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Your clothes are extremely hot (more so than usual) when the cycle ends.Your clothes aren’t completely dry when the drying cycle ends or take longer to dry than they should.There’s a burning smell when you run the dryer.There are a few signs that tell you your dryer could really use a vent cleaning and you could be dealing with a clogged dryer vent: Photo: Viktoria Enger-Tsizikova/Getty Images How Do You Know It’s Time to Clean Your Dryer Vent? Not only will this help you maintain a clean dryer vent, it will keep the entire dryer running smoothly, improve your machine’s drying time, and decrease the risk of house fires.ĭon’t forget to clean out your lint trap regularly. Make sure to remove any dryer lint from it every time you run the dryer while doing a load of laundry, especially if you use dryer sheets.
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The secret to keeping your dryer exhaust vent consistently clean lies in the lint trap. Dryer Safety Tips: Keeping Your Dryer Vent Clean and More Head to the gas line and turn the gas valve back on, if applicable. Now that the cleaning is finished, it’s time to plug the dryer back in and reconnect the duct back into the dryer vent. If, however, your exterior vent is near the ground, you can repeat the process of snaking the flexible rods through and drill brushing, only this time from the outside in. If it’s near a roof on a building with multiple stories, it’s not going to be easy to access, so you can't do any cleaning there. Your exterior vent could be located low to the ground or high near the roof on the exterior wall.
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If the lint leaves residue behind, you may need to use soapy water to clean up. Sweep Up the Messīefore heading to the exterior vent, clean up the mess your cleaning left behind. It’s important to keep the drill running clockwise if you start spinning it counterclockwise, you run the risk of the attachments disassembling and getting stuck inside the dryer duct. As you go, debris, lint, and dirt will start spilling out of the dryer duct in front of you, and you’ll start to notice the lint buildup disappear right before your eyes. Push and pull back and forth slowly, eventually pulling the brush all the way out. Once attached, turn the drill on to spin clockwise on medium power. Turn On the Drill and Let the Brush Work Its Magic On the back end, you’ll attach a power drill to the rod near you. The kit comes with a rotating brush that should go in first. They’re made to connect, but for added insurance, you can tape over each connection with electrical tape so there’s no chance they come apart. Standard kits come with flexible rods that allow you to get up to 12 feet inside the duct. With a dryer duct cleaning kit that you can find on Amazon, you can really extend your reach. Connect the Flexible Rods in Your Dryer Duct Cleaning Kit to Your Power Drill Poke it inside the dryer exhaust duct and vacuum out what you can.
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Using a hose attachment, turn on your vacuum cleaner, and suction all around the entrance of the vent. Disconnect the dryer duct, which is located in the back of the dryer. Unplug it, and if it’s a gas dryer, turn off the gas valve as well. Pull the Dryer Out From the Wall, Unplug It, and Disconnect the Duct
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