56 | Dryer Safety in Your Short Term Rental | with Justin Ford

Listen Now:

There’s one area of safety that pretty much everyone in the short-term rental game has to consider: dryer safety. To give us all the details, we are once again joined by our resident safety captain, Justin Ford! 

Justin tries to make safety exciting, and so far he’s done a great job of it. He’s a former US Coastguard safety officer, and he started the largest vacation rental company in the Northeast, which led him to what he does today as the director of safety and certification programs at Breezeway, a software company that makes it easier to manage property care and maintenance operations.

Why dryer safety is a big deal

Dryer fires are far more common than anyone realizes, and they are also very easy to prevent. Over time, small amounts of lint from each load you dry won’t make out of the unit for a variety of reasons. Once the vent gets blocked with lint, your dryer exhaust has nowhere to go, and eventually, the lint can be ignited by the operation of the dryer.

So what’s your first step?

Let’s start by pulling out your dryer and looking behind it. Not every dryer can be pulled out without the assistance of someone else, but this is a good place to start. You can also check the exhaust on the outside of the building and look for any lint or debris build-up.

What should you look for as a guest?

Property owners should provide good safety instructions to their guests detailing what they should do. We all take for granted how we operate in our own homes, but to guests, everything is new and not always intuitive. List your expectations for cleaning as well as how to do it in addition to standard operating instructions.

Resources:

• Breezeway: www.breezeway.io | Instagram: @breezeway.io
• Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/vacationrentalsafety/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/captjustinford
• Amazon: Nylon Chimney Cleaning Brush
• #STRShareSunday: @thecovecabin