[OP]
Member
My folks are away and I wanted to surprise them by cleaning out the dryer vent, which I don't think my dad has ever done. Is it true that I can stick a high power backpack leafblower on the dryer end and just blow everything out the vent of the house? I don't want to harm anything, I I've never done any home maintenance like this before. Can I blow it out high power?
Contributor
I've had a little experience with this... My builder wanted to avoid putting the dryer vent on the front of our house (he called it "tacky") and routed it to the back of the house, about a 25 foot run.
Consequently, I'd have to clean out this long run periodically. I tried a number of different ways, but settled on pulling the fluffy end of a toilet brush through the vent pipe using an electrical fish tape. I'd get an obscenely large amount of lint out that way. None of the short-cuts I tried ever got the amount of lint that a mechanical brushing would get out.
I finally wised up, and routed the vent out of the front of my house, which is about a 2 foot run. No lint build up. A well-placed foundation shrub prevents anyone from seeing this "tacky" vent.
I'd recommend pulling some type of brush through the vent pipe -- on-line vendors & the Borgs sell a variety of these.
Member
Blowing it out might get the largest chunks of lint out, but wet lint likes to stick in every crevice and crease - especially if you have any elbows or corrugated pipe in the mix. The best option is a brush system like a LintEater to mechanically scrape the the lint off the walls of the pipe.
~Garth
Contributor
I wouldn't try that. If there is a loose connection you may have dryer lint all over the house, (remember Gomer Pyle?) SURPRISE, SURPRISE, SURPRISE!Originally Posted by Dave Macy
Besides the lint is stuck to the sides of the vent hose. It would likely leave a lot behind. A little mechanical action from a lint brush would work much better. Many store sell a long soft ended brush thingamajobby just for the purpose of cleaning dryer vents and the tubing inside the back of the dryer.
Our vent went down through the floor before going out the wall. It was a royal pain to clean. I moved the vent to allow a shorter, straighter run of the vent hose.
BTW, if you are going to install a new vent you will likely want a 4-1/8" hole saw or you will need to do some work with a rasp to fit the new vent. DAMHIKT!
jtk
Last edited by Jim Koepke; 12-27-2016 at 12:28 PM.
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Contributor
Agree. Look for a safe permanent fix ,not a surprise cleaning. Ours runs almost 20 feet ,but is smooth steel pipe ,accumulates little. Dryer end has short section of the flex aluminum (not the cellophane stuff) which can be easily retracted without tools to inspect or clean. A small and camouflaged access door to back of dryer makes replacing an old machine easy.
Member
I used the LintEater from Amazon as recommended above - works very well (as far as I can tell as I don't have X-ray vision) and our vent is probably about 20 ft in an L shape. They also have an extension set https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Member
Do you guys have small amounts of lint in your dryer/laundry room? My connections are good and I have put some of that aluminum tape for piping over where the pipe hooks to the dryer and the hose clamp also still I have a small amount of lint. There isnt any holes in the piping either. I usually take the back off the dryer once or twice a yr and just clean the inside of it.
Contributor
We just moved into our new house (basement shop looks terrible). We chose to use a ventless dryer which is a big thing in Europe but hasn't caught on here that much. Instead of pumping hot air out of the house, this thing recirculates air through a de-humidifier, collects the water and pumps it down the drain. It's supposed to save us a bunch of energy.
We have the standard dryer lint trap and we have to clean the heat exchanger from time to time. But so far, it's been just fine. It's supposed to take longer but I'm not so sure. We run it on 'normal' and the clothes are dry and it takes just under 2 hours. But with our old dryer, I generally had to run it almost that long and I had to start the thing twice. This is less bother.
I should mention that these are also compact units we got for our in-law quarters. Front load Electrolux if anyone is interested.
Contributor
Another vote for the lint eater. It would be nice to have a short vent, but in my house that is not an option. Running the brush through got out a surprising (appalling) amount of accumulated lint, debris, and what have you.
Contributor
The weak point for me letting dust out was the hose clamp connecting the hose to the back of the dryer. I replaced the screw clamp with the spring clamp from my dust collector hose, which is much more solid connection. I recently installed the MagVent dryer vent connection system from Lee Valley and am very pleased with how it works.
Contributor
I bought a tool at Home Depot that has a long sectional fiberglass rod and a chimney sweep type brush. It worked like a dream. I think it mounted in the drill- been a long time. My dryer ran much more efficient after cleaning the vent.
Contributor
No to the leaf blower but yes to the other recommendations.
Member
Depends on how long your vent run is. Mine is 2 feet. The dryer is right by the wall that the vent goes through. I could, if I wanted, just remove the vent, take it to the hose and hose it out, then replace it.
Contributor
My townhouse had about a 20' run. I used the brush type in a drill. I unhooked the dryer and crushed the aluminum flex around the shop vac hose and brushed from outside back to the dryer. A lot more room outside to feed it in. New flex hose and back in business. Good luck.
Member
You can tie a long string on a "fluff" ball, push the ball and string length longer than duct into the duct, and while holding the end, blow the ball though the duct. YOu can then attach a bristle piece to the string and pull it through. If string is long enough, you can unfasten the bristle, and pull string back to do the same several times and then blow That method will work for fairly sharp turns as long as bristle section is not too long or duct section crimped.
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