Home Safety

How to Clean Your Dryer Vent (and Why It's a Fire Risk)

Dryers cause thousands of home fires a year, and lint buildup is the leading cause. The good news: cleaning the vent is a 20-minute job.

How often

Clean the full vent duct at least once a year — more often for a large household or a long duct run. Clean the lint screen after every single load; that's your first line of defense.

Warning signs it's clogged

• Clothes take two cycles to dry.
• The dryer or laundry room feels unusually hot.
• A burning smell during a cycle.
• The vent flap outside barely opens when running.

How to clean it

1. 1Unplug the dryer (and shut off the gas valve on gas models).
2. 2Pull the dryer out and disconnect the vent duct from the back.
3. 3Vacuum the lint from the duct, the dryer's outlet, and the wall duct.
4. 4Go outside and clean the exterior vent hood and flap.
5. 5Reconnect everything, push the dryer back, and run a short cycle to confirm airflow.

Make it a habit

It's the kind of task that's easy to forget for years — until it's a problem. Upkeepery keeps it on a yearly schedule and reminds you, so a quick chore never becomes a hazard.