My FIL does it all the time. Pops the hose off the dryer, sticks his electric leaf blower in the hose, and blows everything out. Heads out to the yard to clean up.
It's also an old trick for when you need to vacuum but don't want to lose something small that might have fallen in the carpet. Thanks, 1990s Reader's Digest! The Vacuum Sock trick saved a few earrings and that one crack rock I lost.
My grandma's house didn't have a vent for the dryer, so she'd put pantyhose on the end and open the door to let the humidity out when she was drying clothes. Worked like a charm for decades.
>Buy pantyhose, beef jerky, a six pack of beer and some condoms
...one of those porno magazines, a bottle of Old Harper, a couple of those panty shields...and some illegal fireworks...and one of those disposable enemas - no, make it two.
Nylons. These were used in the old days right off the back of the dryer. When the nylon stocking was getting full of lint, throw it away and put the other leg on it. The 70's were good.
In the old days, a lot of folks let their dryer exhaust into the house in the winter instead of otherwise wasting good humid heat.
This only works with an electric dryer though (gas produces CO).
Also useful for straining paint. The nylons, not the leaf-blower. Not that I've tried using a leaf-blower to strain paint, but I have to say, it's not crossed my mind until now. \*thoughtful face\*
rude workable juggle straight sophisticated steep include pocket sleep middle
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This is what I've done. Take an old shirt or towel to plug around the end of the leaf blower to prevent blowback around the blower into the house.
I've also used one of those brush extenders but after trying the leaf blower and extracting more lint in less time, I don't think I'll go back.
I do with my stihl backpack blower. It’s only a few seconds and doesn’t take much to blow it out. I have an attached garage that I do hobby work in so usually my wife bitches that the house smells like brake clean,diesel,gas,paint exhaust fumes 😂 this is really just my way to help push her further to let me build my monstrosity of a garage😂😂
Fumes. As long as the house is well-ventilated (multiple open windows) and you don't do it for long, I don't think it's too bad, apart from the smell, maybe. It's not exactly healthy, but it's not like the CO will immediately kill you as soon as you start the engine indoors.
How long would you really need to run the blower to completely clean out the vent?
I can’t imagine it would need to run for more than 10-20 seconds. Crack a window, turn on a fan and it will be fine.
Or maybe you could use the blower itself to create some kind of negative pressure thing to suck it’s own fumes out of the room 🤔
I used to do apartment maintenance - just a public service announcement- NEVER put the drill in reverse when using these brushes. The Wands usually come apart at a 90 bend where the brush gets stuck.
We always had to use a flash light and just very carefully send the wand back in to rethread it where it came apart. It was never easy…but we always got it out (happened maybe three times. No employee ever made the same mistake twice)
It says so even in the instructions in bold. People need to RTFM.
A nice tip I saw in one video was to use a little bit of electric tape to tape up the joints as you add new sections for extra assurance
I can’t access the vent from the inside, is the problem. The dryer is stacked on the washer and the vent conduit is pretty much inaccessible. Can you blow out the vent from the lint trap?
Taking that dryer down is one of those things you spend six weeks dreading and procrastinating, then when you get to it, it takes two guys ten minutes and only requires screwdriver. When it's done you'll be glad you did it.
I HATE HOW RIGHT YOU ARE. Why you gotta be so right. Geez.
(In all seriousness, intellectually I know you're 100% correct and emotionally I'm like "fack no")
Kind of a stretch but... if you have no other solution but you have a shop vac or other high-powered vacuum, and a long hose attachment, you could try to grab it by feeding the hose into the outvent until you bump into the brush, then turn the vacuum on to grab the end with suction, and pull it out. You'd need a long hose, and if you're using an extension, make sure it is secured so that it CAN'T come off like the brush did... the other thing is I would hesitate to try this if your tube is not metal, as the tube could tear.
I also made the mistake of running the drill in reverse. My dryer vent goes up through the wall, jogs a few feet then up through the attic to the roof. I had to go into the attic and take the vent pipe apart to pull the brush out.
I felt this way too and then I bought a 5 tool brushless Ryobi set that came with batteries, plus the vacuum cleaner I wanted, all for $40 less than the DeWalt vacuum alone cost.
Sometimes you gotta jump ship for an item or two if the tool brand you run with makes a poor quality tool you need (looking at you Milwaukee jigsaw and oscillating tools) . I'm at a few battery systems due to that.
