I cleaned out my dryer vent for the first time in 5 years

Anonymous
Honestly it was underwhelming. I’m glad I didn’t hire anyone.

I think those videos where they are full of lint must be from decades upon decades or something.
Anonymous
Yeah, we moved in 12 year ago and just did it for the first time when we did basement construction last summer (I know, I know). I was kind of hoping to see ridiculous amounts of fluff flying, but it was pretty minimal. Maybe newer machines are better at trapping it?
Anonymous
They do get full but the Amazon wand is good or the leaf blower method works wel
Anonymous
How? How do you clean out a dryer vent? Asking for a friend.
Anonymous
How do you do this if your dryer is stacked in a space like a narrow closet? Can you DIY still?
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:How do you do this if your dryer is stacked in a space like a narrow closet? Can you DIY still?


Where does it vent to on the outside of the house? Clean that at least.
Anonymous
It really depends on your situation. My dryer vents vertically to the roof and absolutely needs a pro clean every other year. Gravity.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:How do you do this if your dryer is stacked in a space like a narrow closet? Can you DIY still?


Yes if you can access it. You need to move the dryer.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:How? How do you clean out a dryer vent? Asking for a friend.


I just pulled it off the back of the dryer and stuck a brush from Amazon up there. I also put the brush in from outside the house. Honestly I don’t think it was attached to my dryer properly lol. But hopefully it’s good enough.
Anonymous
It should be done at least annually -- maybe it won't be totally clogged, but better safe than sorry. In our Princeton, NJ, neighborhood a house caught on fire from a clogged dryer vent. By the time the firefighters were done putting out the fire (and chopping holes in the roof to do so), between the fire and the water there was nothing salvageable.
Anonymous
The most lint was actually in the front of the dryer by the screen, not in the tube.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:It should be done at least annually -- maybe it won't be totally clogged, but better safe than sorry. In our Princeton, NJ, neighborhood a house caught on fire from a clogged dryer vent. By the time the firefighters were done putting out the fire (and chopping holes in the roof to do so), between the fire and the water there was nothing salvageable.

In my neighborhood growing up there was house fire caused by clogged dryer vent.
Similarly, the family lost everything.
Anonymous
My college kid, living in a group house, had his clothing destroyed in a dryer fire bc the vent hadn't been cleaned. It actually started a fire and if they hadn't been home to smell the smoke and call the fire department the whole place would have gone up. The kids thought they were cleaning the vent - you know the one you see on the front. Anyhow, clean those vents!
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Honestly it was underwhelming. I’m glad I didn’t hire anyone.

I think those videos where they are full of lint must be from decades upon decades or something.


I bought a dryer vent cleaning kit from Amazon and it took me about 15 minutes. We had a fair amount of lint. I accessed my dryer from the outside. It was really easy and anybody can do it.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:How? How do you clean out a dryer vent? Asking for a friend.


I just pulled it off the back of the dryer and stuck a brush from Amazon up there. I also put the brush in from outside the house. Honestly I don’t think it was attached to my dryer properly lol. But hopefully it’s good enough.


I cleaned my dryer vent earlier this year with an Amazon kit, after our chimney company quoted $250 to do this. The cleaning part was super easy, but the hard part was how they attached the dryer to the vent. it was really hard to take off and put back on. I ended up going to the hardware store to get some new connectors to make this task easier in the future. I am also not sure if I reattached it right, but better than it was....

And yeah, most of the lint will be closer to the dryer. A large amount of lint popped out when I detached the dryer LOL.
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