Warning Signs

If your clothes dryer has been acting up, don’t just blame it on old age. It could be trying to give you warning signs — like, “Clean my vents . . . now!”

Dryer vent cleaning might seem like a dull task, but if you haven’t done it in a while (as in, over a year), it’s one you should add to the top of your to-do list immediately.

When to Clean Dryer Vents

By “regularly,” we mean about once a year. You should at least inspect them annually — more often if you run your dryer frequently. A family with four children, for instance, may want to have their dryer vents cleaned three times a year.

Most experts recommend having your vents cleaned professionally. There are do-it-yourself options, but unless you’re a trained specialist, you probably won’t get rid of all the lint; worse, you could actually compact some of the lint, thus creating a worse problem.

Warning Signs

• Your clothes aren’t getting dry. If you have to run multiple cycles just to get your clothes completely dry, you probably have a buildup of lint preventing the air from circulating.
• Your dryer is hot to the touch. If your dryer or clothes are extremely hot during or at the end of a cycle, a blocked vent could be the cause.
• Your laundry room feels hot or humid. If your dryer vent can’t push the air outside your home, it’s got to go somewhere (a.k.a. leak out into your laundry room).
• You notice a musty smell. If the hot, damp air from your dryer leaked inside your home, that will also cause a musty smell (or even a burning smell, if the lint has started a spark in your dryer — in which case you should stop using your dryer immediately).
• Your vent hood flap doesn’t open properly. If your duct hood flap isn’t opening like it should, or if you see lint or debris around the dryer hose or outside vent opening, the air flow has been restricted, causing dangerous buildup.