Once school starts back up and the weather turns, laundry volume jumps fast, extra layers, sports uniforms, blankets coming back out of storage. It’s exactly the wrong time for a dryer to start slipping. Here are the signs I tell people to catch now, before a struggling dryer turns into a dead one halfway through the season.
It’s Taking Longer to Dry the Same Load
If a load that used to take 45 minutes is now running an hour and a half, that’s not just an inconvenience, it’s usually a sign of something specific: a clogged vent, a failing heating element, or a lint buildup restricting airflow. A dryer that has to work harder to do the same job wears out faster doing it.
You Notice a Burning or Hot Smell
A faint warm smell is normal. A burning smell, or anything that reminds you of an electrical smell, is not. This is one to stop and check immediately, not something to run a few more loads through and see if it goes away. Lint is flammable, and a dryer that’s overheating because of restricted airflow is a real fire risk, not just a repair inconvenience.
The Drum Is Thumping, Squealing, or Not Tumbling Smoothly
A steady thump usually points to a worn drum support roller or a belt issue, not something that fixes itself. Squealing is often a belt or bearing starting to go. Either way, a dryer making a new noise it didn’t make last season is telling you something before it actually breaks down.
Lint Everywhere Despite Cleaning the Trap
If you’re cleaning the lint trap like normal but still finding lint on clothes, on the drum, or built up around the door, that usually means lint is escaping past the trap somewhere in the system, not that you’re doing something wrong. This is also a fire hazard consideration, not just a laundry annoyance.
It Stops Mid-Cycle or Won’t Stay On
A dryer that starts, runs for a few minutes, then shuts off on its own is often a sign of a safety thermostat responding to overheating, again usually tied to restricted airflow, or a door switch or sensor that’s failing. Either way, a dryer that can’t finish a cycle reliably isn’t one to count on for the season ahead.
What You Can Check Yourself Before Calling
- Clean the lint trap before every load, not just occasionally
- Check that the exterior vent flap opens freely when the dryer runs
- Make sure nothing is blocking the vent hose behind the dryer
- Pull the dryer out occasionally to check the vent connection hasn’t come loose
How Often the Vent Actually Needs Cleaning
The lint trap needs attention every load, but the vent duct itself, the tube running from the back of the dryer to the outside wall, builds up lint gradually over months even if you’re diligent about the trap. Once a year is a reasonable minimum for a full vent cleaning, more often if you do heavy laundry regularly or if the duct run is long or has a lot of bends. A vent that hasn’t been cleaned in several years is one of the more common things I find contributing to a dryer that’s suddenly taking twice as long to dry a load.
Age Matters, But Not as Much as the Symptoms
Most dryers run 12 to 15 years with reasonable care, sometimes longer. An older dryer showing one of the signs above isn’t automatically a lost cause, a belt or a heating element is often a straightforward repair regardless of the unit’s age. Where age starts to matter more is if you’re looking at a second or third repair within a year or two, at that point it’s worth weighing the repair against how much life is realistically left in the machine.
Gas or Electric, the Warning Signs Are the Same
Whether your dryer runs on gas or electric, the symptoms above show up the same way, a slower dry time, a burning smell, unusual noise, or the unit cutting out mid-cycle. The one difference is that a gas dryer adds an igniter and a gas valve to the list of possible causes, and if you ever smell gas specifically, not just a general burning smell, that’s an immediate stop-and-call situation, the same as any other gas appliance in the home.
Why Catching This Now Actually Matters
A dryer repair in September is a scheduled inconvenience. A dryer that dies in the middle of a busy October with three loads of school clothes waiting is a real problem. Catching one of the signs above now, while it’s still an easy fix, beats finding out the hard way once the season’s already in full swing.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long should a load normally take to dry?
Most full-size loads should dry in 30 to 45 minutes on a normal cycle. If you’re regularly running loads twice or waiting well over an hour, that’s worth having checked.
Is a burning smell always an emergency?
Treat it as one. Turn the dryer off, unplug it if you can do so safely, and don’t run it again until it’s been looked at. It’s better to lose a day of laundry than risk a fire.
My dryer is old but still working, should I wait until it actually breaks?
That’s a personal call, but an aging dryer tends to fail at the least convenient time, not a planned one. If you’re already seeing one of the signs above, that’s usually a better time to address it than waiting for a full breakdown.
Can a clogged vent really be a fire risk?
Yes. Restricted airflow from a clogged vent is one of the most common causes of dryer fires. It’s also one of the easiest things to prevent with regular cleaning and a quick check of the vent path.
How do I know if it’s the vent or the dryer itself that’s the problem?
If the outside of the dryer feels unusually hot, the room feels warmer than normal during a cycle, or you can see lint buildup at the exterior vent flap, that points to the vent. If the dryer runs normally but just doesn’t heat, that’s more likely the unit itself.
Noticing any of these signs before the season really gets going? Book a time here and let’s get it sorted before laundry piles up.