Clean out your dryer vent!

[CathyA]

I usually clean my dryer filter every time I dry anything. I also clean the outside thinga-ma-bob every month or 2. Recently, the outside vent cover broke and we got another one. But first we decided to clean out the entire length of the duct hose......which isn't very long......just a couple feet. DH took it apart and I can't believe the lining of lint in there!! No wonder it causes so many house fires.
We used various tools/brushes/vacuum to clean all of the areas out....inside the dryer and out.

Here's one of the several really good You Tube videos that show you what a professional cleaning can collect out of your dryer vent hose.
It's pretty unbelievable how much lint can build up in there.
So.....don't forget to do it yourself, or hire someone to do it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0qPOTPHOFA&index=3&list=PLA4A3D8EF23F8DCFC

[bae]

Also consider replacing the plastic hose with metal hose, which will further help with your fire safety. And while you are in the laundry room, check your washer hoses, consider replacing them with high strength/metal ones, and remember to turn off the valves when you go on vacation - I've seen a *lot* of houses with major water damage from an old hose failing in the laundry room.

[CathyA]

We had an older unused plastic vent tubing somewhere around here, but couldn't find it. DH had to go into town to buy another. But it ended up being good, because it was the metal one. Actually.........it looks like aluminum foil. Doesn't seem very strong though.
Yeah, we should get around to replacing our washer hoses too. It's on the list...........a very long list. haha

[Dhiana]

I thought we were all hanging our clothes on the line to dry!?! :confused:

[bae]

I thought we were all hanging our clothes on the line to dry!?! :confused:

Here in the Pacific NW, that would mean no dry clothes until next July :-)

[ToomuchStuff]

Bae, your a woodworker. Ever consider putting a gate in your dryer vent and hooking it up to shop vac/dust collection like setup?

[bae]

Bae, your a woodworker. Ever consider putting a gate in your dryer vent and hooking it up to shop vac/dust collection like setup?

Ooooh! That may be genius!

[Tussiemussies]

Cathy,thanks for posting about this, I am going to tell DH and do this regularly! Chris

[lessisbest]

The fat particles in liquid softeners will transfer to the dryer vent (as well as your washing machine tub) and cling to the sides of whatever style vent you have, and catch fine fibers as they exit the dryer. Softeners are toxic and unnecessary in the laundry, and are a total waste of money in my books, but that's another discussion. When we lived in a 1950's home we did a lot of remodeling on the home and had to vent the dryer with rigid sheet metal a long distance to the outside. In order to keep it clean, we used our ELECTRIC leaf blower (don't use a gas-powered leaf blower indoors) and it worked like a charm.

We have a small, unfinished, room in our basement we use for drying clothes. We fitted it with 6 lines, enough for 2 loads of laundry (and have two drying racks we can also put into service), and added a 6-foot clothes rod on one wall where we hang things on hangers, so they go directly into the closet when dry. We covered the rod with a foam pipe insulator so the hangers wouldn't move and slide to one end of the rod due to the breeze from the ceiling fan we installed to aid in drying.

Benefits of hanging clothes indoors: clothes last longer because they are not subjected to hot Kansas winds or a hot dryer; no sun bleaching colors; elastic lasts much longer when not exposed to heat or sun; no surprise insects hidden inside sleeves or pant legs; we leave the allergen outside - which can cling to fabric; no "bird bombs"; it works in every kind of weather.....

[SteveinMN]

Also consider replacing the plastic hose with metal hose, which will further help with your fire safety.
And not the hose that looks like aluminum foil stretched across bands of metal. In fact, that kind isn't even code in these parts.

[CathyA]

And not the hose that looks like aluminum foil stretched across bands of metal. In fact, that kind isn't even code in these parts.

That's a bummer Steve.......I think that's what we used. It was from Walmart (the closest store) and it had "UL listed" on it..........so.........
Please don't tell me we need to do this all over. We're not the most mechanical people and this entire job took hours.

Well..........it should be okay for awhile, since we cleaned the entire length of the dryer tubing out. We clean out the dryer filter with every use.
I'll look into this and consider replacing it in the not too distant future. I just can't believe the amount of lint that lined the inside of our old plastic tubing.

lessisbest......I heard a long time ago to not use dryer sheets because it's hard on the dryer.......so we haven't used those in about 34 years (since I bought the Maytag). I don't use laundry detergent with anything softening in it either. I only use dryer sheets to keep mice away in the shed and basement!

When I moved to the country about 36 years ago, the first thing I wanted to do was dry my clothes on a clothesline. Then we had kids, and I developed health problems, and we encouraged tons of trees to grow up in the back yard. It was just too hard to hang them outside......with all the other work we had to do (plus having 35 acres of property). Plus.......when I initially hung them out, they would get bugs all over them and stiff. I know that's not a good reason..........but life happened and maybe if life gets a whole lot easier for us, I'll start doing it again.........but now there's trees over the clothesline and we know what that means. haha

I would LOVE a basement to hang clothes in. Another good "dryer" to dry a few pieces of clothing is in the car in the sun. :)

I watched a You Tube video where the guy plugged his leaf blower into the dryer tubing (wrapped the connection with a towel) and it blew the stuff out. Looked pretty simple. Just don't forget the couple of feet of tubing that's inside your dryer too. When I looked down into the front part of the dryer, where the filter sits, it was caked a lot too.......so we cleaned that out. I have a little kit of the various kinds of tubing/brushes that you can use to clean out the dryer vent, and they worked pretty well.

Oh the joys of home ownership.............

[SteveinMN]

That's a bummer Steve.......I think that's what we used. It was from Walmart (the closest store) and it had "UL listed" on it..........so.........
Please don't tell me we need to do this all over. We're not the most mechanical people and this entire job took hours.
Does it look like this stuff?
http://i62.tinypic.com/8yt4xk.jpg
If so, that's the hose that's not code here. Which is a bit odd because all the hardware stores sell it in boxes labeled "dryer vent hose". >8) I would just use it for now and look at replacing it next year. We use premade tubes of sheet metal; the ends fit into each other and there's minimal cutting and fitting required. It's not quite as easy to install as the coiled hose, but once it's together, taking it apart and reassembling is not hard.

Oh the joys of home ownership.............
Yup...

[CathyA]

Thanks Steve. Funny, the box it came in says "UL listed, fire resistant." We will change it eventually, but I think we're okay for the immediate future, since it's all been cleaned out. I couldn't believe how flimsy it was and had to keep reminding DH not to poke a hole in it with his screwdriver. Very strange. They could have at least used heavy duty aluminum foil! Fortunately, we only needed to use about 3' of it, so the lint doesn't have far to go.
Thanks for letting me know this though. We'll definitely change it in the not-too-distant future.
After seeing how much lint can collect on the sides of the tubing, it's definitely easier to appreciate how dryer fires can occur.