A Deep Dryer Vent Cleaning in Home

A kiss, a handshake or just tap someone on the shoulder… and static electricity appears. This can be very funny and usually occurs when the weather is getting very dry and the weather cools a bit. This peculiar phenomenon, however, can become very dangerous if the lint accumulated inside the dryer ignites. For this and other reasons, you should always check this device with professionals periodically or, at least, make sure of doing a good dryer vent cleaning.

Why you should clean out your dryer ductwork:

According to The Consumer Product Safety Commission, (CPSC), annually there are 15,500 dryer fires, up to 30 deaths and over 310 injuries, due to dryer exhaust duct fires. You should clean your dryer hose and around it once a year, and inspect the vent and hose for any blockages at least every 6 months.

If your dryer exhaust hose tube is longer than 10? this may be a bit more difficult. And if it is longer than 10? Did you know that your dryer may be working extra hard to dry your clothes? Worse yet is if you have a long tube that goes up into the attic (or the eaves) and then out the roof. In these cases, a dryer vent cleaning is an obligation.

The warm moist air from the dryer enters the cold attic, and condensation forms in the exhaust tube. Do you know where this little story is going? Well, at first your dryer can’t dry as quickly because the tube is blocked by water. Eventually it will fill with enough water to cause the exhaust tube to split and guess where all that water goes? Through your ceiling, that is where! Trust me on this one, if you don’t make a dryer vent cleaning, your house will suffer the consequences.

If you have an older style vinyl tube, it is important that you replace it with a foil style one. The vinyl ones are fire hazards. Also, if you can’t make a dryer vent cleaning, go ahead and replace it. They are inexpensive, normally it costs just under $10 for a new foil flexible duct tube.

• If your tube is long or difficult to clean out, you may want to purchase a hose brush.
• While you have the dryer pulled out, vacuum off the back of the dryer, the washer, and the wall behind both. Eliminate as much lint as possible. A clean laundry room is safer than a lint covered one.
• Re-attach the dryer tube to the wall and the dryer.
• Gently push the dryer back towards the wall being careful not to crush the tube.
• Locate your exterior dryer vent.

If you can reach the exterior vent, go ahead and clean it out also. Make sure the vent closes properly when the dryer isn’t running. Otherwise you may get birds, rodents or bugs in your vent. I don’t think I need to tell you that they won’t be helping your dryer’s efficiency!

And that is it?! That was easy wasn’t it. Be sure to keep your home and family safe by making a dryer vent cleaning yearly.

Update: I wanted to let y’all know that the flex foil pipe shown in this tutorial is FLAMMABLE! Luckily I found this out before we had a fire.

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