Here, we’ll be discussing how to use leaf blowers not for clearing leaves, but for cleaning a dryer vent. This piece of equipment can help make dryer vent cleaning much easier.
However, it’s only possible when you know how to use it.
Cleaning Dryer Vent With A Leaf Blower
Certain tools meant for particular jobs may surprisingly prove useful for performing other types of jobs. Ever heard about cleaning drier vents with a leaf blower? Now you do.
As the name suggests, a leaf blower is designed to effectively clear or clean out leaves from surroundings.
This releases a steady burst of air strong enough to blow leaves off.
The Need for Dryer Vent Cleaning
Cleaning your dryer vent is one vital activity that needs to be performed frequently.
There are several reasons why you need to carry out this task.
These include safety, increasing efficiency, helping remove mold, to extend the lifespan of your dryer, and also to lower repair frequency.
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Cleaning the Dryer Vent for Safety
One of the main reasons for dryer vent cleaning is safety.
That’s because whenever it works, a dryer vent slowly accumulates lint. This steady buildup of lint, if not checked could lead to clogging which could, in turn, lead to dryer fires.
It’s common knowledge that dryers heat up when they work.
However, the heat shouldn’t exceed a certain threshold during use. When it does, it’s possibly due to the lint clogging up the vent system.
Lint could easily get ignited, thus leading to fires. With proper cleaning, all that is avoided.
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Cleaning to Increase Efficiency
Under ideal working conditions, a dryer will work efficiently. Drying times or cycles tend to be shorter. The opposite is true when a dryer vent is clogged with lint.
Here, multiple and longer drying cycles are common. In a nutshell, the efficiency of your dryer is likely to drop significantly without cleaning.
With extended drying times come increased energy use which in turn adds to your utility bills. All of these issues won’t be necessary if only the dryer vent is cleaned properly.
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Removing Mold
How does mold form within the dryer vent system? This happens when hot air and moisture aren’t properly released. With the improper release of moisture, wet spots get created.
These wet spots serve as triggers for mold growth especially when accumulated lint is held up in such spots.
When lint gets clogged up or attached to the sides of the tubing, the dryer vent becomes more difficult to clean.
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To Extend a Dryer’s Lifespan
Basically, every appliance requires some form of maintenance to help with proper functioning. The same applies to the dryer vent. Whenever it gets cleaned, its efficiency increases.
This in turn helps extend the lifespan of the dryer.
A well-maintained (frequently cleaned) dryer will serve for longer. In other words, a dryer tends to reach or even exceed its designated lifespan when properly maintained.
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Lower the Need for Frequent Repairs
Most of the issues common with dryers are lint or dirt accumulation in the vent. When left unchecked, these might affect the dryer’s efficiency which leads to more frequent repairs.
With proper and frequent cleaning, the dryer vent tends to need fewer repairs.
Using A Leaf Blower For Dryer Vent
With the benefits of dryer vent cleaning discussed, we’ll have to shift our focus to the processes involved when using a leaf blower for cleaning.
Not many people know how to go about the whole process. It’s usually interesting to know that you can put your leaf blower to good use outside of leaf cleaning.
Basically, there are several steps to follow when carrying out this procedure. They include gaining access to the vent, removing the exterior cover, cleaning the section outside, and creating a seal with your leaf blower.
Next, put it on to start cleaning.
Further inspect for results, and finally, return everything to its place. These steps have been pretty much summarized and will need to be further discussed for better understanding.
Let’s take a look at each of these steps.
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Gaining Access to the Vent
To begin with, you’ll have to make your dryer vent accessible for cleaning.
In most cases, this will require pulling or dragging away the dryer vent from the wall to get access to the back part. Now, remove the vent hose from behind in readiness for the next step.
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Removing the Exterior Cover
Also part of gaining access to the dryer vent is the need to remove the outside cover.
Air mostly escapes from the building through this outside cover. It will have to be removed for proper cleaning.
Plus, its removal helps prevent damage to the dryer vent tubing during cleaning.
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Cleaning the Section Outside
With the cover removed, what remains is to have the outside section cleaned.
This task can be performed in several ways including manually. The aim is to dislodge dust and lint around the cover. You might want to use a brush or vacuum cleaner for this procedure.
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Creating a Seal with your Leaf Blower
With the outside part cleaned, have your leaf blower tip placed over the dryer’s air vent. To lower the chances of damage to your leaf blower, ensure it starts at a low setting.
Before starting, the leaf blower seal over the vent should be formed using air duct tape.
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Turning your Leaf Blower On
It’s important to start the leaf blower on the lowest setting before steadily increasing its speed when necessary. A few blasts from the air blower should be enough to dislodge any dust remaining within the dryer vent.
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Inspecting for Results
Having blasted sufficient air from the leaf blower, check the outside vent to see how effective the procedure is. You may have to do a little cleaning around the external vent after using the leaf blower.
This is usually minimal and won’t take a long time.
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Returning Everything in Place
Now that the job is completed, all you have to do is return everything in place as you met it.
There you have it! Using a leaf blower for dryer vent cleaning isn’t that difficult. Plus, it gets you the results you seek.