Have You Cleaned Your Dryer Vent Lately? (Hint: You NEED To)

Did you know... according to the U.S. Fire Administration, 2,900 home clothes dryer fires are reported each year and cause an estimated 5 deaths, 100 injuries, and $35 million in property loss?

Failure to clean the dryer is the leading cause of home clothes dryer fires! Have you cleaned out your dryer vent lately? 

If you are anything like us, you’ve been getting a lot of the items on your Get-Around-To-It list crossed off in the past couple of weeks. One of those items for the Davenport family was cleaning out the dryer vent.  According to FEMA, you should clean your dryer filter after every use (CHECK!) and also clean your dryer vent ducts EVERY YEAR!!! 

A few years ago we purchased this handy toolkit and went to work cleaning our dryer vents.  Our laundry room is located in the middle of our floor-plan, so there is a LONG run of ductwork from the laundry room to the outside of our house.  We were in our home for about 10 years before we did a thorough cleaning and - while it seems like yesterday - it’s been another SIX years since last time.  Here’s some photos of all the dryer lint that we collected - nearly three gallons worth!

It’s a simple but time consuming process to DIY, but very satisfying and also helps prolong the life of your dryer too. 

What you need:

1. A dryer duct cleaning kit (maybe extension kit too if you have a long run)

2. Powered Drill

3. Shop Vac

4. Bucket

5. Duct Tape

Step One:
Cleaning the Dryer
Use the Cleaning kit to clean out and vacuum the dryer itself

 Step Two:
Clean the ductwork from the dryer to the wall.  You can use both the vacuum to suck out the old lint that is broken loose.

Step Three (if needed):
Clean out the ductwork from the wall to the outside of your house.

If it’s a long run like ours, you may need to do this in sections.

You can use both the vacuum to suck out whatever you can reach of the old lint that is broken loose OR reverse the hose and use the shop vac to blow out the ductwork too.

Step Four:
Clean up the mess outside your house.

Shop Vac whatever mess you made inside.

Step Five:
Set a calendar reminder to clean it out again next year!

Use Duct Tape to seal up the connections of your dryer ductwork.  Write the date that you completed the cleaning.

Voila! You're done!

Another item on the "Get-Around-To-It" list might be getting a second opinion on your car or home insurance, or maybe LIFE INSURANCE!  We can help with those too.