Open the Lint Trap Housing to Clear the Lint Your Dryer Screen Misses

The Problem

The lint screen only catches what reaches it. Below the slot it slides into is a chute, and over years that chute packs solid with the lint that slips past — until the screen won't push all the way down, clothes start catching and tearing on the gap it leaves, and drying times stretch. Packed lint next to a heating appliance is also exactly the fuel dryer fires start with.

The Technique

1. Unplug the dryer.
2. Pull out the lint screen, and remove the screws around the lint trap opening — on most machines a few fasteners hold the trap housing to the top or bulkhead. (The exact screws vary by model; if it's not obvious, the service diagram for your model shows the housing.)
3. Lift or work the housing out. If it's been years, expect to find the chute packed with a compressed mat of lint — this is what's been stopping the screen short.
4. Pull the mat out by hand and vacuum the chute and the cavity below it as deep as the hose reaches.
5. Reassemble, plug back in, and check the screen: it should seat fully flush, with no gap at the slot for clothes to catch.

If the screen has been riding high or laundry has been coming out with mystery snags, this is usually the whole story.