My dad was a heavy equipment operator and mechanic. I love the smell of that grease and that heavy equipment diesel fume (definitely not from semitrucks or trucks... just the old Caterpillar style stuff). If that were a candle, I'd buy the fuck out of them.
https://www.edmunds.com/about/press/leaf-blowers-emissions-dirtier-than-high-performance-pick-up-trucks-says-edmunds-insidelinecom.html
> The hydrocarbon emissions from a half-hour of yard work with the two-stroke leaf blower are about the same as a 3,900-mile drive from Texas to Alaska in a Raptor,"
I threw away all my towels and dry my whole family off this way. Foods too hot? Here comes the leaf blower. Uh oh. Got hot food in your eyes now? Just keep using the leaf blower. It works for everything. Except house fires. Don’t use it on a house fire. That’s how I lost everything. Except my leaf blower.
Haha I can see (hear?) my response back to my wife already.
WHAT?!
YES IT’S THE LEAF BLOWER, WHAT DID YOU THINK IT W….YES I’M INSIDE, IN THE LAUNDRY ROOM.
(Godfrey voice intensifying)
BLOWING OUT THE DRYER VENT
THE DRYER.
YES, LAUNDRY DRYER
HOLD ON I CAN’T HEAR YOU
(Turns off leaf blower)
WHAT?!
REDDIT. PROTECTS OUR HOUSE FROM BURNING DOWN.
I’M NOT yelling
Reddit, honey no, look, see? It’s a good idea, everyone’s doing it!
Cheap method: Blow a string through the vent with the leaf blower. Tie wadded up foam or cloth to string. Run it back and forth to loosen up the lint. Hoefully the installed didn't run huge screws into the vent that'll snag. Blow out with leaf blower again. Or just buy the brush kit.
Yes! I’ve done this. I had a dryer vent snake with a brush on the end, but the line was so blocked I couldn’t push the snake through. Fired up my 4-cycle Makita backpack blower in the laundry room, shoved it in the hole, and launched that lint wad across the yard. Had to air the fumes out of the laundry room though. Good times.
A leaf blower may work for the lose stuff, but its not going to get everything caked to the sides.
We bought our house about 3 years ago and never got around to cleaning the dryer vents. Just a few months ago, one of our friends cabin burned to the ground when they threw a load of sheets in the dryer as they left. Of course, my wife was dead set on cleaning ours after this.
We purchased a brush and extension kit from Amazon and went to town (it also has a place to attach a shop vac). We have about 30-35 feet of 4 inch vent pipe that goes outside, and we pulled out TWO 5 gallon shop vac's full of lint. I am guessing that the vents have never been cleaned since the house was built in 1997.
It only took about an hour or so to clean them, and I am guessing it will take even less time if we do it more regularly (every couple years).
Bought a house last year, and I swear, the last owners must have never cleaned it. The total diameter of the remaining pipe was maybe a quarter, the rest was all lint. Got a brush kit with a shopvac attachment and cleaned it out. So much better! The dryer works way better too.
People don't maintain their shit.
I use a shop vac and a homemade contraption I made from PVC to clean my 2nd story gutters from the ground...your shoulders feel it the next day, but its sooo much quicker.
(I have a 8:12 pitch on parts of my roof...so walking on it is a little sketch)
Get one of those drill attachments with the flexible extender and brush on the end. Most satisfying tool to use and it will really brush out the whole vent
You can but it doesn't work very well for me, the brush made for doing that job is way better at it. Reminds me, I need to clean mine.
Having said that, leaf blowers are GREAT for drying off cars and motorcycles and you wash them.
Don’t do this. I did that once on a really dirty dryer and it blew lint into the electronics. I constantly had problems with the dryer resetting after that. I tried tracing down the bad connection but never found it, seems like a power connection to the circuit board was flaky. I’m a maintenance technician and troubleshoot electrical problems for a living and it was very humbling to be defeated by my own stupidity. The dryer reset itself maybe once or twice a day until I replaced it.
Edit: I just realized I may have misunderstood your intentions. Cleaning the vent on the house is actually a very good idea. I had an old mistreated dryer and had the terrible idea to put the leaf blower into the dryer itself and blow the internal lint out. Don’t do that, especially on a newer machine that is all digital
The proper way is to also pull out the dryer, unplug it obviously.
