5 Reasons You Should Keep Your Clothes Dryer Vent Clean

Your clothes dryer vent may be very short and easy for you to reach into and clean. It may also be quite long and angled, making it impossible for you to maintain properly. Neglected dryer vents almost always lead to some pretty serious problems. Doodlebuggers Fireplace, Grill & Outdoor Store of Pensacola, FL, and Destin, FL, has some helpful information for you if you use gas or electric clothes dryers.

Clothes dryers 101

Clothes dryers work by sending hot, dry air to clothes inside a rotating drum. Because the clothes are damp, humidity is quickly created. This humidity – along with a fair amount of lint, particularly from newer garments – is sent away from the drum through the venting. The exhaust then exits somewhere outside your home. Over time, all dryer vents will inevitably experience lint buildups. How long it takes for a vent to become obstructed varies from home to home and from machine to machine. What you need to remember is that all clothes dryer vents, if left alone, will eventually become obstructed.

When vents clog, that’s when trouble starts. Here are five things that can
happen when dryer vent cleaning is neglected.

1. Clothes take longer to dry

If the hot air can’t move through the tumbling clothes and exit the drum, it’s going to take a lot longer to dry the clothes. When the dryer vent is severely obstructed, it’s not uncommon for a dryer to run through two or three cycles and still not produce fully dry clothes.

2. You pay more to run your dryer

Extra drying time means you’ll pay more on your gas or electric bill. If you notice that you’re having to “touch up” your clothes in the dryer because they aren’t quite dry, it’s time to look at your dryer vent and stop paying your money to utility companies.

3. More repairs needed

Dryers that run harder and longer end up needing more repairs. The worst case is when you have to replace the appliance’s motor because it burned out due to over-use.

4. Excess humidity in your washroom.

If the humidity created in the clothes drum can’t get out, it’s going to filter back into your room. A little humidity is pleasant; a lot of humidity can lead to the growth of dangerous mold. Humid laundry rooms are notorious for harboring many species of mold, some of them potentially deadly.

5. Clothes dryer fire

According to the U.S. Fire Administration, 2,900 clothes dryer fires are reported each year, costing $35 million in property damage and causing an estimated 100 injuries and five deaths. The most common cause of these dryer fires is lint igniting in the appliances’ venting.

Call your Florida dryer vent cleaning experts for fast service

Doodlebuggers provides expert dryer vent cleaning and vent inspections throughout the Destin, FL, and Pensacola, FL, areas. We have the equipment and training to properly clean even the longest and most complicated venting for residential and commercial clothes dryers. Reach a dryer vent professional today at 850-477-1151 in Pensacola, FL, or at 850-243-0154 in the Destin, FL, area.