Tumble dryer… have I removed an essential part?! Help!

[3taffff]

I thought it was time to clean the dryer as clothes were coming out practically wet. When I took this part out it has like a sort of foam cover behind the 4 panel piece but it was so wet it was falling apart. I’ve now put it back in without it. Is this the right thing to do?!

Also thought I should add a pic of the foam thing

Are you sure that’s a foam thing and not just a big slab of dryer fluff?

Looks like a big bit of lint

Is there a water container you have to empty? Mines has to be emptied ever few days otherwise it just stays wet.
yours looks like the fluff collector bit. You need to empty both parts regularly if you have a condenser dryer (no big vent thing)

Closer pic

Yeah it looks like an extremely compacted block of dryer lint. I had the same panic moment with my mum's Dyson hoover, I was trying to clean what I thought was a foam piece of the filter under the tap, and it disintegrated in my hands - looked for ages for a replacement part online and eventually came to the realisation that I don't think she had ever emptied that filter and it was about 20 years' worth of compacted dust that had become so tightly packed that it acted like foam at first look.

Hopefully yours wasn't 20 years' worth but I would guess several years' worth? Those filters are meant to be cleaned out weekly or so!

It’s a condenser dryer but is this meant to go over the white panels part

The part you have removed is a lint/fluff trap. You've emptied all the lint/fluff out of it. Exactly as youre supposed to do :-)

@BertieBotts yes it disintegrates! That’s why I didn’t put it back on. What does that mean exactly? Is it basically a mould growth or something? I’m glad I didn’t put it back now 😂

I’d suggest putting your machine’s make and model into Youtube asking how to clean the filters and see if that helps. It looks like a build up of lint. Do you clean the filters after every use ?

I'm not sure exactly where you're describing that you found it. Can you post a picture pointing to exactly where you found it? Was in inside the lint trap or somewhere else?

It's lint from your clothes! It builds up after every drying cycle. You need to empty it out every so often.

Some Hoover models do have a foam pad but it looks like it should clip onto your four-panel bit and your four-panel bit doesn't have the knobs to attach it, so I think it is literally just lint, especially if your dryer wasn't drying and you've never emptied it before.

https://service.hoover.co.uk/advice-centre/keeping-your-hoover-tumble-dryer-working-efficiently/check-the-condenser-filter/

That's definitely lint, it needs removing after every use or it can cause the dryer to overheat.

Definitely google it but watch a couple of different ones as I watched one chap who never mentioned the actual lint filter.

OP, do you clean the lint filter (the thing in your picture) after every use? You have to as it’s a fire hazard. Your picture looks like a big build up of lint/fluff. I’ve never seen any foam in my dryer and I I’ve had a few in my time

I have this foam thing in the front bottom (!) container of the tumble dryer. My understanding is that it is some sort of filter, it periodically gets clogged up with lint and a light comes on to clean it. I have never known it soggy though. I would be wary of removing altogether though and would look at replacing. I am quite cautious re tumble dryers and fire risk and wouldn’t want to remove anything that is designed to be there.

There is a foam filter like that in ours. It has disintegrated. If you Google the model you can buy a new one on Amazon. It you replace it your dryer will probably work much better.

It's the fluff generated when you dry your washing and as pps have said you should remove it after every drying cycle. (Towels make the most lint.) If your condenser is plumbed in then you don't need to worry but if it isn't then you need to empty the condenser drawer frequently as this is probably why your loads aren't drying. Find the manual (physical or online) and read it before you flood or set fire to your house....

That's not lint. It is a lint covered foam filter which needs to be there to stop lint particles from getting into the condenser unit. It should be cleaned regularly and dried before replacing. It's probably damp because it has become clogged with too much lint. You can buy them online if you put the make and model number in a google search.

You can see, if you zoom into the picture above the cellular structure of the foam, particularly on the torn bit to the bottom of the picture. Looks like the same foam as this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jonikuper-Foam-Filters-Compatible-Heat/dp/B0FZTJC9XK

Ours has a foam bit which catches the lint which has presumably managed to bypass the main filters. I absolutely wouldn’t use it without the foam part, because the lint will collect elsewhere in the dryer where it isn’t supposed to. It would probably be a fire risk.

EDIT Google agrees with me. At best it will increase energy use and lead to poor performance, at worst it’ll catch fire.

Have you ever read the maintenance section of the manual?