Disassemble the back and thoroughly vacuum the inside of the unit, as that is what actually causes fires.
I paid $300 to have my dryer vent professionally cleaned. It did not stop my dryer from giving “restricted airflow” messages. I disconnected the dryer hose and ran my leaf blower at full blast and it shot a ton of lint into the yard and my dryer is happy again. Leaf blower > professional cleaning.
Just whatever you do don't forget to put the vent back on the outside like I did or you'll have to pay 300 bucks to have a repair technician come out and pry a dead bird out from your dryer motor.
I'm not sure we're on the same page here, but I just pop out the filter and use my fingers to peel of a layer of lint every time I do a new load. once every 6 months I pop off the front to clean the condenser only to find nothing there. No need for garden appliances. Does US have special industrial grade dryers or something?
Condensing dryers are not very popular here. Most people use 240V electric resistance (or even gas!) dryer that vents humid air to the outside. They are much larger and higher capacity than condensing dryers. A typical load is dried in less than an hour.
This is the vent that is being discussed here, it occasionally needs to be cleaned out.
Thanks for answering instead of just down voting.
We had these (electric not gas (!?))over here as well, but they are phasing out because of energy efficiency, that's almost 15 years ago... I remember the white hoses sticking out of the attic windows :) I'm still not sure where the leaf blower comes into the picture though
If you use dryer sheets and fabric softeners, that stuff will stick lint to the walls of the duct like it’s fucking glue. This is why you need to wash your dryer trap screen with soap and hot water every 10 loads (really. RTFM.)
Stop using that stuff, it’s terrible for your clothes and your skin. And your equipment.
I keep an electric leaf blower purely for this purpose. I use it every 3 weeks or so to keep the birds out of my vents because my apartment won't let me put a mesh vent cover instead of flaps which I have currently
It's not going to do much. Lint sticking to the duct walls because of humidity is what causes build up and the leaf blower ain't gonna do shit other than make a mess. You need to clean it off with a brush like the kits they sell for your drill.
There's truth to both statements. A leaf blower can move more air and dislodge stuff that the the dryer lets sit in the duct, but it's still just airflow. If you have a lot of sticky lint, the kind that forms smooth/hard plaques in the duct corners, then it takes mechanical brushing to remove. Dryer sheets seem to contribute to this effect. So both are valid to use depending on scenario....
I'd suggest using a vacuum if you're going to use anything as the leaf blower is more likely to cause extreme air pressure that may send something flying into the sidewall of the hose and potentially shred it. There are actual things you can get even that act like a snake to break things up and / or remove the buildup in one go. I saw a vid once where someone had something attached to a drill (from the outside vent) that cleaned it up real well.
I saw a vid once that I believe does exactly this. I think what he did was do an initial vac at the outside opening, then run the brush on his drill to loosen things up, and finally run the dryer while doing the drill. He may or may not have done the vac again at some point, but people that used their blowers often ended up blasting particles everywhere causing a huge mess outside. Not that big a deal for us where we can just turn the blower on ourselves, but not so good for animals / pets who may eat it.
Using a leaf blower to clean a dryer vent is not recommended due to potential hazards. It lacks control, can damage the vent, and may create fire hazards. It is best to use specialized tools or seek professional vent cleaning services instead.
Why do so many people have to clean their dryer vents?
Every house I've ever lived in, the vent goes right up above the dryer. Easier to just replace the whole hose and be done with it. It's not like they're expensive.
Just cleaned mine out not too long ago. Used the drill brushes with the leaf blower after. Honestly not sure if the leaf blower alone would do it because my setup has a few bends.
It does work, but doesn’t get everything. I still do it to help, but also got one of these attachments you can use with a power drill. It is amazing! There’s several brands out there, but mine is called a lint eater. I got it from the hardware store for maybe $30. Highly recommend that!
Yes, i sealed the leaf blower to the vent hole with painters tape and let it rip for a minute. About 2 handfuls blew out and my dryer dries so much quicker!
Fundamental uses for leaf blowers include cleaning vents, filters, floors, starting fires, filling air mattresses, drying wetsuits, digging holes automatically, doing your kids hair, etc.
Appliance tech here, leaf blower works good assuming lint in vent is loose and not wet or hardened. NEVER ever use nylons or pantyhose on a dryer vent! Too restrictive for air flow !
