Learn how to clean the inside and outside of your dryer, including the lint trap, vent, drum, and exterior. Regular cleaning can prevent lint build-up, improve performance, and avoid fire hazards. Use tools like a lint brush, vacuum, dish soap, vinegar, and other tools to remove lint from the screen, compartment, vent, and drum for optimal performance and safety. Avoid using a toothbrush as it can be harmful.
Remove lint from the vent, drum, and exterior using common household items like a paint stick, microfiber duster, chopsticks, and a vacuum. Keep your dryer working efficiently by removing stains, debris, and residue from the vent, drum, and exterior.
Locate, remove, and clean your dryer lint trap regularly to prevent fires and improve efficiency. Follow the steps for quick and deep cleanings, and get tips on when and how often to do it. Remove and clean the lint screen and slot of your dryer after each load to prevent lint build-up and improve drying efficiency.
To clean the lint screen, start by removing it and cleaning it thoroughly. Use a vacuum with a long hose attachment to reach deep into the lint trap and the dryer vent. An appliance brush can help dislodge trapped lint, which can then be vacuumed up.
Clean off the lint filter before each load by hand or run the filter under a bit of water. Remove the lint screen and use a vacuum to remove any small bits of leftover lint. Take the lint trap screen to the sink and wash it with warm soap and water.
In summary, cleaning the inside and outside of your dryer is essential for optimal performance and safety.
📹 Deep Cleaning DRYER LINT TRAP | HIDDEN FIRE HAZARD
Deep Cleaning DRYER LINT TRAP | SAFETY CLEAN Want to watch me clean other things in the kitchen? If so, watch here: …
📹 How To Clean The Lint Out of a Dryer | Simple Dryer Vent Cleaning is Not Enough!
In this video I show you how to clean the lint out of a dryer that got past the lint trap. Everyone knows to clean their dryer vent but …
My lint trap started to slightly lift on one side. Clothes started to get stuck on a corner and turned the whole load of clothes into a “clothes tornado” that I had to untwist. I trimmed the now gnarled plastic and even sanded it smooth. Still happened. To my horror there is a huge chunk of lint UNDER the trap! They sure don’t make it easy to reach though! Why!? It was like a damn brick 🧱 lol I came here looking for tips on how to possibly reach the bit I can’t seem to get, thanks a bunch!
I must be a special kind of stupid. I always clean the screen but I don’t think I’ve gotten into the trap in years. After washing some rugs I noticed the screen wasn’t fitting. Looked in and it was completely clogged. Got most of it out this evening and will get a brush and break up the rest tomorrow. Major fire hazard!
How do i prevent the lent seeping out of the hose causing lent to fly around the laundry closet? I live in an apartment and the landlord won’t have maintenance secure the hose because I the W/D is their property (mine) and a handyman won’t do it because they don’t want to damage the apartment’s wall by securing it?
Thank-you a million times over!! Perfect instructional article for my dryer problem. I live in rural Newfoundland and couldn’t find a repair person to come fix my dryer, thanks to you I was able to fix it myself. FYI my problem was a sock that got down into the fan, a problem that occurred when the dryer was started without the lint trap inserted. Thanks.
I have seen many articles on this topic of dryer vent cleaning, but you just took it to a whole new level. Even though my dryer lint trap is on top that faces the rear of the dryer, I was able to lift the lid. Who knew? Anyway, I looked down on the inside and I saw about $3 worth of change. Funny what you can find when you open it up. When I get the chance, I am going to definitely pull it all apart and clean it out. And yes, I will retrieve the lonely money sitting there all by itself. LOL. Thank you for such an awesome article and explanation. You should be a teacher if you are not one already. Cheers
Our LG dryer started making noises. Youtube research suggested that it was the rollers, which are typically the first item to wear out. Which requires taking the dryer apart. I could not believe how much lint I discovers. At least 3 times what you got out in this article. Some of it looked burnt. We probably narrowly avoided a dryer lint fire.
Thank you for this article! A battery was somehow lodged in that motor, went to put clothes in and it made the worst grinding noise. My hubby is a GC, he can build/fix literally anything, but it’s his bday so thank you for showing step by step how to do it & allowing me to NOT ask for his help at 10pm on his bday lol.
I tell neighbors, friends, family and coworkers about dryer fires and prevention. A lot of people think cleaning the lint screen of a clothes dryer is enough. I helped my neighbor clean her clothes dryer and dryer vent duct recently. I was asked a question,”do you clean dryer vents all the time?” I said,”Yes, to prevent dryer fires.” She was thankful for me helping to prevent a dryer fire in her home. My next door neighbor was surprised I knew how to connect flexible rods with brushes to his cordless DeWalt drill for cleaning the lint dust from inside my dryer vent duct from my basement to patio recently. He admitted his clothes dryer is working better. Keeping my dryer and dryer vent clean has kept my utilities bills lowered by $28.00 to $30.00 each month.
