1. Make banana muffins
2. Clean dryer vent
3. Eat banana muffins after strenuous job of cleaning dryer vent
Because I had recently written about changing the furnace filter, my Mom mentioned that my post made her think of cleaning out the dryer filter. And who can resist the thought of blogging about that? Not me!
Seriously! It's almost Spring. Why not get some Spring cleaning done? I personally don't "do" a big Spring clean - but I do think of it as a time to clean the things I normally would ignore or put off. That includes checking out the dryer vent. (Tomorrow - washing windows! Only joking, I'll just wait for it to rain.)
If you clean out the vent system on your dryer, not only will it last longer, it will dry your clothes more efficiently, and save you money. I have no idea how that equates to cold hard cash, but it's probably an ice cream cone or two worth of savings a year. And it's wrong to turn up your nose at ice cream.
Furthermore, dryer fires do happen, and they normally start from the build up of lint (and socks!) trapped in the vent system. Should you over-worry about a fire? Probably not. But just to be on the safe side, take an hour and clean the vent.
[caption id="attachment_804" align="aligncenter" width="225"]
Cleaning the dryer vent[/caption]In general, you should be mindful of keeping the drying in good working order on a daily basis:
- Clean the lint trap every time you use the dryer. This is a no-brainer, and anyway, it's weirdly satisfying pulling the lint off in a big sheet of linty softness.
- Don’t pile clothes on top of the dryer, because they will fall down behind the dryer and that's a pain, plus a fire hazard.
- Clean out behind and underneath your clothes dryer periodically. It's just gross not to.
- Use the metal type of vent for your dryer, or consider changing it to metal. The plastic kind can melt.
- Inspect and clean your dryer vent once a year. (Exciting information below!!!)
- Just a mention, be careful when drying clothes that might have had flammable liquids on them. If you, get gas on your clothes, wash them a couple of times before you dry them.
So, now comes the fun part - cleaning out the vent. You first have to figure out how to pull the dryer out from the wall. Especially if your washer and dryer are stack-able, and you are only 5' 3", it's advisable to get someone taller to help. You don't wanna end up the cheese in that sandwich.
Pull the dryer out and unplug it. If it's a gas dryer, turn off the gas. Use your vacuum hose attachment, or a shop vac to clean out the vent hose and the vent itself. (The hose is easily unattached with a screwdriver and then you can just stick the vacuum hose in and clean out all the lint.)
Some of the vent hoses are loooong. So you might have to use a dowel or something to really "snake out" the tubing.
Next, go outside, and look into the vent. This is a little nerve wracking for me. What's in there? What if there's a bird or something in there? Nothing ever is in there, but I get freaked out just the same... Anyway, once you're over your fear of birds hiding in the dryer vent that they couldn't possibly get in, get the shop vac and clean from the outside too.
Here's what the outside vent looks like:
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Outside dryer vent[/caption]Vacuum out that lint, and you're done! Put it all back together, and plug it back in.
But wait! There's another option! Courtesy of Informercials, and The Today Show - the Lint Lizzard dryer cleaning kits, (as seen on TV!) and they say they're worth the investment. (Don't worry, by "investment", they mean about 30 bucks!) So, because I easily fall prey to infomercials, and don't really trust The Today Show, I decided to take some time to research these gizmos. The "lint lizard" brand was poorly reviewed, BUT the Gardus LintEater kit, which is also under $30, had 440 high reviews! And based solely on the following review, I've decided to buy one! Read on:
"So, this is what life comes down to when you are 50 years old: reviewing dryer vent cleaners while sitting at your kitchen table waiting for American Idol. This is not what I envisioned when I was 12, I can tell you that much. You kids who think it won't happen to you? It will. Sorry to burst your bubble. That said, the product works great. Our dryer pretty much stopped working and we were thinking we needed a new one, which was seriously going to eat into my plastic surgery budget. One last shot before a trip to the appliance store was this Gardus LintEater. My husband, who is not the handy one of the family, had to do the work as I have a torn labrum. (Which sounds dirtier than it is - that's part of your shoulder.) He, the clumsiest man in the world, had absolutely no problem using this. I warned him to read the directions first, and he actually listened and followed. He hooked it up to the drill, and away he went. He got a bunch of musty, wet lint that had probably been up inside the wall since 1977 - probably consisting of bell bottom material and macramé. Now our dryer actually dries clothes again, and I can continue to save for my facelift. Thank you Gardus."
That person should write a blog, no? And now don't you need a LintEater?
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