Yesterday I had an engineer out to repair my washing machine, which ironically I had fixed myself by emptying the filter but it is good to check these things.
He did however, look concerned when he spotted my Tumble Drier and advised me to check safety.hotpoint.eu to see if it was one of the models that had been affected by a product recall for Hotpoint / Indesit and Creda Tumble Driers.
Sadly on imputing the model number and serial number I discovered it was, but, they advised it was still safe to use and I would receive a repair within 5 weeks.
Of course, being a parent this sent me into panic mode – how can it be safe to use a Tumble Drier that has been recalled with safety concerns. The washing machine engineer was fantastic and gave me this advise which I feel I should share on my blog.
The issue is that excess fluff could catch the heating element in the machine and cause a fire, so follow the maintenance instructions that came with the machine:
- Empty the Filters after each use and pop your hoover in the the gap to catch any missed fluff
- Clean the condenser once a month. This can be done by hosing it off in the garden or in the shower
- Install a fire alarm near to where your Tumble Drier is installed (ours is in our ultility room)
- Don’t leave it on when you are not at home
- Keep a fire extinguisher close to the machine (which thankfully we have anyway)
I have to admit that I do clean the filter regularly but had not though to use the hoover and had no idea where the condenser was, but sent hubby out to the garden to give it a good hose down. It was scary how much muck came out of it!
Full instructions of how to clean your machine are available here,
Good tips here – we don’t have tumble drier any more, but mum does, so I’m going to get her to check her model, as it’s likely she won’t have seen the notification on this. It’s crazy to think that machine models as far back as 2004 could be affected…
I think people are a bit too complacent around tumble driers especially, they are really powerful and dangerous. Around 15 years ago my friend’s caught fire. Luckily no-one was hurt and her husband actually pushed it out through the back door into the garden. I’ve always been a bit more respectful and wary since then!
I’ve seen a lot of these warnings around lately but I’ve always thought that it was common knowledge that tumble dryers where a fire hazard. I guess I was wrong. I always clean my filters every time I use mine. It’s not a condensor one but I make sure it’s always clean and lint/dust free. To me it makes sense, tumble dryers get very hot. I never leave it on while I go on or out.
We don’t have one, but I think the tips are good ones. I’m impressed that you have a fire extinguisher close by.
The warning is so scary and it is a good job you did have someone come out to fix what you had fixed, quite a blessing x
Eeek mine is on the recall list too, so pleased I read your post otherwise I wouldn’t have known about it. I will often put mine on and go out for the day!!! I won’t be doing that anymore 🙁
thankfully i already do all of those with mine but i am awaiting for mine to be looked at too 🙁
It is scary to think that you could set your house alight by not following these simple maintenance steps above. Thanks for raising awareness
This is so scary! Luckily mine isn’t on the recall list but it didn’t stop me worrying when I first heard. I hope they sort it soon (five weeks seems a long time to wait).
This is such great advice. Thank you for sharing! Dryers can be scary machines if they aren’t well-taken care of!
Thanks for sharing such an important piece of info. I shall promptly go and clean my tumble drier.
Oh this is handy, I never thought to hoover inside! Going to give mine a good clean out now x
I don’t have a tumble drier – love this great post for raising awareness of this. Kaz x
I am paranoid about my tumble dryer after a friends setting on fire when I was growing up, so I hoover mine every couple of uses! 5 weeks before they can even arrange a visit
This looks like my tumble dryer. I suspect that I may have a problem. It definitely needs cleaning out sooner rather than later. Something else for the to do list
I don’t have a tumble drier anymore but I’d be concerned too – sounds like you’ve been given some great advice x x
Thank you for sharing this advice. I didn’t know about the condenser – I’ve never done anything to ours!
This is so scary, we had a convo on Twitter and I told you about my black smoke incident. Thank goodness for the fire extinguisher. Amazing post and have just popped a good clean out of my tumble dryer on my to do list for tomorrow!
Ive seen a lot of my friends mention theirs is on the recall list which is quite scary! We dont have one since moving, but thanks for raising awareness!
Thanks for this. We’ve only just bought a tumble drier and I had no idea about all of this – will check it out now.
We don’t have a tumble drier – we have a heated rail. This all makes it much harder in winter when I dream of having one but summer is easy as it just goes out on the line. I know they can be really dangerous which would definitely be a worry – I imagine it’s easy to become complacent and leave them on when you go out.