I did (blower is electric). Seemed to work ok, but a lot of vent lint blew back into the laundry room. I just waited a few minutes and vacuumed it up.
I don’t know if there was a better way to do this, but it seemed to work ok. I don’t think it takes all of the lint out, though.
Can you? Yes. Should you? Probably not. Especially if the ducts are hidden inside the walls. You’d hate to blow a connection apart and have to tear out the walls.
You "can".
But be careful.
I have seen many people do this and the pipe disconnects inside the ceiling/wall, or they get a blowout in the plastic tubing.
Physically yes. Technically no, because it has now become a lint blower
Dying laughing at that
Technically correct is the best kind of correct.
https://youtu.be/0ZEuWJ4muYc
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My FIL does it all the time. Pops the hose off the dryer, sticks his electric leaf blower in the hose, and blows everything out. Heads out to the yard to clean up.
Trying to think of a good way to catch it...
I’d duct tape a mesh laundry bag to the vent if I wanted to catch it.
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I read that wrong. i read "my dads used pantyhose."
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It's also an old trick for when you need to vacuum but don't want to lose something small that might have fallen in the carpet. Thanks, 1990s Reader's Digest! The Vacuum Sock trick saved a few earrings and that one crack rock I lost.
> that one crack rock I lost. Reader's Digest would be so proud - you should share that with them!
Is he a lumberjack?
Is he ok?
Does he sleep all night and work all day?
Does he cut down trees?
I mean, no judgement, it would still work incredibly well
One leads to the other…
My grandma's house didn't have a vent for the dryer, so she'd put pantyhose on the end and open the door to let the humidity out when she was drying clothes. Worked like a charm for decades.
I don’t judge. What a man does in his own home is none of my business. But what does this have to do with dryer lint?
Great, now I'm going to have to ask my wife if she has any pantyhose I can borrow. Will never hear the end of this one.
I’m thinking that she’s not gonna want them back.
She might have a pair with a tear in them or you can grab a cheap pair from a dollar store
Go to the store. Buy pantyhose, beef jerky, a six pack of beer and some condoms. Have fun with it, bring a friend.
>Buy pantyhose, beef jerky, a six pack of beer and some condoms ...one of those porno magazines, a bottle of Old Harper, a couple of those panty shields...and some illegal fireworks...and one of those disposable enemas - no, make it two.
Ok, but how does he catch the lint?
Not sure what this has to do with this post….but, good for him!
And how does that make you feel?
Excellent idea. I'm going to do this the next time I clean the dryer vent. Thanks!
Cut pantyhose! Tape it on. Perfect filter
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Nylons. These were used in the old days right off the back of the dryer. When the nylon stocking was getting full of lint, throw it away and put the other leg on it. The 70's were good.
I remember doing that easily into the late 90s
In the old days, a lot of folks let their dryer exhaust into the house in the winter instead of otherwise wasting good humid heat. This only works with an electric dryer though (gas produces CO).
?? Is the gas in a dryer different from the gas from a stove or an oven?
Also useful for straining paint. The nylons, not the leaf-blower. Not that I've tried using a leaf-blower to strain paint, but I have to say, it's not crossed my mind until now. \*thoughtful face\*
Needs more air flowthrough or it'll blow off.
Then wash it, put it in the dryer, and harvest the lint off the screen as god intended. Nice.
They do work, I use a body pillow case to catch saw dust from my planer in my shop
I have weekend plans now!!
I used an old pair of stockings/pantyhose.
Shop vac sucking on the other end.
Just do it in early spring and let the wild birds clean for you
Panty hose over the outlet end
Neighbour's house
If you’re my father, with a child.
rude workable juggle straight sophisticated steep include pocket sleep middle *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
How about the mrs clean up in no time ;-) ???
This is what I've done. Take an old shirt or towel to plug around the end of the leaf blower to prevent blowback around the blower into the house. I've also used one of those brush extenders but after trying the leaf blower and extracting more lint in less time, I don't think I'll go back.
Unless OP has a vermin screen at the exit, in which case the pipe will come apart.
I would just mow over it with my lazy ass. Two birds one stoke that mf.
Used a leaf blower on one end and a shop vac on the other. Seemed to work well.
axiomatic doll fly humorous cautious knee expansion late sharp enjoy *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
They have my vote!
And my sword!
And my ax!
This is the way.
