filtering Dryer make up air?

[pacogrande]

My basement is crap. The foundation is busted up in several places. There is a sump pump that automatically pulls all water out before it builds up, however, the basement still smells like a swamp even though it's technically dry. Well as you can imagine clothes coming out of the dryer smell like crap since the dryer gets its air from the room it sits in. Is there some way to add a HEPA filter to the dryer where it sucks in air to blow over the clothes so I can trap the freakin mold spores before they go into the dryer and roll around with my laundry? My clothes smell fine coming out of the washer but once they go into the dryer moldy gross air is used to dry them. I already have a HEPA air purifier running non stop down there and it just doesn't cut it. It's like running an air purifier in hopes of making Louisiana breathable. I'd try to just kill all the mold down there but I can't even see any and digging out the entire foundation and rebuilding it isn't gonna happen. The landlord would never pay for that.

My idea was to duct tape a 3M Filtrete mold capturing furnace filter to the dryer where it pulls in air but I don't know if that would work with the dryer or not or if it might cause some kind of problem.

[pushkins]

An air purifier is never going to solve your damp basement problems, the purifier simply removes impurities from the air, dust, SOME spoors (mold) etc...
Adding a taped on filter to the dryer intake is not a good idea either, your dryer probably won't like the extra work it would have to do to pull the air in AND very few filters will remove all spoors and you would have to change the filter almost weekly from your description of the basement.
Your situation would best be solved by adding a dehumidifier to this basement, that "smell" is most air (that carries mold exceptionally well), and no matter how much the sump pump runs it will never dry the air, smell also comes from damp walls, and lumber also absorbs smell (like floor joists etc...), a dehumidifier will remove the moisture from the air and the room itself and this in turn will bring down the smell significantly. make sure you have the dehumidifiers drain hose drain into the sump pit (or throw out the water basket every day or two) the drain into the sump pit is best as you won't need to monitor the water basket and from what your saying there will be a lot of water, it may take a week or two for the humidity levels and smell to go, but you should notice a difference within a few days.

[pacogrande]

Thanks for the quick reply. I just ordered a highly recommended dehumidifier that can be hooked to the sump drain. My last question, since this is a rental house and the foundation will not be fixed, will removing the water from the air of the basement actually kill the mold that is already down there? By drying out the air and removing the spore smell I will also be killing any mold that currently lives in the basement? The problem is that I can't see any mold anywhere. I know it's there but the only place I ever saw any was on a heating duct. I killed that and it never came back but I have not found any more anywhere else. I know it will be an ongoing process since as long as there are cracks mold will attempt to grow there, I just want to know that if I let this thing run 24/7 forever that all mold there will die and no new mold will have a chance at starting.

[pushkins]

Mold needs only two things to grow, moisture and darkness, the dehumidifier will take care of the moisture, it may work overtime because of the cracks allowing more than normal moisture in but it will work, set the dehumidifier to run at about 40%. If this is an older basement with lower ceiling height etc, from what your saying it sounds this way, to go even a step further you could replace the lights bulbs with fluorescent energy savers and leave these on.