It’s estimated that nearly 3,000 home clothes dryer fires are reported annually and causes several deaths, injuries and more than 30 million in loss of property. One of biggest reasons for this is your clothes dryer. Most of these dryer fires can be prevented, but the buildup of lint and debris reduces air flow and backs up the exhaust connections in a dryer.


If you’ve ever wondered why is my dryer not drying, that buildup of debris and lint is likely the culprit. With proper checkups and the help of a dryer duct cleaning company, you can get your dryer up and running again and eliminate a serious fire hazard.


So what do you need to look for? Keep an eye out for these common dryer issues:

• It takes longer and longer for your clothes to dry. You may find it takes two or three times longer than usual to clean clothes and even then, they might not be totally dry.
• Your clothes and your dryer are super hot. If you’re noticing the dryer is super hot to the touch, your vent is likely clogged. If that happens, you might consider placing a call to a dryer duct cleaning company.
• A burning smell. Lint is extremely flammable and a built up of it is like providing kindling for a fire. If it does catch fire, you’re going to notice a burning smell at which point, you should have your dryer vent looked at immediately.
• You haven’t had an inspection in a while Dryer duct vents should be inspected at least once a year by a dryer duct cleaning company or dryer duct cleaning services to reduce buildup and fire risk

So now that you’ve identified that your dryer duct needs cleaning, what do you do to clean it? Using these five steps, you’ll have your dryer duct cleaned in no time.

• Find the duct: To get your dryer duct clean, you’re going to need to locate it first. In most cases, the back of the average dryer unit has a 4-5 inch exhaust. The exhaust connects to ductwork, which is usually inside the wall. When the dryer runs, hot air travels through the exhaust system and eventually ends up outside your house.
• Disconnect your dryer: Once you’ve located the duct, you’re doing to need to disconnect the dyer. The first thing you’ll likely need to do is unplug your dryer from the wall. Then you’ll need to remove metal tape or clamps that connect the dryer vent to the exhaust. Once you’ve done both of those steps, you should be able to push your dryer out of the way. For gas dryers, it’s probably best to call a dryer duct cleaning company to help you out.
• Get to cleaning: Now that you’ve got access to the duct, get to cleaning. You can pick up a vent cleaning kit from most home improvement store. Most of them consist of a brush and segments you put together to make a long rod. Once it’s constructed, you can insert the rod as far as you can inside the duct and spin the end to collect as much lint and debris as possible.
• Reconnect: If you use your dryer a lot, you can probably expect to collect a lot of lint. Having a broom and dustpan nearby will be a big help as well a vacuum cleaner. Once everything is cleaned, you’ll want to reconnect the dryer to the duct. When you get to that point, replace your foil vent (if you have one) with something more rigid. The foil hoses can be a fire hazard.
• Test it out: Once you’ve gone through all of the above steps, you’re going to want to do a trial run. You’re likely going to see that with all lint and debris eliminated your dryer is going to perform a lot better.

By taking time to identify and then fix issues with your dryer duct, your dryer will perform much more efficiently and you’ll avoid put your home and your family at serious risk. If you need help with dryer duct cleaning, a dryer duct company can help you out and get your dryer performing good as new.