The earliest cloths dryers were made in England and France in the late 18th century and early 19th centuries. Back then, they were known as cloths “ventilators” and were large metal drums with ventilation holes powered by hand cranks and used over coals or open fires. Though the invention cannot be traced to any one person these primitive cloths drying techniques were not all that they were cracked up to be as the cloths often smelled of smoke and were covered in soot if not caught on fire and burned by accident.
The first electric dryer was invented by J. Ross Moore in North Dakota in the early 20th century. Moore was tired of hanging his cloths on clothes lines and having to wait for hours. He was frustrated with not only the great waste of time, but also the reliance on good weather for his clothes to dry. For as long as there have been electric dryers there has been a need to have those dryer vents cleaned.
Dirty or clogged dryer vents can cause a plethora of problems that you may not be aware of. For one, they can impair the performance of your dryer as well as cause costly damage to the machine it self. Dryer vent lint is a favorable material for rodents to make nests out of and will attract rats mice and other small critters to your home. If left uncleared, built up lint is also highly flammable and are one of the leading causes of house fires. Learning how to clean your dryer vents at least once a year is an essential way to protect your investments.
When trying to determine if your vent needs to be cleaned, check your dryer to see if it is taking extra time to dry your cloths. Dryer lint buildup can cause your dryer to also become hot to the touch and in the worst cases you may even notice a burnt smell in your laundry room.
One cleaning option is the DIY route with a consumer rated dryer vent cleaning kit that you can buy from Home Depot, Lowes, and various other hardware stores. In these kits you will get various 12in to 18 in rods that connect together with a screw, 1 or 2 vent brushes, and some will even have a coupler to join the vent with the equipment and a vacuum.
There are a few things that you will want to note with the home dryer cleaning kits. First, they come apart when the drill that supplies the power to them is reversed. This presents a big problem because you don’t know where the machine will come apart. As a professional dryer vent cleaning company, we have had many calls from DIY home owners that have had dryer vent cleaning kits come apart and get lodged in the dryer line. Aside from this being a headache and inconvenience, this will also cause your dryer vent line to become un-useable and will create an even worse situation for fire hazards and vent line clogs. If this happens to you, don’t panic! Call Axiom Floor Care! We have the equipment and the ability to remove any lost and lodged equipment pieces. Keep in mind, the process for extracting the equipment is much more expensive than the cost to have your vents professionally cleaned in the first place.
Take precautions as the spinning equipment can cause harm or become damage if not properly handled. Always use gloves, always make sure that your electric cords are grounded as dryer vents can complete a circuit if the vent is touching the ground. If the vent is loose, as may be the case in raised foundation homes and mobile homes, you will want to take extra precaution that the hose does not move as you are cleaning.
I hope you found this article useful don’t be afraid to reach out to axiom for any questions that you might have. We Pride our selfs in high quality work and love to share our expertise with those who are open to listening.