Dryer Vent Cleaning Options

[John Woodington]

My tenants let me know that their dryer is taking 2 to 3 cycles to dry a load of clothes. Clearly this is likely caused by a clogged dryer vent duct. I called out a duct cleaning company, and they said they could not clean the duct until spring as they would not access the roof vent in the winter while there is snow and ice on the roof. We are up in Minnesota here, so that makes sense. Does anyone have any recommendations for how I could get this vent Cleaned out before spring? I don’t want to renters to have to wait that long to have a functioning dryer. oddly enough the ducts were last clean this past July, so I’m surprised there’s an obstruction at all, but it is what it is.

[Julie Hartman]

It's a little bit of a pain but you could pull the dryer out, disconnect the vent tube and run a vacuum hose through it. They also sell tools at big box hardware stores that have a large rotating brush on one end to run through dryer vents. We've had good luck with that method.