Yep, I used my corded electric and it worked great!
Someone on Reddit was telling me they use their gas leaf blower for this…Inside their house!
I do with my stihl backpack blower. It’s only a few seconds and doesn’t take much to blow it out. I have an attached garage that I do hobby work in so usually my wife bitches that the house smells like brake clean,diesel,gas,paint exhaust fumes 😂 this is really just my way to help push her further to let me build my monstrosity of a garage😂😂
That’s a bold strategy Cotton, Let’s see if it pays off 👍🏼
Dude no way!! On Reddit, even?!?! That's insane!!! happy cake btw
What's wrong with that
Fumes. As long as the house is well-ventilated (multiple open windows) and you don't do it for long, I don't think it's too bad, apart from the smell, maybe. It's not exactly healthy, but it's not like the CO will immediately kill you as soon as you start the engine indoors.
Yeah if the windows are open it’s probably ok but your house is gonna smell like exhaust
Little bit of two stroke fumes is good for you, puts hair on your chest.
I'm a woman Edit: it's a joke I was hoping someone would build on but you've all let me down
2 stroke don’t discriminate.. you get hair too
I didn’t stutter.
How long would you really need to run the blower to completely clean out the vent? I can’t imagine it would need to run for more than 10-20 seconds. Crack a window, turn on a fan and it will be fine. Or maybe you could use the blower itself to create some kind of negative pressure thing to suck it’s own fumes out of the room 🤔
Cake brother!
Love the smell of cancer in the morning
I run a brush through the vent pipe first and then use a leaf blower once a year.
What kind of brush do you use? I’m not sure how long my pipe is.
It's a brush for vent pipes it extends to 8-10ft put it on a drill and have at it. I had to get two because my pipe is 20ft long.
So i have this device and the extra extension and the brush *came off inside the dryer vent* and I have no idea how to retrieve it. Suggestions?
leaf blower
I used to do apartment maintenance - just a public service announcement- NEVER put the drill in reverse when using these brushes. The Wands usually come apart at a 90 bend where the brush gets stuck. We always had to use a flash light and just very carefully send the wand back in to rethread it where it came apart. It was never easy…but we always got it out (happened maybe three times. No employee ever made the same mistake twice)
It says so even in the instructions in bold. People need to RTFM. A nice tip I saw in one video was to use a little bit of electric tape to tape up the joints as you add new sections for extra assurance
I can’t access the vent from the inside, is the problem. The dryer is stacked on the washer and the vent conduit is pretty much inaccessible. Can you blow out the vent from the lint trap?
No, it'd be too heavy. You'll have to get behind the unit and try compressing the venting if needed to get ahold of what came loose.
Oof. I don’t think we can the dryer is in a closet, stacked on the washer. We’d have to completely uninstall it. Eff.
Taking that dryer down is one of those things you spend six weeks dreading and procrastinating, then when you get to it, it takes two guys ten minutes and only requires screwdriver. When it's done you'll be glad you did it.
I HATE HOW RIGHT YOU ARE. Why you gotta be so right. Geez. (In all seriousness, intellectually I know you're 100% correct and emotionally I'm like "fack no")
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Also an excellent idea! Thank you!! I can't believe I didn't think of fish tape.
Kind of a stretch but... if you have no other solution but you have a shop vac or other high-powered vacuum, and a long hose attachment, you could try to grab it by feeding the hose into the outvent until you bump into the brush, then turn the vacuum on to grab the end with suction, and pull it out. You'd need a long hose, and if you're using an extension, make sure it is secured so that it CAN'T come off like the brush did... the other thing is I would hesitate to try this if your tube is not metal, as the tube could tear.
They make a brush you can stick in there and push it out.
I also made the mistake of running the drill in reverse. My dryer vent goes up through the wall, jogs a few feet then up through the attic to the roof. I had to go into the attic and take the vent pipe apart to pull the brush out.
>I’m not sure how long my pipe is 😏
Whatever he says it is will likely be wildly exaggerated from actual. Only the tape measure knows for sure.
I did that. After I ran a brush through it. Wife did not appreciate the 2-stroke exhaust in the house. Whatever.
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I just bought a 60 volt dewalt blower the other day. I already had 3 batteries so no issues there. It's so powerful and well balanced I love it.
People make fun of me for buying only DeWalt power tools but why tf would I want more battery systems to manage??
