use Bleach
Don’t use bleach to clean your dryer either! Avoiding bleach is less of a safety concern and more of precaution, because it would be easy to leave behind bleach residue in your dryer drum.
Any lingering bleach residue could easily rub off onto your next load of clothes, so just skip the bleach to avoid a clothing catastrophe!
Tip #3 – Check. Your. Pockets!
For anyone who may need to hear this, here it is: check your pockets before starting your laundry! Putting something through the wash or into the dryer that shouldn’t go in there is entirely avoidable.
Take the extra 30 seconds to check your pockets before you start your laundry. I promise the extra time it takes to check will not derail your day, and it could very well save you from a time-consuming cleaning task down the road!
What’s the worst dryer drum mess you’ve ever had to clean up?
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