Your laundry room is full of heavy-duty appliances and a plethora of cleaning products, which can make it a real danger zone in your home. In the US alone, over 10,000 house fires are started in the laundry room. The fire hazard is not the only one present – recently, colorful detergent packs have been responsible for a number of children ingesting them and being rushed to the hospital due to poisoning
Here’s how to keep your laundry room a disaster free zone:
- Prevent lint from building up. Lint buildup is the biggest culprit and is responsible for a majority of laundry room fires. Clean out the lint screen after every use. Make it a habit of inspecting vent pipes, the ducts outside your home and the space behind the dryer to ensure there isn’t any lint buildup.
- Replace the dryer duct and water hoses. If your dryer vents with a foil accordian duct, replace it with a rigid metal one that doesn’t collect as much lint. Replace rubber hoses with reinforced braided ones to prevent them from bursting or cracking.
- Keep detergents out of reach of children and tightly sealed. The convenient candy like detergent packs that are becoming very popular are very dangerous if kids get their hands on them. They look like tasty candy and kids would definitely swallow them. Make sure they are stowed out of reach and tightly sealed.
- Label all containers. If you are using do-it-yourself detergents and stain removers, make sure you label the bottles properly – avoid using containers that have been used previously for food or drink. Clear liquids in unmarked plastic bottles can be easily mistaken as a drinkable liquid.
- Keep machine doors locked. Front loading washers and dryers can be ideal hiding spots for kids playing hide and seek. If they do not have built in safety locking, buy some child safety locks to prevent kids from getting stuck inside.
- Maintain your machines regularly. Get your machines checked annually to ensure there are no mechanical defects, or problems that may have occurred over the year. Over the year, items from pockets can slip through the drums, accumulate and present a possible hazard.