Clean out your dryer vents

[u/Kitso_258]

If your living situation allows you to have your own dedicated washer/dryer within your home-space, clean out your dryer vent. Unscrew the lint trap holder and vaccuum out the stuff stuck to the sides. You can get a lint duct brush and mostly clean the ducts yourself, or if it's bad/out of reach, hire a professional. This is especially important if you've got pets - my dryer was FULL of pet hair.

Why is this important? Several reasons:

1, new appliances are in short supply right now. Take care of the one you've got.
2, new appliances cost money, see above.
3, it'll increase the efficiency of your dryer and use less electricity.

But the most important reason is that this is a HUGE fire risk. Lint = tinder, and all it takes is one spark in the wrong place to cause the lint to combust. And by spark, as everyone else has pointed out, it could just be the dryer heating element doing it's thing.

Little things like this... make our lives just a little bit better and safer.

Edit: Didn't expect this to blow up. If you wish to save the lint for future fire starter, then save away. My household produces SO MUCH of the crap that I don't ever worry about saving it for the long term...

[u/Bat77r]

Lint build up is a major fire risk - I work in a hotel and have personally seen fires caused as a result of lint build up, before proper care protocols were enforced. As an aside, save the lint and put a small portion into each egg “cup” of a carton egg holder - you know, the type that your eggs come in from the store. Cover the lint with some wax - melt down old candles and wax that is no longer used. Cut each individual egg cup out and use it as a fire lighter. Burns for about 10 minutes and will get most fires started.