One part of your tumble dryer could be causing your clothes to wrinkle.

Even though they can cause our energy bills to soar, there's no denying the convenience of tumble dryers. They make drying clothes a breeze, especially when the unpredictable British weather hits us with rain and wind, making it impossible to hang laundry outside.

However, if you've ever found your clothes incredibly wrinkled after taking them out of the tumble dryer, you might be overlooking an important part of the cleaning process. Moreover, neglecting this crucial step could potentially pose a fire risk.

In a Reddit post, a mum revealed her confusion over her creased clothes until she discovered her tumble dryer was overheating due to lint build-up in the vent every time she used it.

This lint prevents the dryer from properly ventilating, which can cause the appliance to overheat. This could potentially start a fire, but luckily for the mum, it only caused the fuse to blow, rendering the dryer inoperable.

She stated: "We're a family of four and I've got laundry down to a science. I fold and put away immediately and it makes life so much easier than laundry basket hell.

"Recently, I found that if I didn't fold the minute [the dryer was finished], everything had really awful wrinkles. Especially my tablecloth, which I'm generally on top of.

"The dryer was overheating! The vent needed to be cleaned desperately. I'm talking about a fire-hazard amount of lint. The fuse blew and the dryer wouldn't turn on."

She added: "Thankfully it was an easy enough fix and the vent is fully cleaned. The dryer sounds better and the wrinkle issue is solved. Hoping I can encourage anyone who is fighting wrinkles to go check and clean their vents."

Commenters on the post expressed their gratitude for the mum's timely advice, as many admitted the idea of checking their tumble dryer's vents hadn't crossed their minds when dealing with persistent wrinkles.

One relieved user exclaimed: "This has been happening to me and I felt crazy. It's been impossible to catch the clothes before they wrinkle. I'm going to check the vent. Thank you!"

Another added: "I need to mention this to my husband (he abhors wrinkles) and he'll finally move the dryer so I can reach the vent hose. It's only been on my to-do list for six months to clean it out."