Things That Might Be Damaging Your Dryer

Most people clean the lint trap every load and assume that is the maintenance done. It is not, and the things quietly damaging your dryer are almost always on the other side of the machine, in the duct running out through the wall or roof.

We have to clean the lint trap whenever we use the dryer. But there are other things in addition to lint that can cause problems in your dryer and destroy it. You should know about these things to ensure a truly clean dryer and prevent damage. Get your dryer vent cleaned professionally from experts after every few years.

Primary Reason behind Dryer Damage

The dryer vent is a little hose that is attached behind your dryer and hooked inside the wall. The dryer vent moves from the dryer to the rooftop or the side of your residence because it releases hot air and removes lint that gathers from clothes.

In the past, dryer vents used to be smaller and had good airflow, but nowadays, they are generally much bigger as the dryer is placed in the middle of the house. Due to this, the air is unable to push lint entirely out of the vent and it accumulates inside it. This eventually leads to dryer vent blockage.

How It Impacts the Performance of Your Dryer

The lint that gathers inside the dryer vent adversely affects the performance of your dryer and causes it to work harder to dry your clothes. It also takes more time than usual to dry your clothes. This not just reduces the performance of your dryer but also damages it over time.

Other Causes of Dryer Vent Failure

The clogged dryer vent is also a leading cause of fire in homes. It’s not only lint that gathers inside your dryer. Birds and several critters also build their nests inside the dryer vent. Moreover, the builders may use wrong materials or place useless or mesh covers on the external part of the vent, which causes a buildup of lint at a much faster rate.

Several other culprits might be causing your dryer to work harder, such as squished hose or shingles over the hole of a dryer vent.

How Can You Prevent Damage to Your Dryer?

Knowing about all these things can help in preventing damage to your dryer. However, you cannot eliminate lint, bird nests, or other debris completely from ductwork on your own. Even if you clean some part of the dryer vent, you cannot reach the hidden areas and take care of them like professionals can.

For this, you need professional dryer vent cleaning services that ensure deep cleaning. Dryer vent cleaning experts perform a thorough inspection of your entire dryer vent and ductwork to identify the problem areas and resolve the issues. Regular vent cleaning protects your dryer against damage, improves its performance, and reduces your energy bills.

What to do about the vent that is damaging your dryer

A dryer is designed to push a specific volume of hot, wet air out of the house. Restrict that path and the moisture stays inside the drum, the cycle runs longer, the heating element works harder and the thermal cut-out starts tripping. Every one of those is a repair bill, and every one of them traces back to airflow rather than the appliance.

The usual culprits are a duct run that is far longer than it should be, flexible foil or vinyl pipe that has sagged and collected lint at the low point, a crushed section behind the machine where it was pushed back against the wall, or an exterior flap that no longer opens. None of these are visible without pulling the dryer out.

If your clothes need two cycles, the laundry room is hot and humid, or the outside vent is barely moving air, the vent is the place to start. We clean the full run rather than the first three feet — see what dryer vent cleaning involves, or if the pipework itself is the problem we also handle dryer vent repair. Free estimates across all six counties.