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Step-by-step · Dryer Repair · Dryer tips

Dryer Not Drying? Check These Before You Call Anyone

A dryer not drying, taking three cycles, or running hot with damp clothes. The airflow checks that fix most of it, and the burning smell that means stop.

  • 2 min read
  • Reviewed
  • By Brian Simonsen, owner
Clogged dryer lint screen held up to window light, showing lint and film blocking the mesh

Key takeaways

  • When a dryer isn't drying, it's almost always airflow, not heat. The first three checks are free and take about ten minutes.
  • A lint screen that looks clean can still be clogged with fabric softener film. Hold it up to a light and scrub it if you can't see through.
  • If you smell burning, stop using the dryer right now. Don't finish the load.

When a dryer isn’t drying, it’s almost always airflow, not heat. That covers most of the calls we get about it. A dryer works by pushing hot air through wet clothes and carrying the moisture out the vent. If the air can’t move, the heat doesn’t do any good.

Go down the list in order. The first three steps are free and take about ten minutes all together.

Arizona If your dryer vents into a hot attic or runs a long duct across the garage roof, it has a harder time here than the same machine would somewhere else. The air it’s pushing into is already hot. The checks are the same, but cleaning the duct every year matters more here than the manufacturer’s schedule expects.

Work through it in order

Stop as soon as one of these fixes it. You don't get a prize for finishing the list.

  1. 1 Clear the lint screen, then hold it up to the light
    A screen that looks clean can still be clogged with a film from fabric softener. Hold it up to a light. If you can't see through the mesh, scrub it with warm soapy water and a brush. This is the most common reason we see for a dryer not drying.
    Stop here if: Water beads up on the screen instead of running through. Wash it and test again before you try anything else.
  2. 2 Disconnect the vent and check the duct
    Pull the dryer out, disconnect the duct, and run the machine for thirty seconds. If strong, warm air is coming out at the wall, the dryer's fine and the duct is the problem. If the air is weak, the problem is inside the machine.
    Stop here if: The air at the wall is strong. Clean out the duct run and you're done.
  3. 3 Make sure the outside vent flap opens
    Start the dryer, then go outside and look. The flap should be open with air blowing out. Lint makes them stick shut, and birds build nests behind them more often than you'd think.
    Stop here if: The flap is stuck or blocked. Clear it and test again.
  4. 4 Feel the drum after a cycle
    If the drum is hot but the clothes are still damp, air isn't moving through. That's airflow again, not heat. If the drum is barely warm, the heating element or the gas igniter is the likely problem, and that's as far as a home fix goes.
    Stop here if: The drum is barely warm. You've got a heating problem, not a venting one.
  5. 5 Stop here
    Heating elements, gas valves, thermal cut-outs (the safety switches that shut the heat off when it gets too hot) and drum bearings aren't worth doing yourself. A dryer that overheats because a cut-out failed is a real fire risk. If you smell burning, stop using it right now. Don't finish the load.

Common questions

  • Why does my dryer take two or three cycles to dry a load?

    It's almost always airflow. A clogged lint screen, a blocked duct or a stuck outside vent flap all cause the same thing. The machine heats fine, but the wet air has nowhere to go, so the clothes stay damp and the cycle keeps running.

  • How often should a dryer vent be cleared?

    Once a year for a normal duct run. More often if the duct is long or has a few bends. It's about preventing fires as much as drying clothes. Lint packed in a hot duct is about the best fire starter you could build.

  • My dryer smells like burning. What should I do?

    Stop using it and unplug it right now. A burning smell is either lint touching a heating element or a motor going bad, and both can start a fire. Don't finish the load and deal with it tomorrow.

  • Is a dryer worth repairing?

    An element, a thermal cut-out, a belt or a roller doesn't cost much, and it's worth fixing on almost any dryer. A failed drum bearing on an older machine usually isn't. The labor gets close to the price of a new dryer, and we'll tell you so.

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