Go ahead and laugh. It's okay. Before you do, though, hear me out.
My dryer has been drying less and less lately. Today, it stopped drying. Now I have a full load of wet laundry and it's all the clothes I got. I just tried cleaning my exhaust duct/vent/whatever with one of those things with the bristles and the coily "handle", but I have had no luck. I tried cleaning it from inside the house and outside, but nothing. The dryer is blowing out exhaust out the back, though, so I know it's doing it's share of the work. However, even with the exhaust hose hooked up, I feel absolutely no air blowing out of the vent outside. I've peered down its full length with an LED flashlight from the outside and even stuck my cell phone up in it and snapped a clear pic from the inside and I see no blockages. I've even felt along the length of the exhaust hose while the dryer was going and felt no air escaping through tears or around the gaskets that hold it to the wall and the back of the dryer.
I am just going to call someone to come and do it, but, being the week of Thanksgiving and all, I doubt I'll be able to get anyone here until next week. Meanwhile, I have a load of laundry that needs to be dried. Therefore, I've come up with the temporary — and idiotic — idea to attach a pillow case to the end and let it rip. However, the idea of dying in a fire just days before the delicious Thanksgiving feast leaves me sort of questioning whether or not I should do this. Had I a longer hose, I'd just stick it out the garage door and let it rip. However, I don't, so I won't.
What do I do about this mess? Somebody help me.
Best Answer
I'm presuming you're using the pillow case as a lint filter. The bigger problem will be humidity. You'll be putting all of the moisture from the wet clothes into the air. After a couple loads, this makes the room really, really, REALLY humid (I've been there).
If you can swing it, you might be well off getting some flex dryer duct and running the end out the window while you're doing laundry. Then you won't need the pillowcase at all, which might cause some other problems due to back pressure/poor airflow (e.g., it might take longer for your clothes to dry, and it might cause the dryer to run hotter).