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Cleaning A Dryer Vent

When you consider that 15,000 fires start in the laundry room every year and that these fires are mostly due to lint build up in the clothes dryer or a clogged dryer duct it makes you wonder why we don’t do something about it. Annual dryer duct cleaning will ensure you avoid these possible issues.

Determining if your dryer duct is full of lint and in need of cleaning can be straightforward. The clue is noticing if your clothes dryer is taking longer to dry a load of clothes, actually taking two and three cycles to dry clothes that once dried in one.

If your clothes come out hot after the last cycle then you can usually rule out your your heating element and suspect a blocked duct.

Inspect Exterior Vent Flap

Inspect the exterior vent flap when the dryer is in use. Make sure there are no exterior obstructions like bird, mouse or bee nests. The air velocity should open this vent wide open. If the exterior flapper barely opens then your airflow is minimal and your duct may need to be cleaned or shortened.

bathroom vent hood

Check For Kinked Hose Behind Dryer

When dryers are located a short distance from an outside wall, the short, straight exhaust duct runs worked well, and leaves little need for maintenance and making inspecting easy. Many laundry rooms today are situated deeper inside homes with long runs and several elbows, often resulting in restrictive airflow. Many times these pipes are buried in finished ceilings or floors.

Clues Your Dryer Duct Is Clogged

Clothes take an unusually long time to dry
Clothes are hotter than usual at the end of the drying cycle
Outside of dryer feels unusually hot
Exterior vent flap barely opens when dryer is on
Laundry room feels warmer or more humid than normal
Unexplained moisture stains appear in ceiling below exhaust pipe
Burnt smell when using machine
Do You Have The Correct Vent Pipe?

Before you clean our your dryer duct, it’s a good idea to see if you have the correct type of pipe installed, and if it was installed properly to operate safely.

Inspect the rear of the dryer and ensure that the was not pushed in too far, resulting in the dryer duct being crushed. This condition would also slow air flow and create a lint trap. A good dryer to pipe transition is the “Periscope-type connector.” I like these connectors because they eliminate the common problem of kinked and crushed transition ducts behind the dryer.

Dryer ducts should be UL-approved 4″ metal material and all the joints sealed with metal foil tape. The metal tape helps seal off air leaks form the system and makes the air flow more efficient. Avoid using metal screws or white plastic flex pipe.


Removing white plastic flex pipe
There should be no sheet-metal screws, rivets or any other fastener used to connect the duct joints. Fasteners that extend into the airway will catch lint and obstruct airflow. Clamps or foil duct tape should be used to secure joints.

Avoid White or Mylar Spiral Type Duct

Mylar-covered spiral wire duct was popular for awhile and replaced the white vinyl duct. Mylar is a shiny metallic-coated polyester film, and it is slightly more heat-resistant than vinyl, but still presents a fire hazard. The use of solid all-metal [ridgid or semi-ridgid] exhaust ducts is now the standard, code-approved, and solid piping is still the BEST method for venting.

Look for sags in the dryer exhaust duct-pipe run. This happens when the pipe is not properly supported and the sag cab create a restriction, preventing all the moisture and lint from blowing out.

Insulate Any Vent Pipe In Unheated Spaces

Ensure that any dryer ducts traveling through unheated attic or eve spaces are insulated. Un-insulated pipe will sweat or create frost and interior lint build up.

Dryer Duct Best Practices

Use rigid aluminum or rigid galvanized steel duct (especially if concealed). If flexible metal duct must be used, use the semi-rigid type.
The dryer duct should be as straight and short as possible. Minimize 90-degree turns. Sharp turns cause back pressure and create resistance to airflow. Two 45-degree bends are more efficient than one 90-degree bend. For best performance, separate all turns by 4 feet of straight duct.
Duct joints should be wrapped with foil tape to make air and moisture tight.