I received this in an email from a friend. I don't know but it sounds plausable.

The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things
around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean. (I always clean the lint from the filter after every load clothes.)  He took the filter over to the sink, ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material - I'm sure you know what your dryer's lint filter looks like.  Well,....the hot water just sat on top of the mesh!  It didn't go through it at all!  He told
us that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh and th at's what burns out the heating unit.  You can't SEE the film, but it's
there.  It's what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free - that nice fragrance too, you know how they can feel waxy when you take them out of the box, well this stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer units to catch fire & potentially burn your house down with it!  He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (& to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out & wash it with hot soapy water & an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months.  He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long!  How about that!?!  Learn something new everyday!  I certainly didn't know dryer sheets would do that.  So, I thought I'd share!