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🍁 Built for Canadian homes — written to Canadian codes and provincial rules. Not intended for use outside Canada.
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Clothes take forever to dry

Usually this is just trapped lint choking the airflow — a free, ten-minute fix. It's also worth taking seriously, because that same trapped lint is a leading cause of dryer fires.

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Select anything that matches and the checklist below reorders to fit. Not sure? Skip it.
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In Canada, the biggest culprit is a lint-packed exhaust duct or a blocked outside vent hood. With the dryer running, go outside and hold your hand at the vent flap: strong warm airflow is good; a flap that barely opens or weak, cool air means the run is choked with lint. This one both slows drying and is a leading fire hazard, so clear the full duct — read the safety note first.

Ranked from real-world failure data. The order updates as you select what you’re noticing above.

Likely causes, in the order to check them

Showing the typical order
Beginner-friendly Doable, with care Safety-critical Call a pro

visibilityHow to check airflow at the vent

  1. Start a normal (or air-fluff) cycle so the dryer is pushing air, then go outside and find the vent hood on the wall — the flap should swing open and blow a strong stream of warm air.
  2. Hold your hand a few centimetres from the flap. Strong, warm airflow means the run is clear; a flap that barely lifts, or weak or cool air, means lint is choking the duct or the hood.
  3. Check the hood itself for a matted plug of lint, and look for lint fuzz built up on the wall around it — a common sign the whole run needs cleaning.
buildNo tools schedule10 min

handymanHow to fix it

With the dryer unplugged (and gas shut off on a gas model), disconnect the duct, clear the transition hose, the rigid wall duct, and the outside hood with a dryer-vent brush and a vacuum, then reconnect and confirm strong airflow at the hood.

  1. Unplug the dryer (or switch off its breaker; on a gas dryer, close the gas shutoff valve). Pull the dryer far enough out to reach the duct connection.
  2. Loosen the clamp and slide the transition hose off both the dryer and the wall. Vacuum out the packed lint you'll find at each end.
  3. Feed a dryer-vent brush through the rigid wall duct from inside and again from the outside hood, working the lint loose, then vacuum it out.
  4. Clear the outside vent hood so the flap swings freely, reconnect the hose with the clamps snug, restore power/gas, and run a cycle to confirm strong warm airflow at the hood.
schedule45 min savings$15–40
Dryer vent cleaning brush kitA flexible rod-and-brush kit long enough for your duct run (usually 3–4 m); some fit a drill
report A blocked dryer vent can start a fire — clear it before you run the dryer againLint is highly flammable, and a clogged exhaust duct or vent hood traps heat until the dryer overheats. This is a leading cause of house fires in Canada, so don't keep running a dryer that's venting poorly. Unplug the dryer (or switch off its breaker; on a gas dryer, close the gas shutoff too) before you disconnect the duct to clean it, and clear the entire run — the filter, the transition hose, the rigid duct in the wall, and the outside hood. If any part of the run is inside a wall you can't reach, a duct-cleaning service or appliance technician can do it quickly and safely.
gavel Check your province first AB: homeowner may do this · BC: homeowner may do this · ON: homeowner may do this · PE: homeowner may do this · QC: homeowner may do this
Cleaning the lint filter, transition hose, exhaust duct, and outside vent hood is routine homeowner maintenance in every province. Internal repairs — replacing an electric heating element or thermostat, or a gas dryer's igniter/burner — route to a licensed appliance technician, and gas-dryer work adds a gas-fitting concern.

handymanHow to fix it

Pull the lint filter, peel off the lint, and — if you use dryer sheets — wash the softener film off the mesh with warm soapy water and a soft brush, then dry it fully before sliding it back in. Do the peel every load.

  1. Slide the filter out of its slot in the door opening or on the top panel and peel the mat of lint off with your fingers.
  2. If water poured on the screen beads up or pools instead of running through, fabric-softener film is clogging it — scrub both sides with warm soapy water and a soft brush.
  3. Let the screen dry completely, slide it back in, and make peeling it a habit before every load.
schedule3 min savings$0–5

verifiedWhy this one goes to a pro

Reaching a dryer's heating element, thermostats, or gas burner and igniter means opening the cabinet and working around live 240-volt wiring — and on a gas dryer, the gas valve and burner. In Canada this is work for a licensed appliance technician (a gas dryer also brings a gas-fitting concern). A tech can confirm a weak element or igniter quickly; it isn't a homeowner repair.

Your notes travel with the request — what you saw, what you ruled out, when it started — so the pro arrives with a head start instead of a mystery.

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Why the list is in this order

We don’t sort by likelihood alone. We sort the way a good, honest tradesperson thinks: rule out the free, safe, common causes first. That’s why the cheap checks outrank the expensive repairs — and why anything dangerous gets a hard stop instead of a pep talk. The order exists to save you money, not to sell you anything.