How To Clean Your Dryer Vent

10/29/2019 (Permalink)

Before and after a Dryer Vent Cleaning.

Three Areas of Your Dryer That Need to Be Cleaned Regularly

Washers and dryers are convenient to have in your home in Lowell MA , but your dryer can also pose a lint fire risk if you do not clean it often enough. Lint is highly combustible, and your clothing sheds a lot of lint during the drying cycle. There are three areas of your dryer that need to be cleaned regularly.

Lint Screen

Every time you dry a load of laundry, you must clean the lint screen. There are three ways you can do this:

• With your hands
• With a brush
• With the hose attachment on your vacuum

Remove all the lint from the screen before putting it back in the machine. Fire damage cleanup specialists also recommend that you vacuum out the area that holds the screen and wash the screen with mild, soapy water to remove residue left by dryer sheets every few weeks.

Dryer Cavity

A lint fire can be started by debris within the dryer itself. Every six months, vacuum out the inside of your dryer. To do this, you must first unplug the dryer. Then remove the back panel with a screwdriver. Using the hose attachment, clean every bit of lint you see out of the dryer’s cavity. This can help you avoid a dryer fire and subsequent fire cleanup.

Exhaust Hose

The exterior part of your dryer’s exhaust is the hose that connects it to the wall and the area that exhausts it to the outside. It is a good idea to make sure these areas are lint-free every six months in order to avoid fire damage to your home. Detach the hose from your dryer and vacuum it out. Use a vent cleaning rod with a brush attachment to clean out your wall. Make sure the exhaust hose is clamped to the wall output and to your dryer before using it again.

Cleaning the lint screen every time you use it is only one part of avoiding a lint fire. If you are uncomfortable doing the deep cleaning yourself, you can hire a professional to perform the service.