One of your appliances could be a huge fire risk...

According to the CPSC, clothing dryers are responsible for about 7,000 fires each year...

...and in most cases, lint is to blame. Here are a few things we really need to do to prevent potential dryer disaster:

• Clean the lint screen/filter before or after drying each load of clothes.

• Clean the dryer vent and exhaust duct periodically.

• Clean behind the dryer, where lint can build up.

• Do not dry clothing or fabric on which there is anything flammable, such as alcohol, cooking oils, gasoline, spot removers or dry-cleaning solvents. Flammable substances give off vapors that could ignite or explode.

If you notice that it's taking longer for your clothes to dry, it's likely that lint is clogging the venting system. Also, the white vinyl venting a lot of us have no longer meets national fire code standards in the U.S. If that’s what you’ve got, consider replacing that with aluminum ducts.