New Apartment Landry Woes

Muriden

I've recently moved to a new Apartment complex and the clothing dryers are God awful (two cycles and the load is as wet as it was going in). The washers are decent and the laundry facility is attached so it's more handy to use the unit facilities than to go to an actual laundry mat.

So what can I do to solve my current drying dillema. I've been looking at drying racks which are something like $30 at Target/Walmart which I could see working but I'm sure someone else has been in this situation before and has a clever answer.

Chanus

Hang drying will work, but you need a lot of space if you do a lot of laundry.

Check the lint traps. The dryer won't work very well if they're full, and it's entirely likely other people using them don't bother... people tend to have a "not my problem" outlook when they don't own the things they use... because people are generally morons.

Also: You could try reporting it to your landlord. Non-functioning dryers can often also be fire hazards, so it may just be no one has brought it to his/her attention.

Muriden

Usually the lint filters are caked over, I always clean them before use. I've been mulling over reporting the issue to management but I'm don't think it's going to be high on their priority list.

I've been thinking I could make a drying rack for far less cost using wood and glue, $30 seems like a lot for a few PVC rods glued together.

Chanus

Definitely report it, regardless... there's a reason dryers have a lint trap, and if that's not working properly because it needs to be cleaned, it will eventually catch fire.

Althusser

Make sure you're not overstuffing the dryer too. Try a few obnoxiously small loads and see if there's any difference.

Seattle Thread

How's the spin cycle on the wash? Because no about of drying is going to work if the clothes go in sopping wet. They should be damp, but not dripping. If the clothes are soaked coming out of the washer, then there's a pump or drainage issue involved.

Lail

Report it. Ask politely in a week or so if anything had been done (any repair work, new machines ordered, etc). If it seems like nothing is being done...time for the drying rack I guess.

Shadowfire

Check with the landlord before you hang clotheslines. Most landlords don't allow them (because their insurance companies don't allow them).

Avicus

Don't you guys use clotheslines over there? How do you think people dried clothes before dryers were commonplace?

Raneados

Avicus wrote: »

Don't you guys use clotheslines over there? How do you think people dried clothes before dryers were commonplace?

a lot of places don't allow them because of safety/aesthetic reasons

check first

Dunadan019

the most likely problem when a dryer doesn't dry well is lint getting past the lint trap.

overtime, lint will accumulate next to the element and thermostat which prevents the element from going from 'low heat mode' to 'high heat mode'.

all you have to do is open the dryer up and clean out the lint inside and it should work fine. a repairman will charge about 200 dollars to do the same thing.

if that doesn't work, you probably have to replace the element or thermostat at which point its better just to get a new dryer.

illirica

Talk to your landlord about it. For some apartments (the one I used to live in) the washers/dryers are owned and maintained by a separate company. The landlord may have a maintenance contract with the company, and may just need to call them to come fix the dryer. If this is the case, your landlord would probably even be happy to have you call the washer/dryer company and save him some time.

Also, that way if you find out that it's not a company and it is the landlord, there's no reason not to inform him. You would be surprised how many people who live in apartment complexes let problems like that go because they can't be bothered to take the time to talk to management and they assume someone else will do it - especially in shared areas like laundry rooms.

Go talk to the landlord. Be polite about it, and just say that you've noticed the dryer isn't working, and ask what needs to be done about it. Now, if your landlord starts being obstinate, then you look at other options, but taking five minutes to go over and ask about it is probably your fastest, easiest, cheapest possible solution.

mightyjongyo

It isn't so useful right now, but during the winter a cheap way to dry your laundry in general is to hang a rod over a floor vent when the heater's on, and hang your clothes on that.

Or if you have a lot of windows you can put your clothes in the sun and just check it every few hours to see if it's dry and/or flip it over if need be.

SwashbucklerXX

Yeah, at least try talking to apartment management first. But if you do end up going with a drying rack, avoid the cheap wooden ones. They're really easy to break. You should be able to find metal racks somewhere... try Target if there's nothing at Wal-Mart.

Note that you'll probably want to put fabric softener in with the wash cycle if you're air drying your clothes inside, or they'll dry pretty stiff. I used to use a plastic Downy ball to do that.

Bosshog78

I don't know if this applies to you, but whenever the there's problem with the washer/dryer for the units in my building I just take my stuff over to another buildings laundry room in the same apt complex.