Yesterday, I went up to the attic where my computer is to check my email and found that the entire floor smelled like burning plastic. The smell appeared to originate from our trusty old German-made washer dryer combo. I opened the door to check the laundry and found that it was on fire! Once the thick black smoke cleared away I could see my favorite towels smoldering away inside the washer’s drum. whilst drying, it had actually heated the laundry to the point where it ignited. Apparently, that happens quite easily with cotton.

It was a good thing we were home and noticed it before things got out of hand. In another 15 minuted or so there might have been a full-blown fire raging in our attic. Now, all I needed to do is set the washer to ‘rinse’ (remarkably the washer wasn’t damaged at all). That cooled the contents down and allowed us to remove them.

Even though the smoke was pretty much trapped inside the machine I suggest placing a smoke alarm near your dryer and not leaving home while it’s running. It might also be a good idea to not use the ‘extra dry’ setting. This was one of the first times we’d actually set it to that. Oh and clogged filters also seem to increase the risk of something like this happening. Ours was clean, but it hasn’t always been.

The new washer and dryer were delivered this morning. We ‘d been thinking about getting two separate machines for a while. But even with a new dryer, I’m not going to take any risks. Dryers are the number one source of in-home fires in the Netherlands, accounting about 5% of all home insurance claims.