Keeping your dryer vent clean is absolutely essential. Not only will it ensure that your dryer operates as efficiently as possible, but it will also help to prevent dryer fires caused by clogged vents. A clean dryer vent makes for a safer home.
While the vast majority of homes, apartments, and condos come equipped with a dryer, surprisingly, most people don’t know much about its vent system. They wonder how it works, how to clean it, and the specifics of the cleaning process.
If that’s you, you’re in the right place.
At HY-C, we manufacture a dryer vent cleaning kit called LintEater. We’re experts in all things dryer venting and cleaning, and we want to teach you what we know.
In this guide, we’re going to cover the top most-asked questions about dryer venting and cleaning. By the time you’re finished here, you’ll know everything you need to know about how to clean and maintain your dryer vent to assure the proper operation of your dryer.
Dryer Vent Cleaning FAQs
What Are the Signs That a Dryer Vent Needs Cleaning?
So, how do you even know if and when you need to clean your dryer vent?
Well, for starters, you’ll start to notice longer drying times. A clogged dryer vent means that the appliance can’t operate as effectively as it needs to. If you leave a load of clothes in the dryer for 60 minutes and they still come out damp, it may be time to clean your dryer vent.
Also, be sure to check your dryer vent cover. If it has any bars on it designed to exclude wildlife, they may be clogged with lint. Lint stuck in the cover is a sure sign that lint is backed up into the vent as well.
How Often Should a Dryer Vent be Cleaned Out?
It’s a good idea to clean a dryer vent at least twice a year. But it’s certainly not a problem to clean yours more often than that.
Keep an eye on the performance of your dryer. If at any time your clothes are coming out damp over the course of a typical drying cycle, the vents probably need to be cleaned. Depending on how often you use your dryer, this could happen more often than twice a year.
Can I Clean a Dryer Vent Myself?
Yes! There are plenty of do-it-yourself dryer vent cleaning kits on the market that are easy to use and inexpensive to purchase. Usually, the only other thing you need is a drill. The kits provide everything else required to extract lint from the vent.
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Is it Better to Clean My Own Dryer Vent or Hire a Professional?
That depends on your level of competency with DIY skills and home maintenance in general.
While DIY dryer vent kits are intuitive and very easy to operate, some may simply feel more comfortable hiring a pro to get the job done. This is especially the case if your dryer vent terminates on the roof or is difficult to access for any other reason.
The upside of hiring a professional is that they’ll do a deep, thorough job. The downside, though, is that it’ll cost more money than cleaning your vent yourself.
How Much Does It Cost to Clean a Clothes Dryer Vent?
If you decide to go the professional route, it’ll typically cost about $150 on average to clean a dryer vent ($75 on the low end and $250 on the high end).
We’ve covered the cost of professional dryer vent cleaning before, but in short, what you can expect to pay for the service comes down to the height of your vent, the length of your vent, and the state in which you live (as costs vary from state to state).
How Long Does Dryer Vent Cleaning Take?
The process of cleaning a dryer vent shouldn’t take more than 10 or 15 minutes.
Obviously, this depends on the length of your vent. If you have a two- or three-foot vent that goes straight out of the wall, cleaning it won’t take long. On the other hand, if your dryer vent runs 25 feet long and terminates on your roof, that will take a bit longer.
But overall, you shouldn’t expect to spend any longer than 20 minutes cleaning a dryer vent.
Is It Better to Clean a Dryer Vent from Inside or Outside?
When you’re cleaning a dryer vent, you have two options:
- Start from the laundry room and work your way out toward the vent termination
- Start from the vent termination and work your way toward the laundry room
Choosing inside or outside is mostly a matter of preference. Sometimes it’s easier to clean from the inside out (for example, if your vent’s termination point is on the roof or high up the outer wall of a house).
Other times, it’s better to clean from the outside in (for example, if you want to clean the termination point and the entire vent all in one go).
The best thing to do is to take stock of how your dryer’s vent is set up and clean it the way that is easiest and safest for you.
Can You Use a Shop-Vac to Clean Out a Dryer Vent?
The answer really depends on the length of your dryer vent.
If you have a short vent that is only a couple of feet long and goes right out through the wall, then yes — the hose of your vacuum can probably reach in far enough to remove any lint blockages.
If, however, you have a longer dryer vent, cleaning it with a vacuum is essentially out of the question. You simply won’t be able to reach in far enough to be sure you’ve extracted all of the lint. In that case, you’ll need to use a dryer vent cleaning kit instead.
Can I Use a Leaf Blower to Clean my Dryer Vent?
If your vent is short enough, it’s not out of the question to use a leaf blower to blow the lint out. For longer vents though, this will essentially be impossible as the blowing force of the leaf blower won’t be strong enough to push out lint over that kind of distance.
Even with a shorter vent, though (say, 3 to 5 feet), a leaf blower isn’t an ideal piece of equipment with which to clean a dryer vent. In most cases, you’re much better served by the precision and ease-of-use of a dryer vent cleaning kit.
How to Get Started with DIY Dryer Vent Cleaning
There you have it: the most commonly asked questions about dryer venting and cleaning. By now, most of the mysteries behind maintaining your dryer vent should be solved.
“But,” you may be wondering, “what if I want to find a kit to clean my own dryer vent? Where do I start?”
Luckily, we have a guide to choosing the right dryer vent cleaning kit for your system. Give it a read, and you should be well on your way to keeping your home safe and your dryer running smoothly.
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