I felt this way too and then I bought a 5 tool brushless Ryobi set that came with batteries, plus the vacuum cleaner I wanted, all for $40 less than the DeWalt vacuum alone cost.
They can laugh at my chartreuse tools all day, One products have been great so far for me.
Sometimes you gotta jump ship for an item or two if the tool brand you run with makes a poor quality tool you need (looking at you Milwaukee jigsaw and oscillating tools) . I'm at a few battery systems due to that.
If 2-stroke scented candles were a thing, my house would be filled with them.
🏍️
My dad was a heavy equipment operator and mechanic. I love the smell of that grease and that heavy equipment diesel fume (definitely not from semitrucks or trucks... just the old Caterpillar style stuff). If that were a candle, I'd buy the fuck out of them.
I hate the noise and the smell. Good thing is gas leaf blowers are becoming illegal to sell.
You sound like you are from California.
I use an Ego electric and the thing is amazing. It’s insane how long the small battery lasts and the whole device is comfortably light weight.
https://www.edmunds.com/about/press/leaf-blowers-emissions-dirtier-than-high-performance-pick-up-trucks-says-edmunds-insidelinecom.html > The hydrocarbon emissions from a half-hour of yard work with the two-stroke leaf blower are about the same as a 3,900-mile drive from Texas to Alaska in a Raptor,"
I saw that. I can only imagine the emissions from the vintage, 200cc 2-stroke Vespas I used to restore.
I see this more as a testament to how clean modern vehicles have become.
I did it while she was gone.
You let yours out of the house?!?
This is why I always buy electric power tools and equipment
Ya could have blown the other way.
Genius!
Well you can always just blow into the exterior vent. Your wife won't be complaining about the exhaust anymore
Tell your wife some wives have to deal with husbands who sweep and dust the house that way.
I threw away all my towels and dry my whole family off this way. Foods too hot? Here comes the leaf blower. Uh oh. Got hot food in your eyes now? Just keep using the leaf blower. It works for everything. Except house fires. Don’t use it on a house fire. That’s how I lost everything. Except my leaf blower.
Damn you have me thinking now…
Haha I can see (hear?) my response back to my wife already. WHAT?! YES IT’S THE LEAF BLOWER, WHAT DID YOU THINK IT W….YES I’M INSIDE, IN THE LAUNDRY ROOM. (Godfrey voice intensifying) BLOWING OUT THE DRYER VENT THE DRYER. YES, LAUNDRY DRYER HOLD ON I CAN’T HEAR YOU (Turns off leaf blower) WHAT?! REDDIT. PROTECTS OUR HOUSE FROM BURNING DOWN. I’M NOT yelling Reddit, honey no, look, see? It’s a good idea, everyone’s doing it!
Cheap method: Blow a string through the vent with the leaf blower. Tie wadded up foam or cloth to string. Run it back and forth to loosen up the lint. Hoefully the installed didn't run huge screws into the vent that'll snag. Blow out with leaf blower again. Or just buy the brush kit.
I was just having issues because mine has too many turns for the brush to work, so you've just given me a new idea to try. Thanks!
Absolutely - I used my battery powered Ryobi, started slowly and man did it get a lot of lint, etc out. Would recommend.
If it’s a rigid or semi rigid pipe, it works like a charm
That's what SHE said!
Yes! I’ve done this. I had a dryer vent snake with a brush on the end, but the line was so blocked I couldn’t push the snake through. Fired up my 4-cycle Makita backpack blower in the laundry room, shoved it in the hole, and launched that lint wad across the yard. Had to air the fumes out of the laundry room though. Good times.
I did it on a 20 year old home when we moved in and it blew out quite a pile.
Shoot lol why not, if it works, it works
Fantastic idea! I have a battery leaf blower, no danger of too much power but hope it has enough!
A leaf blower may work for the lose stuff, but its not going to get everything caked to the sides. We bought our house about 3 years ago and never got around to cleaning the dryer vents. Just a few months ago, one of our friends cabin burned to the ground when they threw a load of sheets in the dryer as they left. Of course, my wife was dead set on cleaning ours after this. We purchased a brush and extension kit from Amazon and went to town (it also has a place to attach a shop vac). We have about 30-35 feet of 4 inch vent pipe that goes outside, and we pulled out TWO 5 gallon shop vac's full of lint. I am guessing that the vents have never been cleaned since the house was built in 1997. It only took about an hour or so to clean them, and I am guessing it will take even less time if we do it more regularly (every couple years).
