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Clean out your lint! Make your drier more efficient, lower the risk of fire

Step-by-step repair

ORLANDO, Fla. – We’ve covered too many drier fires and so often it’s because lint builds up inside and catches fire. Lint buildup can also decrease efficiency and make your drier take longer to dry your clothes. So clean it out!

We brought with us:

Shop Vac

Leaf blower

Flashlight

We recommend:

Drier cleaning kit

Step 1

Clean out your drier lint screen. This is something you should be doing every time you do a load of laundry! Remove the screen from the inside of the drier and peel off the lint.

Clean out your lint! Make your drier more efficient, lower the risk of fire (Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)

Step 2

Suck out the lint from the lint screen slot. Unplug the drier first or flip off the breaker! Grab your Shop Vac or borrow one from a neighbor. Use the long skinny attachment to shove the end of the vacuum hose down into the lint screen slot. Suck out as much lint as you can.

Clean out your lint! Make your drier more efficient, lower the risk of fire (Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)

Step 3

Suck out the lint from the back of the drier. You’ll need to slide out your drier so you can get access to the back. Disconnect the drier vent hose from the back by squeezing the clamps and pulling off the hose. Then stick the vacuum hose end into the hole at the back of the drier where the vent hose attaches. Suck out as much lint at you can.

Clean out your lint! Make your drier more efficient, lower the risk of fire (Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)

Step 4

Suck out the lint from the vent hose. Put the vacuum hose end into the vent hose. It helps if you compress the hose. Some people like to use a leaf blower to blow out the lint through the hose and out through the hose end outside. That works too! Then put it all back together.

#Househack: You can buy a drier cleaning kit that makes this process easier. It’s basically a long brush with bristles the size of the vent hose. If you have trouble getting the vacuum cleaner hose through the vent hose, a cleaning kit might help.

Clean out your lint! Make your drier more efficient, lower the risk of fire (Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)
Clean out your lint! Make your drier more efficient, lower the risk of fire (Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)

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If you have a project you’d like Erik to tackle, send us an email at GettingResultsAtHome@wkmg.com and next week Erik might just show up at your door!