What is a lint trap?
Updated August 2026
Pull the mesh screen out of the dryer door opening and you are holding the lint trap: the removable first-stage filter that catches lint from every load before the air heads on into the vent duct. Some machines seat it in a slot on the top panel instead of the door. Wherever it sits, it is the one part of a dryer's air path the manufacturer expects you to touch after every single cycle.
Where it is
There are two places to know, not one. The screen lifts straight out of the door opening at the bottom of the drum, or out of a slot on the cabinet top. Below it is the lint trap housing, the plastic throat the screen drops into, and that throat feeds the blower and then the duct. Shine a flashlight down the housing with the screen out. A felt-like grey coating on the walls means lint is getting past the screen, usually through a small tear or a frame that no longer seats flush. An $8–15 flexible lint brush or a vacuum crevice tool clears it in two minutes.
What it does
The screen restricts airflow by design, and how much it restricts is entirely your call. A visibly loaded screen can add 15–30 minutes to a load. The sneakier version is invisible: dryer sheets and liquid softener leave a waxy film across the mesh that blocks air while the screen still looks spotless. Test it at the sink. Hold the screen under running water, and if the water pools on top instead of pouring straight through, the mesh is sealed. Starved airflow makes the dryer cycle its high-limit thermostat, cook the heating element, and finally blow the thermal fuse, a $15–40 part behind a $150–250 service visit.
Maintenance
Clear the screen every cycle, a 10-second job, and wash it with hot water, a drop of dish soap, and a soft brush 3 or 4 times a year to strip the softener film. Dry it fully before it goes back in. Vacuum the housing every 6 months. None of this touches the duct behind the wall, though: the vent run is a separate annual job, and the dryer vent maintenance checklist keeps both on the same calendar. (A heat pump dryer adds a second condenser filter that wants the same rinse monthly.) If drying stays slow after a clean screen and a clean duct, look out at the exterior hood.
What it costs to replace
A replacement lint trap runs $15–40 for an OEM screen, and nothing at all to clean the one you already own.
OnOtto's photo scan identifies parts like this in your home and builds the maintenance schedule for you. See how the scan works.
Frequently asked questions
Can I run the dryer without the lint screen?
Do not, even once if you can avoid it. With the screen out, lint travels straight into the blower housing and the duct, packing into every elbow and drifting across the heating element on the way past. A single load will not wreck anything, but making it a habit is how a duct plugs solid in one season. Tape is not a repair for a torn screen either. Replacements are $15–40 and drop in without tools.
Does a clean lint screen mean the vent is clean?
No, and that assumption is why so many ducts are packed. A good screen grabs most of the lint from a load, but fine fibers pass through it every cycle and settle downstream, especially at elbows and at the outside hood where the damper slows the air. Think of it as two different chores on two different clocks: the screen is per load, the duct is per year, and the yearly one is the chore tied to fire risk.
Why is there lint on my clothes after drying?
Check the screen first, since a loaded or film-covered one pushes lint back into the drum. Next look for a tear in the mesh, a screen that does not seat all the way down, or a wash cycle overdosed with detergent, which leaves fibers that never rinsed clear. New towels and dark cottons shed heavily for their first several washes regardless. If the lint lands on one side of the load only, inspect the drum seal for a gap.