Kitchen Gas Appliances - Awful odor from gas dryer

Can someone help me? There is a bad smell from my gas dryer. It doesn't smell like natural gas, but the type of gas that you get when you first start a gas stove. The clothes come out smelling this way, and the whole house smells. The lint trap is clean, and the entire vent is cleaned out as well.

Please help. I'm afraid it might be a danger?

Hello Bernadette. Welcome to my Gas Appliances forum and our Do-It-Yourself Web Site.

If you recently used any oil based product like oil based paints, stains, vanishes, adhesives, etc. or any chemical cleaning product or any flammable petroleum based product, it will cause an odor.

The odor is caused by the burning of the invisable vapors the product gives off until it dries or cures. Ventilating the area or entire house helps to resolve the problem.

After painting it takes several day for the paint to dry fully and cure. And being that your inside, you get use to the smell and do not smell the fumes. Perfectly normal.

If the odor smells like a kerosene odor it is usually nothing to worry about. Especially if you are presently or have been recently using an type of petroleum based and or oil based product.

It's a common problem and usually the result of some petroleum product recently used. Any product that contains a flammable solvent or oil based product will cause the odor when exposed to any hot surface.

To exhaust the odor from clothes dried in the dryer, run the dryer in the no heat or air dry cycle for ten minutes after it completes the normal drying cycle.

Doing so will vent out the odor from the clothes. Be sure to return the timer back to the prior heat setting when done.

Regards & Good Luck
Gas Appliances Forum Moderator & Web Site Host.
TCB4U2B2B.....Company Enterprises
Energy Conservation Consulting Services & Gas Appliance Problem Diagnostics Technician.

Thank you so much. As a matter of fact, we HAVE been painting with an oil based paint, and our floors were just refinished this past weekend. I would NEVER have made that correlation.

Thanks for easing my mind.:D

Hello and Welcome back Bernadette.

Glad to know the problem was simply the usage of a petroleum product. Once the floors vanish or stained surface and the paint dries, the odor will vanish.

Thanks for taking a few minutes of your valuable time to log back into our web sites forum and post the updated info. By doing so all other readers of this forum and your question learn too.

Another entry in the "Happy Camper" category....:D

The gas dryer odor problem (clothing smelling like charcoal) happened to me too this week while I had my dining room floor refinished. Am going to try the expert's advice by running the "no heat" or "air dry" cycle.
This is a great forum - probably saved me a costly service call because I had no idea why this problem was occurring.

Hello s74vette. Welcome to my Gas Appliances forum and our Do-It-Yourself Web Site.

Glad you found the web site, my gas appliances forum and read the question Bernadette asked. The problem often happens whenever a petro chemical product is used.

The petro based chemicals I mentioned are those which cause the most severe odor problems. There are plenty of other commonly used household products which do the same thing.

Best way to determine if any chemical is prone to cause this type of problem is to read the product label. If the product contains a petro ingredient and has a warning of fire and or explosion, use with plenty of ventilation, it is a product that gives off harmful vapors. They will cause the odor problem.

Regards,
Sharp Advice