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DIY Dryer Vent Cleaning

Dec 23, 2016

Always wanted to clean dryer vent by yourself? Here's how can you do it.

Lint Inside Dryer Vent

DIY Dryer Vent Cleaning On The First Floor:


  1. Determine location of the vent on the outside. Your dryer duct would usually be vented on a ground level if the machine is on the first floor. Try turning your electric or gas dryer on and look around the house for a cap on a wall. There might be a few of them because some caps are for your kitchen or bathroom exhaust.
  2. Check vent air flow. There should be air coming out from that vent on the outside. Remember you have your dryer machine on? When there is no air coming out, it might be two reasons: that is not a dryer vent or your dryer duct is clogged.
  3. Get your cleaning tools and kits. We are assuming that before starting your dryer vent cleaning project, you have purchased all the dryer vent cleaning tools and kits that you might need to perform the job. As you might have seen, there are different dryer vent cleaning kits on the market. Make sure your dryer vent is not longer, than the kit can reach. You will also need some foil tape, a screw driver and possibly 4 inch connectors just in case your dryer vent installed not properly.
  4. Actual cleaning dryer vent. To clean dryer vent you still need your dryer machine turned on for it to be blowing all the lint outside. The easiest way of cleaning dryer vents is to use a brush and push it inside a metal 4 inch sized duct. It will be much harder to perform with a long flexible dryer duct. Push the dryer vent brush from the outside and pull it out every 2-4 feet. If not done so, instead of cleaning dryer, you will be clogging it and cause even more bad than good. After you have gone all the way through and reached the end, you should always check the flexible dryer duct for any lint or clogs. Disconnect it from the dryer and brush it as well. Connect the vent back to the gas or electric dryer machine.
  5. Lint cleanup and final tests. After you got rid of all the clothes dryer vent or duct lint, it’s all right where the vent goes out. Use a vacuum cleaner to pick up all the lint or wear gloves and put all the lint inside a bag. When you have it all nice and clean, make sure your dryer vent is all clean and clear. Check air flow again and look inside the duct with a flashlight.


DIY Dryer Vent Cleaning To The Roof:

When your gas or electric dryer machine is located on the top floor, the vent from it goes up to the roof. Before doing anything, make sure it does go up on the roof. Look around the house with your dryer being on and see if there any air coming out from any of the caps on a wall of your house.


  1. Getting Ready. Ok, you’re now sure that the vent is up on the roof because it could not go anywhere else… There are two ways of cleaning the vent that goes to the roof: from the roof itself and from the attic. We will be writing about the safer one – from the attic. You will need your dryer vent cleaning kit, screw driver (just in case) and foil tape (duct tape is not a good choice for dryer vents because it dries out and falls apart). Please do not forget a flashlight when there is no light up there and be careful walking on beams.
  2. Locate the vent. Look around the attic and locate a 4 inch in diameter metal duct that is connected to the roof. You might see two or more similar vents that look almost the same, the other ones are for bathroom and/or kitchen exhaust fans. The only two differences are that the exhaust vents are 3 inch in diameter and they are not getting warm when your dryer vent is on (do not forget to turn your machine on before making it all the way to the attic).
  3. Actual cleaning dryer vent. When your dryer duct is a straight shot from the machine and up to the roof without any turns or angles, you will need to disconnect it only at one place which is closer to the roof itself. When disconnected, push the 4 inch brush inside the vent and all the way down to the dryer. Do it little by little and pull the brush out every 2-4 feet for not to cause a clog.
  4. Finishing up. Make sure you reached the vent all the way to the dryer and connect the line back like it was. Tape every dryer vent connection with foil tape so there are no leaks and no mess up in the attic.


DIY Dryer Vent Cleaning In A Basement:

Cleaning dryer vents in the basement is usually the easiest project because of the length of the duct.


  1. Get ready. Take all your tools such as screw drivers, connectors, foil tape and dryer vent kits down to the basement. Disconnect the flexible dryer vent from your gas or electric dryer vent.
  2. Actual cleaning dryer vent. Using a brush that is included in your dryer vent cleaning kit, brush the flexible and/or metal dryer vent all the way from the dryer to the outside. It would usually be not more than 5-10 feet so you would not worry about clogging the vent. When your dryer is further from the wall than usual, follow the same steps as in “How To Clean Dryer Vent On The First Floor”.
  3. Finishing up. Connect the vent back to the dryer and make sure it is sitting tight to prevent any lint flying all around the basement.


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