Lint Fishing - the tools you'll need

Time to complete this step: 5 minutes or so, depending on how crafty you are

Now grab your tools. My tools are:

1. Wire clothes hanger, straightened-out. Use a pair of plyers to create a small bend at a slightly obtuse (greater than 90°) angle as pictured below. Keep the "hook" short - not more than a half inch so that you'll be able to twirl it around inside the narrow chamber. Give yourself at least 20" of length when fashioning this tool.

2. "ZIP-IT" - a tool that I picked up a my local hardware store for about $5. You can find this in the plumbing section; it's used to grab hair out of clogged sink drains. It's about 18" long and has a series of barbs along its length, which are meant to snag hair, lint and other loose particles.

If you can't find "ZIP-IT" in your local hardware store, you might be able to fashion something similar. Whatever you use needs to be at least 18" long, flexible and have barbs or some other sort of lint-snagging capability on the end.

CAUTION: Be careful not to drop anything into the air chamber. I have no idea how to access the chamber from the bottom. Both of the above tools are long enough that even if you let go of them while fishing for lint, they won't fall completely into the chamber and you'll be able to reach in and pull them back out.

Click here to go to STEP 5