Clean your dryer vents to stop them from functioning less efficiently. You can take advantage of your leaf blower to achieve that.
Let us see how to clean dryer vent with a leaf blower! Apart from that, you will learn the prerequisites and shortfalls of this approach.
Sounds promising? If so, keep reading!
Cleaning Dryer Vent with a Leaf Blower
If you are looking forward to cleaning your dryer with a leaf blower, we will unravel some great steps for you to follow. Without any further ado, let’s jump on to the steps to carry out.
- Gather Prerequisites:
- Screwdriver
- Fire extinguisher
- Vacuum carrying a hose attachment
- Foil duct tape made of UL-listed metal
- Leaf blower
- Dryer brush set (as a backup)
- Obtain Access To The Dryer Vent And Take Out The Hose
The foremost step is to obtain access to your dryer vent. No, it’s not as simple as it sounds.
It probably means dragging the dryer further from the wall, which helps to function well behind it.
Take out the hose from the dryer vent. Without needing any tools, you might do it, or there might come a necessity to unscrew it.
- Unplug The Dryer And Switch Off The Gas Valve, If Possible
Before beginning cleaning, remember to disconnect your appliance. If you are a gas dryer user, unplug the dryer from the electrical output and turn off the gas valve.
- Disconnect Your Dryer Duct
Next, you should disconnect your dryer duct from its back. For this method, to keeyou will most probably need a screwdriver.
- Vacuum any Lint (If present)
At this point, you might stumble across some lint. Clean out as much of the lint as possible in this manner using the vacuum’s hose attachments.
Otherwise, use your mighty hands to collect the soft lint. This saves you from clogging your vent when the leaf blower is in function.
- Take off the Cover from the Outside
Next up is to take the cover off from the outer vent that lets the air escape from your house or building.
If you skip this part, the air flowing out will generate extra pressure and ruin your tubing or your perfectly working leaf blower even.
Yet again, you might have to loosen the screws to keep the cover in position.
- Clean the Exterior Part
When you take off the exterior cover, you can take this chance to manually clean the vent.
For this purpose, you can employ a vacuum cleaner or a brush to discard a lithe mammoth heap of lint that Oaccumulated around the outside cover.
- Insert the Leaf Blower and Form a Seal
After completing cleaning the outside parts, go back to the inner parts. This time, you place the other end of your leaf blower in the dryer’s air vent.
The type of leaf blower you use is not a factor– indeed, any gas leaf blower functions well, but few of these can be overpowerful, so be alert to not begin by clicking the highest setting.
Otherwise, you might end up ruining your venting duct.
Some of you might even go for an electric or cordless leaf blower. As the backpack leaf blowers tend to occupy much room, they might not be an ideal choice.
To make sure that this step works, you must form a seal surrounding the leaf blower’s nozzle.
Let’s share an easy method to do it. Use the duct or washi tapes. Another solution is to take a towel.
No matter which method you follow, the ultimate goal is to stop air from moving behind the nozzle.
- Switch on the Leaf Blower
After doing everything as per your plans, it is time to give your leaf blower a kickstart.
Repeat this 4-5 times, and if all looks A-OK, you might leave it there to blow up for 30 seconds.
This method might be excellent at shooting all the lint present in the pipe out through the dryer’s external vent.
Reverse spinning skipper balls shoot this air back into the termination hood, which is situated outside. This happens while the skipper ball pushes itself through your dryer vent.
- Check the Exterior Vent and Clean
Once the lint is expelled, you need to make sure whether it reached outside. Check outside to ensure this.
Just like before, you need to clear everything surrounding the external vent.
- Move Everything Back to Place
After successfully pulling off this feat, place everything back to their former positions. Replace the covers, clean it all up, and reattach your dryer to your vent.
That’s it! You now get to enjoy your next batch of laundry! So, did you learn how to clean dryer vent without going on the roof?
This is a traditional method. Using your hand, clean the inside of the duct. Thanks to the hose extensions, you don’t need to go to your roof. You can vacuum out as much dust as you can.
Now watch this video to quickly recap everything!
Should You Use This Method To Clean Dryer Vents?
When your carpet is covered with leaves in the autumn and spring, a decent leaf blower is the most time-saving and helpful equipment you can own.
If you consider that leaf blowers are less helpful over the year, you would be very wrong! People prefer fall and spring to avoid the blistering heat and the shivering cold.
Yes, the leaf blower can clean the vent dryers. But should you do it?
Some of your acquaintances might advise if you not to use this method since lint is combustible.
Thus, when hot air is blown, it might trigger the accumulated lint to burst into flames.
A leaf blower is effective if only your dryer vent ticks the boxes below:
- Short Pipe: If your vent is short, a leaf blower will be strong enough.
- Straight pipe: Not a straight vent? This means the leaf blower wouldn’t have enough energy to clear it.
- Not Concertina-based pipe: This saves lint from sticking in any folds, thus preventing damage.
Tips To Follow Before Cleaning Dryer Vent With Leaf Blower
Blocked dryer vents pose a fire hazard. Besides this, they reduce the efficiency of your machine.
You need to clean your dryer vent twice a year to avoid this clogging. Usually, people prefer doing it during the fall or spring for their ease of work.
While cleaning your dryer vent using a leaf blower, consider the leaf blower as a single tool in the entire tool kit.
It might not clean the dryer vent properly. In few cases, it might end up clogging dryer vents more.
Moving on to some tips to get the best cleaning with your leaf blower. It functions best when the leaf blower is:
- Not more than few feet in length
- Absolutely straight with no corners or twists
- Rigid and does not fold.
Remember to crosscheck your airflow after giving the dryer vent a sparkling cleaning. Doing this will help you notice any missed clog in your blower’s duct.
When cleaning the dryer hose, be wary as leaf blowers might create a fire hazard.
What is the Lint in a Dryer Vent?
You just learned how to remove lint from the dryer vents. But before you get to work, you should take a step back to learn about lint and its origin.
After all, it’s essential to know a bit about something before jumping on cleaning or removing it.
Have you seen the ball of minute fibers coming out of your clothes when washed or dried? These detachable fibers are lint.
While you wash, the washing process detaches these mini fibers from your dresses alongside the dirt. All this happens due to friction.
Nonetheless, most of the fibers remain adhered to your apparel in the washing machine as they still remain drenched in water.
When they flow through the dryer, the fibers of lint are sucked away from your dresses. This a standard part of the procedure, which helps to remove many lint fibers.
Most dryers come with exclusive lint screens that attract as many lint fibers as they can.
Importance of Discarding Lint from Dryer Vent?
Multiple reasons can be shown to prove why it is important to dispose of the lint regularly from your dryer.
One primary reason is the accumulation of lint will hinder the dryer’s airflow, leading to poor or decreased performance.
Lint in your dryer vent will otherwise build up mildew and mold in your house’s insulation and walls.
Still, the most important factor is probably the fact that its dust is flammable. If not taken out, it can become a big fire danger.
In general, it is believed that nearly 20,0000 house fires each year in the United States are caused due to dust ignition.
For these reasons, it’s good practice to clean the accumulated lint stuck in the dryer. What about the link that gets caught up in your dryer vent? Try cleaning it at least once a year.
Before checking out how we can do it, let’s list the supplies you will need.
Final Words
That’s a wrap on how to clean a dryer vent with a leaf blower! Using it can prove to be an efficient way to give the dryer vent almost a new look.
All you need is to know the proper handling method and the correct type of vent duct. If you lack any of this, you might prefer to seek professional help.
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