Drying your dripping clothes straight away after washing is no more than a luxury on a no-sun day. It’s more of bliss in an emergency when wearing your lucky shirt in an interview is necessary. Indeed, dryers make your life easy and laundry effortless. But the key is to make them work smoothly. For this purpose, it’s essential to keep your dryer vent clean and lint-free. Here’s how, when, and why to do it.

Alert! Clean Your Dryer Vent Now

Your dryer vent’s efficiency might decrease if you haven’t inspected it for too long or haven’t repaired it. Moreover, excessive trapping of the dirt and lint can make it clogged. You should notice the following signs before it’s too late to get it working again.

• It might take longer for your clothes to dry than before.
• Your clothes might get too hot to touch.
• The dryer hose is full of dirt and debris.
• Clothing and dryers may emit burning odors.
• Heat accumulation in the laundry room.
• It is hot to touch the exterior parts of the dryer.
• There is a problem with the vent hood flap opening.

You can save money by noticing these signs early and cleaning your dryer vent adequately. Moreover, you can do this task with a professional or yourself. Following are the details of how and how often should you clean dryer vent.

How Often Should You Clean Dryer Vent  

As long as you use your dryer appropriately and take the necessary precautions to handle it, you won’t need to clean it very often. However, according to the manufacturer’s and distributors’ guidelines, it is recommended to clean the exhaust once every two months. Nevertheless, the frequency of this periodic cleaning might vary under the following factors.

‘The Big Batch’

When you have a large family and more clothes to dry each day, you might need your dryer to work efficiently. Many clothes mean a lot of lint and debris accumulated in the vent. Therefore, you should clean the vent twice or thrice a year.

Meows and Woofs

Shedding pets means a lot of loose fur and hair around. You find it everywhere on your clothes, blankets, and bedsheets. The more is around, the more it traps in the dryer vent. Consequently, increasing the frequency of cleaning your machine’s exhaust.

The Shopaholic You

New clothes make more lint. You will likely get the exhaust clogged if you shop a lot and wash a large batch of new clothing each day. Resultantly, it wi require you to clean it several times a year.

Laundry Items

If your laundry includes large items like blankets and bedsheets, the exhaust may become clogged now and then. In order to let your machinery work the best, it’s critical to clean and repair it appropriately.

Cleaning Dryer Vent Made Easy

Supplies You’ll Need

• Dryer cleaning kit
• Vacuum
• Brush
• Broom
• Dustpan
• Power drill

Steps to Follow

To clean the lint trap, open the lint trap screen and pick up any lint fibers left behind. Then, using a vacuum hose attachment, suck up the stuck lint fibers in the woven wire mesh. You can also do a thorough cleaning with the dryer’s micro brush and lint collector.

Cleaning the lint trap vent is also not a complex task. You merely need to remove the lint trap screen and sweep inside the vent. For this purpose, you will require a brush with a long handle to ease deep cleaning. Vacuuming afterward may help.

To clean the dryer vent, withdraw the dryer from the wall. Remember, disconnect it from the power supply whenever servicing an appliance. Then, unplug the flexible duct from the back of the dryer and vacuum it all. Remove the lint and debris from inside and outside and what you can see through the duct. If you vacuum from inside, spin slowly and gently to avoid damaging delicate wiring.

Benefits of Cleaning Dryer Vent

Save Energy

Highly-efficient operating devices consume less power than those consumed by low-efficiency machines. The surveys estimate that homeowners who undergo periodic cleaning of dryer exhausts tend to consume about 30 percent less on the bills.

Save Cost

Cleaning and maintaining your dryer exhaust can help you avoid the big operating trouble with your machine. Periodic maintenance saves a lot of cash compared to repair when damaged.

Reduce the Risk

Material such as lint is highly flammable. If the lint builds up on the vent, a fire can be catastrophic. Therefore, it is essential to clean the exhaust to prevent lint buildup and fire risk.

Some Quick Tips

• Use a liquid fabric softener instead of dryer sheets.
• Install solid vent pipes to replace the flexible ones.
• Consider placing the dryer closer to the exterior wall.
• After each load of laundry, allow the dryer to cool for 15 minutes.

Final Words

Summing up the discussion on how often should you clean dryer vent, the efficiency of the devices depends on how you treat and maintain them. In order to let them work the best, it is essential to clean and repair your devices periodically, depending on their use. High efficiency requires less power consumption and can save you the repair cost. Moreover, cleaning dryer exhaust can avoid the hazards associated with the explosive nature of lint entrapped. Therefore, clean your dryer vent once every 12 months to help your dryer function well. You can increase the frequency of periodic maintenance following the applications.