I bought a house that came with a 3 year old washer and dryer. I noticed the dryer was taking forever to dry a load of clothes. I cleaned the lint screen and the well that holds the lint screen. It had a shop vac attachment in it, dirt, tons of dog or cat hair. Dust mites! I also have asthma. I have always been a stickler for cleaning because of my asthma and the potential hazards that can occur. Now I’ve got to get the washer checked. Another story later. Thank you so much for the article.
Great article!, Thank You, I live in an apt. I couldn’t for the life of me figure why my apt was always so dusty, I keep things nice and tidy (topped off with a little OCD) so I knew something was wrong, The apt complex shined it off and said they had all the exhaust vents cleaned (which they in-fact did have done) and that it was probably coincidental, I finally took my vacuum canister that was FULL of lint every 2 weeks of vacuuming…that’s all that was in it, and asked them where do they think this is coming from? So I whipped out this article and showed them…maintenance comes out next week.
Good article, I have a question- my exhaust duct goes up the wall, through the attic and out the roof. In the attic it makes a weird twisted turn and then at the roof it has a square exhaust hood. When I got one of those brush head drill attachments I cleaned out TONS of lint from the exhaust but wasn’t able to get it out of the roof hood. I had to climb up onto my roof and reach underneath the hood (it’s a permanent install and doesnt come off unless you remove shingles) to get the lint out, which was 100% blocked. My roof is steep and I didn’t enjoy my near-death experience being up there. So my question is have you ever seen any type of filter that can catch lint before it heads up the exhaust? Something that would be a second trap after the built in lint trap. I haven’t been able to find anything on the webs. Thanks
Great article. We had a tech some out and fix something on our dryer and in the process he said our lint trap had never ever been cleaned. I argued with him because we clean out the lint trap every single time we use the machine (the mesh/screen thing). It took a while before we realized were were talking about different things. He unscrewed the bottom vent and OMG there was so much lint!! We had no idea we were supposed to routinely clean that as well.
Thank you for your article about lint can build-up inside the dryer naturally overtime. I noticed lint build-up on the heat inlet grille and exhaust holes before I put clothes in my family’s dryer on Saturday morning. I immediately stopped,and called a local appliance service center to diagnose and remove lint inside the dryer this week. I heard about a dryer fire a couple of months ago in Omaha, Nebraska from a local appliance service center. I did not want to risk a dryer fire. My father is surprised that a dryer needs to be cleaned once a year to prevent a dryer fire.
I was having a wine and weed weekend at home doing laundry and I questioned where the “Lint Catchers” lint goes too after it caught all of my lint… thank you for making my weekend so much better. I got serval laughs for being 30 and not knowing that I should take it apart and actually clean it properly. thank you for making this article =-)
I don’t think this will work for my model dryer, at least not without lifting & removing the whole thing, because mine is a stackable with the top too close to the cabinet above it to be able to lift the lid. Basically you’ve told me that I either need a special vacuum cleaner attachment or to hire a professional (at least for me, with my bad back).
I was able to clean out that front vent pretty well, and it was a ridiculous amount of lint, dog hair and small objects. Amazon has an attachment for any vacuum for $7 that allowed me to not have to take the front panel off. With that said, my next concern is the rear of the dryer. How much can get past the motor and into the back? Luckily our vent through the wall is only about the depth of the wall directly outside, and we moved into a new home in July so the pipe and wall are clean. I just don’t feel like pulling out the dryer since the vinyl flooring is prone to tearing with heavy objects.
Can I clean the inside of the dryer from the back where the tubing to the vent is connected? I am not able to take my 20 yr old GE dryer apart to work from the front where the lint screen is. I thought the dryer was running hotter than normal, had repairman come and check things, said it was OK. But he didn’t check any of lint possibilities, which I now see he should have done. Not going to pay for another visit, so I hope I can get in thru the back with a brush kit. Will that work?
I need a definite answer on how often you empty the lint filter. We have a real disagreement ……. on the lid of the dryer it says clean filter after every use….it used to say clean filter after every load. This is so picky (use/load) I check the lint filter before I start my laundry or after, just to make sure the filter is clean. NOW my interpretation of use and load, use is after your laundry job is complete, and this depends on my number of loads. Loads is empty filter after every load you wash. For what reason was the verbiage changed from Load to Use. Silly but this is dealing with two control freekes
Lite version: Remove lint trap and use the vacuum attachment shown at 6:01 (Amazon or eBay $10) to clean out the bottom where the trap is usually seated. I spent 10 minutes picking up lint pieces. After that, the lint trap was flush as well. However, I will open the appliance to clean the vent as well. Thanks!
