I just moved into a new house and have found the dryer to have a bad smell! It is a gas dryer. The smell is somewhat like a natural gas smell, but maybe a little bit more chemical. We haven't found any gas leaks. The smell is inside the dryer and permeates strongly into any clothes dried. Please help! Thanks! :confused:

Hi! Suekra, welcome to AMHD :)

I just moved into a new house and have found the dryer to have a bad smell! It is a gas dryer. The smell is somewhat like a natural gas smell, but maybe a little bit more chemical. We haven't found any gas leaks. The smell is inside the dryer and permeates strongly into any clothes dried. Please help! Thanks! :confused:Usually smells from a dryer can be attributed to a collection of lint in places inaccessible to frequent cleaning, and/or a small dead animal. Think mouse, chipmunk, or rat. If the dryer vent to the outside is too close to the ground (no closer than 24") or there is a trellis near the opening, the little critters can and will jump to claim their territory.

That's what happened to the DW, and me... chipmunk... :eek: Took a month of outsourcing our laundry, while hourly during the day cleanings, before the DW was happy enough to go back to using the dryer. :)

There are two methods, that may help.
1) There are dryer freshener's in the laundry section of your grocer, but this can get expensive fast if the problem remains because of old festered lint, usually because the previous owners didn't clean the lint filter after each use!.
Even with good practice, it's advisable to tear down the dryer to do a through cleaning. Once a year.

2) If your handy.
Unplug Dryer from power source.
Before you shut off gas line to dryer, notice if it has pipe compound or teflon thread tape around the threads, you'll need to redo the sealer when you re-connect the gas line, but most newer connections are compression with flair seat so you may not have to. Use two pipe wrenches to dis-connect.

Once your dis-connected, pull dryer away from the wall. Care here, the vent tube at the bottom may be connected by a fastener. This is one place you'll find critters.

If it's one of those white accordion types throw it away, they're a fire hazard anyway.

You can go to a plumbing supply house or even a blue or orange big box to pick up solid aluminum vent, just snaps together. If you need a short piece, you can cut the aluminum with a pair of kitchen shears, but don't use them for anything else later, make them your "junk" cutters.
If you have any remaining venting that is Galvanized or aluminum pull it apart and wash it out. With an outdoor hose, soap an long brush.

Pull the lint filter out, and soak it in the tub with a good liquid cleaner. Laundry/dish-soap will work. If you use the hose an brush be careful, it can tare.

Unscrew the back plate from the dryer (usually 1/4 to 5/16th metal screws with slots)
Wash it down.

Get inside with a vacuum with crevice tool and suck out all the lose lint. If your real handy there is a flue that goes from the heater to the back of the dryer drum, remove it and clean, (usually the same size metal screws). Reinstall.

Wipe down everything that doesn't move inside, reassemble cabinet, re-install venting, plug back in, and there you have it.

Project time 2 to 3 hours.

You will probably still want to use dryer refresh sheets for a while, and run a test load before you go back at it, to be sure.

They also make refresher's for washer's

If you have the Model numbers I can be more specific, usually found under/behind lid or on back plate.

K

Borrowed from:Gas Dryers, gas dryer smells (http://www.applianceaid.com/gas_dryer.html#smell)

Funny smell from a gas dryer...
If you are having trouble with a funny smell inside your dryer or on your clothes, consider this... have you painted or varnished anything inside the home recently? Your gas dryer uses a lot of air, not just the air that blows out the vent but the air used to burn the gas ( natural or propane ) as well, anything like paint fumes or varnish fumes in the air will be picked up in the air used by the burner flame and burnt... this is often described by customers as - burnt fabric softener smell... - burnt soap smell... - burnt medicine smell.

Open your windows, air out the basement/home as good as possible, most customers tell me this will go away after a week or so once everything is dried and all the fumes are gone. Remember, if you smell gas... turn off the gas valve to the dryer and call for service!

A tip from ( Assistant Chief Fire Marshal Douglas ) - This is sometimes caused by the filter not being completely clean.  By this I am referring to the clogging of the screen from the use of fabric softener sheets.  The chemicals in these sheets will, over a period, impair the air flow through the screen and cause the gas odor to become prominent not to mention the temperature to rise within the dryer. I clean my filter with soapy water and a tooth brush about every other month and it keeps this from occurring.