The biggest fire hazard in your home is also one of our favorite modern conveniences. We often take clothes dryers for granted and skip one essential part of their maintenance: the dryer vents. Keeping them clean is necessary, but often difficult for our customers, which is why they call our cleaning service in Village for this task. Before you decide to continue overlooking your dryer vents, here are four signs you need to check them:
- Long drying time: If your towels used to take 40 minutes to dry and now you must cycle them for 80 minutes, that is the first sign your dryer vents are full of lint. Clogged vents reduce airflow, which makes drying your clothes efficiently nearly impossible. This condition also increases humidity in your dryer, which complicates drying further because wet air on wet clothes do not go together well. You will start off with drying time being another 20 minutes or so, but eventually you will feel like your clothes dry faster on a clothesline. At that point, you are not only facing an irritation, but also wearing out your machine.
- Burning smell: Your dryer should not produce odors. A burning smell is a warning sign. Lint is flammable, and when it builds up, that is when fires can occur. The burning smell indicates that there is already enough heat to create a fire, and you must now have it inspected. You can reduce this possibility by cleaning your lint trap; however, it will not catch all of it. That is why you need to clean the vents, too. If you notice a burning smell, do not use your dryer until you have the vents cleaned.
- Outdoor accumulation: Lint may become loose and then have nowhere to go but outdoors. You will see it flying from your dryer hose or outside opening. You will also notice the duct hood does not open easily, which also reduces airflow and increases fire hazards. Start by vacuuming the vent from the outside, then moving your dryer to address any buildup inside, too.
- Excessive heat: When your venting system no longer functions due to lint clogs, the exterior of your machine and your clothes will heat up. The same reduced airflow that increases drying time and humidity turns your dryer into a sauna that just happens to be a fire hazard, too. The most fortunate end to this scenario is if your dryer wears out its heating element and you avoid a fire. However, that will mean an expensive repair or replacement that is easily avoided with clean dryer vents.
Accessing your dryer vent involves pulling your dryer from the wall and vacuuming. This is often troublesome for people if they cannot move their dryer and do not have access to assistance. That is where we can help you. King’s Cleaning Service, Inc. can clean your dryer vents, as well as provide general cleaning service in Village, VA. Call us today to arrange an estimate.