I bought tubes you can attach to your vacuum hose they come with adapters to fit the tube of of your vacuum. It can reach deep down to the part he took off below the bin the lint screen goes into. I just bought a new dryer because my Samsung quick working. (Never Ever Buy A Samsung Appliance) I’ve tried them twice. Paid a lot worked for a short time. There’s even a Samsung article on how to fix the ear drum breaking screeching that you will have a good chance of happening to you.
Just purchased this Samsung model dryer. Nice to see someone take it apart before doing it myself. Kinda surprising to see that there’s only 1 wire harness & 8 screws to gain access to the blower, not to mention you don’t have to pull it away from the wall. (Unless you check the vent) My old Whirlpool must have 20 screws & 6 wires to disconnect before even getting access to the blower. Just to find out it’s still clean, but not getting power. Uggh
8:18 Thank you so much for this! I have already had Best Buy come out and clear an error code that said my moisture sensor needed replacing. I had already cleared the vent hose and lint trap. Prior to the tech coming out and replacing the sensor, the dryer door kept having condensation build up. Now that the sensor is replaced, my dryer keeps shutting off before the clothes are dry. I was looking for a tutorial like this to help. You made it look easy and the instructions were very clear! I have a new model Samsung but going to see if this works! A million thank you’s!
Hey I came to find a article saying it’s okay to pull the Samsung (maybe not but looks like yours ) filer out and vacuum with a hose down in there cause I don’t get a lot of stuff on my filter and it’s like trapped down in there. I don’t wanna go to far though cause I don’t know what’s deep down in there. So if I pull the filter out and vacuum with a slanted attachment can I freely move around down in there til it’s clean. No dryer probs but i noticed a ton of fuzz down i there. Thanks.
Omgdness thank you such for this article!! My dryer turned on for a few seconds and then turned off and on. There was alot of lint and I got some out before with a hanger. I found a sock in the spinning part and unhooked that but it sounds like a truck now. This dryer was pretty much quiet when I got it. So, idk what that is?? Any suggestions?? Thanks
I’m actually getting water and leaking down into my dryer I don’t know where from I’m in a brand new home. The last dryer that I had here for a short while I was doing the same things I thought there was something wrong with the dryer. My friend said it’s probably something to do with the lent and that I need to clean the the lint area in in the dryer itself the long thing that goes behind the wall of the dryer drum and also the vent from the dryer to the outside. Does this sound right?
If you own a Whirlpool, they are not made like this at all. There is a slide and lift trick to remove the top. Also, you need to prepare to support the drum when you remove the front panel. It’s one piece and the front drum rollers are attached to that. Also, that blower and the blower housing can get very clogged, as can the pipe that goes to the back of the dryer. If you take off the inner front panel and the blower housing you can access the inside of the dryer and vacuum the motor and the entire inside as clean as a whistle.
I bought a neglected rental property a few years ago with six apartments that had just set of coin operated Whirlpool washer and dryer. The prior owner never took care of anything but he sure did empty out the coin boxes before closing day. The tenants told me that the clothes weren’t getting completely dry so I did a complete clean out of the dryer’s exhaust and heat box. It was the type of Whirlpool dryer that had the lint screen that loaded though the top of the machine where the flew runs up the back of the machine. There had to be nine inches of lint in there and I found paperclips pennies quarters dimes nickels a tie tack.
I have the same dryer and same problem. I bought a vacuum hose adapter to slip in there and suck all the lint out. I am def gonna take it apart though and give it a thorough cleaning. Also the lint trap will get weak over time and not snap closed at the bottom. so when you take it out you’ll loose some lint to the bottom
why in the heck would you take the entire dryer apart then you just need to take the lint thing out, get a vacuum with a tight space attachment (the one every vacuum comes with) and stick it in there. you can easily vacuum all of that up and saves you from tearing the dryer apart. work smarter not harder.
From the very beginning, I was amused. To start with, the dryer appeared to be already unplugged. It looked like you unplugged a 110v which would’ve been the washer probably. Then, to stick your foot into the doorway to press down on it while pulling up the top, well, that was funny. It’d been better to stick a flat screwdriver under the top and pry up a little to pop it free of the spring clamps that held it down. I was afraid of what I might see after that so I called it a thing and moved on to different things
No Sir, No Sir! I am not a hater, disser or “Better Than You” guy. But you are doing these people a HUGE disservice. I like your articles, and yes, you are normally spot on. However, in this one you tell your viewers to unplug the unit before continuing. Then you proceed to unplug the 120V washer, (and the dryer is already unplugged as evidenced by the empty 220V plug next to the other one). Remember, you are speaking to the world here, and telling people how they can do this themselves. So the first person who unplugs the washer (because that’s what you showed them) and gets killed working on a 220V unit that is still plugged in probably owes his orphans a bug apology from you. Fix it!