Unclean Vent Dryer causes potential fire hazards at your home. Therefore learn to clean before getting a potential calamity.
Why Cleaning Dryer Vent Duct is an underappreciated activity?
Cleaning dryer vent duct is one of the most neglected activities by homeowners, not realizing the fact that there is a potential dangerous that can blow your house literally. All of the lint from your dryer can build up on the inner walls of the duct, all the way from the dryer to outside of your houses. When the hot air evaporates from your dryer the likelihood of causing fire is plausible. Henceforth this article will serve as a tutorial regarding proper way to get your vent completely clean by simply using a vacuum.
Why your dryer vent catches fire?
Your dryer has a lint trap in it, which is designed to catch a lot of it, prior getting into your ductwork. Therefore it is fundamental that users clean it after every single load. Not abiding the guide, you can at least check at times to find out the reason why. Vacuums are fundamentally the best assist to complete this particular goal, especially those that has adapters. The reason being is that adapter allows your vacuum to clean all parts of it without compromising the portability. This allows efficient cleaning, and not making a mess during the process, by not tying up the wiring.
When it comes to vacuum the regular one cannot make the distance.. You can see when you use your vacuum crevice, you will realize it is not long enough to reach down and the extension tubes are not adequately thin to it. Therefore the first step that is needed is shown in the following paragraph.
- PVC Pipe as an adjustable support.
PVC pipe are generally long enough to reach down the dryer, where the dust is allocated alongside being sufficiently thin so that the vacuum hose will fit inside. A one and a quarter inch pipe is enough to fit in. However the pipe itself will not fit on the narrow space in the dryer, therefore you must flatten it out. The most simplistic way to do that is heating up the pipe. You can achieve that by putting it in the stove. For those who have advanced machineries, a heat gun will also suffice. Keep on heating till it gets soft and pliable, followed by flattening it until it goes down. To make it uniform you can always lay down your heated PVC in a flat surface and apply a wooden board with full force to achieve that. Once it gets even wait for the pipe to cool down so that you can test whether it will fit under the narrow opening in the dryer. For some they have to cut it down some more from the top to ensure enough clearance for the vacuum hose and not to hit the top opening of the dryer.
Knowing how to fit in?
Once the above step is done, make sure the pipe fits into your vacuum. There are probabilities of causing a loose fitting, To avoid such problem, heat up at the other end and mold it to the vacuum hose, for assuring a tighter fit. After the process trying out is the best way to realize the output. With flattened PVC pipe you can finally be able to reach down on the bottom of the dryer, to suck all the lint out. Switch on the power and let the machine solve all the problems for you. During the process move the pipe to all the side of the lint so that the dirt from each side gets sucked out. After the vacuuming is completed, start inspecting the result. If all the process are right, you will be able to see all the lint has been thoroughly cleaned. After such process is done you will have a sigh of clarity and relief for your work done to achieve this.
- Electric Blower can work as vacuum
While PVC pipe is one of the finest methods to apply cleaning on your dryer, it is most certainly not the only one. However for all the steps that one applies, disconnecting the dryer becomes the first priority. Get the dryer out to get access to the back of the vent. When you do that the probability of it being filled with dust and debris is certain, as it has not been cleaned before. What you want to be aware of is that there should not be any kinks in the hose. On the bottom of the back side of the dryer you will find hose clamps. Open the clamp and you will find there will be a handful pile of dust.
Once you open the clamp simply insert it in your electric blower. Unlike traditional vacuum, the space of the blower is thin enough to get inserted. Turn on the blower and you will see the results. Using a electric blower to full perfection, ensure there is a ventilation space on the back of the house. If you live in a townhouse, chances are such features are default on the back of your home. Therefore open it up prior to the operation. Simply switch on the power button and you will hear soothing sound of all the dirt getting thrown away.
- Brush is another mandatory asset
Whichever method is used having a brush is universal. For cleaning the dryer vent dedicated brush is required. The biggest reason vacuum alone will not suffice because of the lint not getting agitated. This means you can clean up the dirt from the central part of the lint but not on the walls. It does not reach deep into the filter while conducting normal vacuum cleaning.
How many types of brushes are there?
There are different kinds of brush kits that can be used for deep dryer cleaning. The first one involves long-bristle brush. The purpose of this is to clean the filtration area of the lint. Alongside that the long bristles are capable to reach the edges of it. The second category of brush involves a small round bristled brush. This brush is a handy and smart tool for cleaning all the sides of your duct. The round brush allows to quickly clean as it has a feature that allows you to be flexible. Whatever brush you buy the user manual will be provided that will allow you to insert and brush properly without hazarding the duct.
Once everything is cleaned to perfection, simply switch on the plug and gas valve, and restore it into the default settings. Once doing that you must assure that none of the duct gets deformed. Cleaning your drier vent at least once a year should be a mandatory objective. When you feel that moving heavy object and deep cleaning will be overpowering, simply follow easy steps so that once in your year you take the responsibility to maintain your dryer and make it as good as new.