To maintain performance and efficiency, you need to clean your dryer duct and vent regularly. This depends on how often you are using your dryer and the average amount of clothes placed into each dryer load.
The short answer: dryer ducts and vents should be cleaned at least once a year, but may require more cleanings per year for larger households.
Apart from household size and how often you use the dryer, the presence of pets and household members with jobs that track a lot of dirt and debris onto clothes are also important factors. Keep reading to learn how often your dryer duct and vent should be cleaned.
How Often Should Your Dryer Duct and Vent Be Cleaned
There are two main factors you must consider to determine how often your dryer duct and vent are to be cleaned:
- Household size and pets
- Dirtiness of clothes
Each plays a role in the amount of debris that needs to be cleaned out of your dryer duct and vent to maintain performance and efficiency. Read on to learn more about the relationship between household size and the cleanliness of your dryer duct and vent.
Household Size and Pets
Household size and pets greatly influence the amount of debris that accumulates in your dryer vent and duct. Excluding pets, the number of people living in the household determines how many clothes need washing and drying on a daily basis.
When pets are added to the equation, much more debris from pet hair and dirt must be cleaned out of your clothes and find its way into your dryer.
Generally speaking, the more people and pets are present in the household translates into a dirtier duct and vent that will need more frequent cleanings for proper maintenance.
Cleanliness of Clothes
Although jobs and hobbies are necessary, they often expose your clothes to a lot of chemicals. Depending on your job and hobbies, your clothes are exposed to varying levels of dirt, liquids, and other chemicals that may be hard to wash out. When you transfer clothes with excessive residue into the dryer, this will cause debris to build up inside your dryer duct and vent. Instead of putting extremely dirty clothes straight into the washer and dryer, you can opt to clean your clothes by hand beforehand. This will not only keep your dryer duct and vent cleaner, but your washer too.