In this tutorial I want to focus on showing how to remove the dangerously accumulated lint in the dryer and the ventilation of the dryer. Excessive lint buildup occurs slowly and gradually. You do not realize what is happening. You believe that when cleaning the lint filter after each use you are doing your job regarding the maintenance of the dryer. Not at all!
The Level of History
In 1999, the Consumer Product Safety Commission of the United States produced a report called “Report on electric and gas dryers” in that report determined that of the 15,000 fires studied in a year, electric dryer duct were 2.5 times more likely to be the cause of the fire than dryers gas. Fires originated more frequently from two places: dryer ventilation and lint filter.
A full load of wet clothing contains approximately half a gallon of water. The lint is created from the clothing as the water is removed during the drying process. This lint builds up in the cracks in the bottom inside the lint filter collector, and along the vent hose of the dryer. At the end of the day, the dryer is the number 1 fire source in the home.
What are the warning signs that the lint is accumulating dangerously in your dryer and ventilation system? Well, the signs can include:
- Clothes take longer and longer to dry
- The clothes are not completely dry
- Clothes are hotter than normal at the end of the drying cycle
- The outside of the dryer gets very hot
- The ventilation grille does not open much, which indicates that the exhaust speed is low
- The laundry becomes more humid than normal
- The smell of burning is evident in the laundry
Brush kit for cleaning the ventilation duct of the dryer
To effectively clean your dryer and the ventilation ducts / dryer ventilation system, a special brush will be necessary for this activity. Aspirating accessories alone do not work as well because they do not agitate the lint to separate it from the duct and it is the physical agitation that is important.
There are different brush kits or tools for cleaning the dryer vent in the market, but I have found that the best price is a kit.
Brush kit for cleaning the ventilation duct
The brush kit will come with a long-bristled brush to clean the lint filter, but the important component is the specialized, round brush, thick bristle brush that performs the cleaning of the 4-inch dryer duct. The brush tip is attached to a flexible fiberglass shaft that can be added to increase the length.
- Now let’s start.
- Removing the filter from the lint trap
Remove the lint collector filter
This is the step you are most familiar with and probably done on a regular basis, such as after each load of clothes. In fact, this step is probably everything you’ve done, like 90% of the population. Although this step of cleaning the lint filter is important, it does not solve the problem of the accumulation of lint in the dryer or in the ducts. However, it is important as a first line of defense and we have to do it, like this: