How to Clean a Dryer Vent Pipe
- 1). Unplug the dryer if electric, or turn off the gas if it is a gas dryer.
- 2). Pull out your dryer from the wall to access behind the dryer where your vent tubing is.
- 3). Loosen the clamp on the vent dryer hose with your screwdriver, and slide the hose off the dryer.
- 4). Use your shop vac and vacuum the vent hole on the back of the dryer. Put the hose into the dryer to get all the excess lint on the inside.
- 5). Vacuum the inside of the flexible tubing as well, and as far as you can reach into the tubing that vents outside. If you notice excessive lint further into the pipe, you may need to use a dryer lint brush to sweep clean the pipe after removing the outside vent cover.
To use your sweeper brush, first remove the outside vent cover as written in the following step. From the inside of the house, push the brush through to the outside. Repeat this two times to clean the inside of the vent pipe. - 6). Go outside and take off the dryer vent to access the pipe. It may have screws you will need to unscrew as well as caulking, which you can pry loose. Once unscrewed, pull the vent toward you.
- 7). Vacuum as far as you can reach into this end as well.
- 8). Go inside and re-attach the flexible pipe to the dryer and to the pipe that goes outside. Re-tighten the clamp on the dryer with your screwdriver, and push back the dryer to the proper position, being careful not to kink the dryer hose.
- 9). Turn on the dryer on air dry for five minutes to blow the excess lint out of the vent. Once done, go outside and re-attach the dryer vent cover.
