Professional Window Washing Preserves Your Windows and Saves You Time and Money
It is easy to tell when some things around your house need professional cleaning. The effects of dirty gutters and windows are easy to see. One of the most important systems in your home needs regular professional cleaning, but it is not as apparent. Your dryer vent is responsible for carrying hot air and moisture to the outside of your home, and the filter system in your dryer cannot catch all the contaminants and waste products coming from your dryer. “Out of sight, out of mind” is not a safe policy when it comes to your dryer vent. The National Fire Protection Association has reported that the most common cause of home fires starting with clothes dryers is uncleaned dryer vents. Dirty vents cause more dryer fires than electrical failure, improper use, and all other factors.
Dryers use hot air circulation to evaporate water from fabrics while turning the fabric inside the dryer’s drum. Whether your dryer operates on electricity or natural gas, heated air is the primary requirement of the drying system. When the dryer’s hot air evaporates water out of fabrics, excessive moisture becomes water vapor which has to be vented out of the dryer along with the heated air.
In addition to water vapor, the hot air inside the dryer picks up lint and fabric particles during the drying process. Some of these particles and lint are picked up by the primary filter built into your dryer. Over time, some lint escapes from the dryer into the dryer vent system, where lint builds up. These lint particles are very flammable and will clog up the dryer vent. As the vent becomes more clogged and less effective at venting hot air and water vapor to the outside of your home, excessive heat builds up inside your dryer. This buildup of heat can cause technical issues, including sparks that will quickly ignite fabrics inside the dryer, and more dangerously, lint inside the dryer vent. Once the material inside the dryer vent is ignited, a fire involving the entire home’s structure can rapidly progress.
When a dryer vent is dirty, hot air cannot escape to your home’s exterior. This excessive heat places extreme stress on your dryer, causing parts to wear and deteriorate much more rapidly than normal. The heating element of many types of dryers will fail much earlier than expected under the stress of a blocked vent. Blocked vents also result in extended drying times. In addition to causing greater mechanical wear, the increased energy cost caused by a blocked vent is significant. Further, overheated dryers are harsh on most of your clothes and fabrics. Keeping your dryer vent clean and your dryer running efficiently will provide extended life for your clothes and linens.
There are some day-to-day dryer cleaning techniques that you can handle yourself. These involve the maintenance of the dryer itself. Youshould, of course, clean the dryer’s filter after each use, and keep the dryer drum free of lint or debris buildup. The dryer vent running through your home’s interior to the exterior walls and the outside world are not suited for do-it-yourself cleaning. Professional cleaning requireshigh-pressure vacuum systems and techniques to properly remove all fire causing debris from your vent system. A home with normal laundry use should have the dryer vent professionally cleaned at least once per year. If you attempt to clean your dryer vent on your own, you run the risk of making the problem worse when all the lint and debris are not removed but are further compacted inside your vent.
There are also some things you should look for in between regular professional cleanings to determine if your vent needs cleaning and attention. If your dryer is taking unusually long to dry laundry, if you notice your outside vent is not discharging air while the dryer is running, or if lint is building up around the exterior vent, you likely have a lint buildup that needs immediate professional cleaning. Other warning signs include excessive heat inside your laundry room and laundry that seems hotter than normal when coming out of the dryer.
Protect your family and your property by keeping your dryer vent professionally cleaned. Call First Class Pressure Washing today to get a free quote for regular professional cleaning of your dryer vent system.