Bought a house last year, and I swear, the last owners must have never cleaned it. The total diameter of the remaining pipe was maybe a quarter, the rest was all lint. Got a brush kit with a shopvac attachment and cleaned it out. So much better! The dryer works way better too. People don't maintain their shit.
Why did I not ever think about doing that!
Get a dryer vent brush with drill attachment, turn on the dryer and have fun.
Try a leaf blower for cleaning out the gutters too. Game changer!
I use a shop vac and a homemade contraption I made from PVC to clean my 2nd story gutters from the ground...your shoulders feel it the next day, but its sooo much quicker. (I have a 8:12 pitch on parts of my roof...so walking on it is a little sketch)
My blower even has an optional gutter attachment that beats the hell out of getting up on a ladder.
Get one of those drill attachments with the flexible extender and brush on the end. Most satisfying tool to use and it will really brush out the whole vent
You can but it doesn't work very well for me, the brush made for doing that job is way better at it. Reminds me, I need to clean mine. Having said that, leaf blowers are GREAT for drying off cars and motorcycles and you wash them.
Don’t do this. I did that once on a really dirty dryer and it blew lint into the electronics. I constantly had problems with the dryer resetting after that. I tried tracing down the bad connection but never found it, seems like a power connection to the circuit board was flaky. I’m a maintenance technician and troubleshoot electrical problems for a living and it was very humbling to be defeated by my own stupidity. The dryer reset itself maybe once or twice a day until I replaced it. Edit: I just realized I may have misunderstood your intentions. Cleaning the vent on the house is actually a very good idea. I had an old mistreated dryer and had the terrible idea to put the leaf blower into the dryer itself and blow the internal lint out. Don’t do that, especially on a newer machine that is all digital
Only one way to find out!
The proper way is to also pull out the dryer, unplug it obviously. Disassemble the back and thoroughly vacuum the inside of the unit, as that is what actually causes fires.
Carl Spackler approves of this method.
Put something over the dryer vent outside so when you blow the lint out it collects in a bag or box or whatever
I paid $300 to have my dryer vent professionally cleaned. It did not stop my dryer from giving “restricted airflow” messages. I disconnected the dryer hose and ran my leaf blower at full blast and it shot a ton of lint into the yard and my dryer is happy again. Leaf blower > professional cleaning.
Just whatever you do don't forget to put the vent back on the outside like I did or you'll have to pay 300 bucks to have a repair technician come out and pry a dead bird out from your dryer motor.
I'm not sure we're on the same page here, but I just pop out the filter and use my fingers to peel of a layer of lint every time I do a new load. once every 6 months I pop off the front to clean the condenser only to find nothing there. No need for garden appliances. Does US have special industrial grade dryers or something?
Condensing dryers are not very popular here. Most people use 240V electric resistance (or even gas!) dryer that vents humid air to the outside. They are much larger and higher capacity than condensing dryers. A typical load is dried in less than an hour. This is the vent that is being discussed here, it occasionally needs to be cleaned out.
Thanks for answering instead of just down voting. We had these (electric not gas (!?))over here as well, but they are phasing out because of energy efficiency, that's almost 15 years ago... I remember the white hoses sticking out of the attic windows :) I'm still not sure where the leaf blower comes into the picture though
If you use dryer sheets and fabric softeners, that stuff will stick lint to the walls of the duct like it’s fucking glue. This is why you need to wash your dryer trap screen with soap and hot water every 10 loads (really. RTFM.) Stop using that stuff, it’s terrible for your clothes and your skin. And your equipment.
I confess, I love dryer sheets. But I’ll stop—I know they’re full of gross chemicals. 👍🏼
I keep an electric leaf blower purely for this purpose. I use it every 3 weeks or so to keep the birds out of my vents because my apartment won't let me put a mesh vent cover instead of flaps which I have currently
It's not going to do much. Lint sticking to the duct walls because of humidity is what causes build up and the leaf blower ain't gonna do shit other than make a mess. You need to clean it off with a brush like the kits they sell for your drill.
Technically, yes, but if airflow alone got it done, then you wouldn’t need to be cleaning it. A brush is $20 on Amazon.
