Cleaning the Dryer Vent

I'm sure you've all seen those commercials for things like the Lint Lizard or wands that promise to clean out all that lint trapped deep within the dryer vent. Well being the frugal cheap person that I am, I figured I could come up with some way to clean all that out without having to purchase yet another thing from an infomercial. Side note - I have just about been banned from watching infomercials because I will buy almost any cool thing I see on TV!

This project started because we found out that we have an electric dryer in this new place. If you don't have one, don't get one! They are ridiculously expensive to run compare to gas dryers. I've been searching for tips and tricks to help it operate more efficiently and found that if I cleaned the lint trap (which apparently is also a big cause of dryer fires) it might help it run better.

The wheels in my head got spinning!

You will need a wire hanger, Swiffer dry cloths, and painters tape (or another good and sticky tape).

Straighten out the wire hanger. Then lay the cloth lengthwise along the bottom of the hanger. Secure both ends really well with the tape.

Remove the lint trap and use the wand to clean down inside the lint duct. It will get out all kinds of crud that you had no idea was in there!

Nice and dirty Swiffer cloth that I just took off and threw away. Let's hope this helps the dryer run a bit better now!