Jolie Kerr is a cleaning expert and advice columnist. She'll be here every week helping to answer your filthiest questions. Are you dirty? Email her. Are you still dirty? Subscribe to Ask a Clean Person: The Podcast on Acast, iTunes or Stitcher, and like Ask a Clean Person on Facebook.

I've been reading your column, and I was hoping you could help me out. I accidentally left a pen in one of my clothes pockets and sent it through the dryer. As you may have guessed the pen exploded all over the inside of the dryer, leaving streaks of ink covering the inside of the dryer. Do you have any thoughts on how to get the ink stains out of the dryer itself, so that I don't forever stain any clothes I put in there?

Help is here! Before I can offer help, however, I have to remind you in a very serious and stern tone that you must always (always, always, always) check your pockets before doing a load of laundry. Sorry, professional obligation!

Okay, with that out of the way, let's talk about cleaning a dryer. These are the instructions you'll follow for pen, but also for stuff like chapstick, should you put one of those through the wash. Which of course you'll never do because you always (always, always, always) check your pockets before doing a load of laundry.

ALERT ALERT SAFETY WARNING ALERT ALERT

So yeah, I'm yelling at you and I know it might be a bit much, but I really want to make sure that I'm driving home the importance of these safety instructions. It's easy to forget that dryers are as dangerous as they are because, well, they're dryers and they don't seem particularly menacing. But dangerous they are, which means that before servicing one in any way you must do two really crucial things:

Unplug the dryer before you do any work on it. The risk of electrical shock is real, y'all. Do not use any cleaning agents that are flammable. That means that rubbing alcohol, for example, is out of the question despite it being very good at removing ink stains.

3 Safe and Good Ways to Remove Ink from a Dryer

I like for you to have options in life, so here are three good and safe ways to remove ink stains from the interior of a dryer.

Dish Soap: When it comes to cleaning appliances, it's always a good idea to start with the cheapest, gentlest, most available option. Enter dish soap! We've all got that in the house and while I need to level with you and say that dish soap is probably not going to be a tough enough cleaning agent to remove all that pen, it may very well work. And what's the cost to you to try it? Maybe five or so minutes of ineffective scrubbing? Try the dish soap first, is what I'm trying to say. Also, it's worth mentioning that dish soap is also great for giving the interior of your dryer a general cleaning, should that be a thing you need or want to do.

Magic Eraser: Of all the options I have to present to you, this is the one I would personally go for because it's definitely going to solve the problem. Magic Erasers are sponges made from melamine foam, that you wet, wring out well, and rub on stained surfaces. It won't be an issue with the drum of a dryer, because it's metal, but generally speaking when working with a Magic Eraser, test it first in an inconspicuous spot to ensure it won't cause damage to the surface in need of cleaning.

SHOP: $7.95,

Goo Gone: Unlike other similar products, such as Goof Off, Goo Gone is not flammable, and therefore can be safely used to clean the drum of a dryer. To use it, apply it to a rag and wipe the pen away, reapplying the Goo Gone to the rag as needed. When the pen marks are gone, give the drum a pass using a clean, damp rag with a small amount of dish soap to remove the residue from the Goo Gone.

SHOP: $4.63,

Some Things to NOT Do

Man, there is some baaaaaad advice on the internet about cleaning ink from a dryer. I think it's worth listing some of the things I would prefer you not use to clean a dryer.

Rubbing alcohol

Nail polish remover

Carburetor cleaner

WD-40

Hairspray

Goof Off

Bleach

With the exception of bleach, all of those products are flammable, so it's best to skip them out of an abundance of caution. The issue with bleach is that if residue is left behind, it can cause damage to the next load of laundry that you put in that dryer, especially darks.

One last tip before I leave you: After cleaning a dryer, it's not a bad idea to wash and dry a load of rags or something like your shower curtain liner. The rags can help to pick up any remaining stains or cleaning agents left behind from their removal, and if they get a little pen or chapstick or God only knows what else on them, eh, they're rags.

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