Originally Posted by Tootsie
Well, I always like to do a little "investigation" so I found this site from Consumer Reports (a reliable source, IMHO):
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/a...view/index.htm
Of particular interest to me was this statement: "Avoid using liquid fabric softener on all-cotton clothing made of fleece, terry cloth, or velour. In our flammability tests, liquid fabric softener added to rinse water accelerated the burning speed of these fabrics. If you want a softener, use dryer sheets instead."
So for me, the bottom line on using dryer sheets (or anything else, for that matter) is use good judgement. There's a concept :-)
I read the report and it says build up from dryer sheets is not the main problem and that the lint screen is fine if cleaned every 6 months but......I have to tell you that when I have used dryer sheets I take my lint filter into the sink and pour water into it and the water does not flow through so well because of build up of the waxy stuff in dryer sheets. And I do that about once a month. So I know it does build up fast and should be cleaned off a lot more often than every 6 months. I learned about the water test through another article I read about dryer fires.
Maybe my filter is more fine meshed than others but you all might want to test your filter screens if you use dryer sheets regularly.