Maintaining your dryer vent is an essential part of home upkeep, and there are two ways to do it. You can either hire a professional dryer rack cleaning company or use a compressed air dryer grille cleaning kit to do it yourself. If you're considering the latter, here's what you need to know. Using a powerful air compressor is the quickest and simplest way to get rid of lint. It works by using air bursts to expel the lint, but you'll need a good hose attachment for it to be effective.
If your dryer is located on an outside wall and the vent is less than a few feet long, you can use an electric leaf blower to force air through the dryer's ventilation grille and expel the lint outside. If your dryer is on an interior wall or the vent is longer than a few feet, it's best to hire a professional. They have the tools and experience to break through obstructions and eliminate bird nests, while DIY kits won't be able to do the same. Professional dryer rack cleaning companies use high-powered compressed air and powerful vacuum manifolds to release the lint and collect it in the vacuum, or they use a high-powered vacuum and rotary cleaning tools. If you're determined to clean your dryer vent yourself, you'll need to purchase a dryer rack cleaning kit from your local hardware store. This kit includes a 20-foot hurricane line, a ball for forward and backward ducts, and a dryer vent line (standard 30-foot) with trigger. Cleaning your dryer vent is an important part of home maintenance that should be done at least once a year (or even twice).
If you have an electric leaf blower and your dryer is located on an outside wall with a short vent, you can use a compressed air dryer grille cleaning kit to do it yourself. Otherwise, it's best to hire a professional who has the tools and experience necessary for the job.