Buildup in your dryer can cause a fire. Cleaning your vent regularly can help prevent this risk. For most homes, an annual cleaning will suffice, but if you have a larger family and do laundry quite often, you should clean it more frequently.
The good news is that cleaning the vent is an easy process. Follow this checklist to safely clean your dryer vent and help keep your family safe.
- Unplug your dryer. If you have a gas dryer, be sure to turn off the gas as well.
- Pull the dryer away from the wall as much as your vent extension will allow.
- Using a screw driver or nut driver, loosen the vent clamp on the back of the dryer.
- Slide the vent off of the dryer. With your hands, pull out any lent or debris you find in the back of a dryer. You can also use your vacuum cleaner for a more thorough cleaning.
- Do the same for the vent tubing. Most of the lent will tend to collect at the end.
- Slide the clamp back over the vent, reattach the vent, tighten the clamp and slide the dryer back into place.
- With the dryer still unplugged (and the gas still off) remove the vent on the outside of the house with a screw driver. If your vent includes a sleeve, be sure to pull straight out.
- Clean all of the lent and debris that you can see out. Use your vacuum clean hose or a plumber’s snake to clean as deeply into the vent as you can.
- Reattach the outside vent and plug the dryer in. (Turn the gas back on if necessary.)
- Run the dryer on air fluff for 10 minutes. Be careful, because you make have left a few newly loose materials that can come flying out, so don’t stand right next to the dryer. Also make sure that air is flowing out of outside vent once again.
Regular home care is one of the best ways you can help maintain the value of your property.
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