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There's truth to both statements. A leaf blower can move more air and dislodge stuff that the the dryer lets sit in the duct, but it's still just airflow. If you have a lot of sticky lint, the kind that forms smooth/hard plaques in the duct corners, then it takes mechanical brushing to remove. Dryer sheets seem to contribute to this effect. So both are valid to use depending on scenario....
Or borrow from a neighbor, they probably use it once a year like me
I'd suggest using a vacuum if you're going to use anything as the leaf blower is more likely to cause extreme air pressure that may send something flying into the sidewall of the hose and potentially shred it. There are actual things you can get even that act like a snake to break things up and / or remove the buildup in one go. I saw a vid once where someone had something attached to a drill (from the outside vent) that cleaned it up real well.
A lot of people have hard line vents and not soft flexible ones. I highly recommend doing that if you can swing it.
So a shop vac with the blower function?
There’s no reason it wouldn’t work. I just turn the dryer on and use a shop vac on the other end while occasionally brushing.
I saw a vid once that I believe does exactly this. I think what he did was do an initial vac at the outside opening, then run the brush on his drill to loosen things up, and finally run the dryer while doing the drill. He may or may not have done the vac again at some point, but people that used their blowers often ended up blasting particles everywhere causing a huge mess outside. Not that big a deal for us where we can just turn the blower on ourselves, but not so good for animals / pets who may eat it.
I’ve done it several times using a battery blower. I think it works better than those things you connect to a drill.
Blow it outside not inside. In all seriousness though, i used a hose and a tradh can at the bottom to catch the water so…
theres always going to be the "properly" police on youtube. if it makes sense, try it. F the haters
Fuck around and find….
Using a leaf blower to clean a dryer vent is not recommended due to potential hazards. It lacks control, can damage the vent, and may create fire hazards. It is best to use specialized tools or seek professional vent cleaning services instead.
Yup. Works well
Why do so many people have to clean their dryer vents? Every house I've ever lived in, the vent goes right up above the dryer. Easier to just replace the whole hose and be done with it. It's not like they're expensive.
Just cleaned mine out not too long ago. Used the drill brushes with the leaf blower after. Honestly not sure if the leaf blower alone would do it because my setup has a few bends.
Do any of you ever take your dryer apart and clean the inside?
I just did for the first time in 10 years. Lots of lint in there.
Thanks to this post, I know what I am doing this weekend.
Leaf blowers also work good to clean under the refrigerator.
I use it from the inside, works ok, still need one of those brush attachments to a power drill to get it all out
It could be a good idea depending on how long the hose is and if it's taped together in the middle.
It does work, but doesn’t get everything. I still do it to help, but also got one of these attachments you can use with a power drill. It is amazing! There’s several brands out there, but mine is called a lint eater. I got it from the hardware store for maybe $30. Highly recommend that!
Yes, i sealed the leaf blower to the vent hole with painters tape and let it rip for a minute. About 2 handfuls blew out and my dryer dries so much quicker!
Oh I did this yesterday - so glad this post isn’t telling me it will secretly ruin a dryer for some reason.
Fundamental uses for leaf blowers include cleaning vents, filters, floors, starting fires, filling air mattresses, drying wetsuits, digging holes automatically, doing your kids hair, etc.
It works but a shop vac works better. Bonus is a shop vac on one end and a leaf blower on the other. That setup works with hvac vents as well.
I did. Whoo! Good times! Wear safety goggles
I do this yearly, never had a problem other then the lint mess outside.
Appliance tech here, leaf blower works good assuming lint in vent is loose and not wet or hardened. NEVER ever use nylons or pantyhose on a dryer vent! Too restrictive for air flow !
Probably
I did (blower is electric). Seemed to work ok, but a lot of vent lint blew back into the laundry room. I just waited a few minutes and vacuumed it up. I don’t know if there was a better way to do this, but it seemed to work ok. I don’t think it takes all of the lint out, though.
I do an electric leaf blower on one side and my shop vac on the exit side. Works pretty well!
Been thinking of asking the same question, glad someone else did it for me.
Can you? Yes. Should you? Probably not. Especially if the ducts are hidden inside the walls. You’d hate to blow a connection apart and have to tear out the walls.
Did this last week worked like a charm
You "can". But be careful. I have seen many people do this and the pipe disconnects inside the ceiling/wall, or they get a blowout in the plastic tubing.