Shared laundry facility - etiquette?

[Leo Enticknap]

That was basically the crux of my question. On our machine at home, I clean the screen filter by hand between cycles if it's my stuff, or when my wife complains that it's not drying properly any more if it's hers. But, like Marcel, I can't remember ever doing this, or being instructed to do so, in a university hall of residence laundromat dryer. They must have a filter system that needs maintenance less frequently - perhaps an automated brush that wipes the lint fragments from the screen surface into a container of some description?

[James Westbrook]

The lint screens at the laundromat are locked so an attendant has to clean them on a daily basis. One day while my friend was doing his laundry the attendant I know was having trouble with the lock mechanism not working properly. She had the lint drawer out and I assisted her. While the lock was simple and the key part was working, it was the metal piece that is turned into the slot beneath the drawer that was loose. The dryers are gas fired and what I heard was "industrial" so the lint traps are designed to hold more. Usually the laundry rooms in apartments and dorms are leased to a company who often also runs laundromats and should have a crew maintaining these units. I suspect if some of these see less traffic they get maintained less frequently.
The same laundromat I frequent has had an occasional fire, usually caused by a customer placing items that should not go in said dryer. Fascinating as the dryer that combusted was actually rebuilt on site, with a new door yet and is operating still. I forget the name brand but they were manufactured in Iowa.