Clean Ducts Help Save Money and Help Prevent Dryer Fires

For laundry operators, one of the greatest responsibilities and obligations, both for themselves and for their customers, is the regular cleaning of the dryer venting and air exhaust systems. Everyone knows that accumulated lint and dust can become a serious, dangerous fire hazard. And it quite possibly is the leading source of laundry fires. No laundry owner wants that to happen on their watch. Accumulated lint can build up in the duct system and restrict the flow of exhaust air going out of the dryer to the outside. This will lengthen the drying time. Longer waits and more spending is what customers notice first and when it reaches serious proportions, it can antagonize even the nicest, most loyal laundry user. Yes, build up will cost the user more money to dry each load of clothing, and at first glance that looks good for a laundry''s cash flow, but it also costs the owner more. Besides, how many good customers can a laundry owner afford to anger and lose? It takes more and more gas to dry the same loads of clothes. Working against restrictions slows down the air flow causing dryers to burn more gas than should normally be needed, and it is that natural gas that costs the laundry owner the most money. Natural gas bills will not be going down any time soon. All sources indicate gas prices will continue to rise, Because lint build up causes the machines to run longer, it eventually stresses the small mechanical and electrical parts and eventually have them break down sooner than necessary. Burners run longer, switches turn off and on more times than they should and that will cause them to fail or burn out sooner. All of this is a lose, lose situation for the coin or card operated laundry owner. Greater number of dryer break downs, higher bills for gas and an unsatisfied customer base. Cleaning dryer lint boxes and the exhaust system is hard work. It''s time consuming and needs to be done on a consistent basis. Some operators hire a professional duct cleaning service and schedule clean outs regularly. That is one of the two sensible solutions to the lint problem. The second solution is to do it yourself, and that will appeal to those who operate marginal laundries where the expense of outside duct cleaning services, while reasonable, may just be too expensive for the laundry to bear. This writing is really directed to those who feel the need to do the job personally. First, we have to understand how the duct systems are usually laid out. Vent pipes attach to the dryer, normally by the use of duct tape wrapped around the pipe and the dryer''s exhaust. When cleaning the duct system, the duct tape must be removed, then replaced. In some areas the local building codes may require that sheet metal screws also be used to further secure the vent pipes. In that case the screws must first be removed to free up the venting at the bottom. If the code does require screws at the bottom, they should be replaced before you rewrap with duct tape. The vent pipes run up to and through the roof, and the heated air is then exhausted outside of the building. Air is then pumped back into the unit by the dryer''s blower fan coming from the make up air source to continue the cycle as long as the fan is turning. While the need for makeup air is important to the effectiveness of the drying cycle, it''s not important for the duct cleaning process. Except that not having enough makeup air circulating through the system slows the air flow down and allows more lint to adhere to the exhaust lines, the dryer lint box and screen. So, without proper make up air the job needs to be done more often. Material needed for the lint clean out are few and simple. Light dust masks is a good thing to have for the people doing the job. These can be found in hardware and paint stores. You will need a roll or two of duct tape, a broom, and maybe a couple of stiff brushes, and some damp rags to tidy up each dryer area after you''re finished. Get a number of plastic garbage bags to use to secure the lint. Having a good vacuum cleaner available to help with any cleaning mistakes is a good idea too. Using the right kind of ladder is important too. Make sure that it is more than adequate in length and is safe to use. Always think of ways to keep you or an employee safe while up on the roof, or on the way up and down. The tool that is needed for a good cleaning is simple to create, easy to use and can be saved for future reuse. We suggest that a mop like item be constructed consisting of some really light chain tied to a light cable or light rope. Make it look similar to a mop head or bottle brush by using short pieces tied to a cable or length of light rope or very heavy twine long enough to go from the roof and reach the dryer. Most single story laundry locations will require 15 or 20 feet of length. On the roof, vents are normally installed using screws. Remove screws securing the upper horse shoe section of the vent, take it off and you have a straight vent pipe to drop and swirl your vent tool down into to remove lint. After the vents are cleaned, be sure to replace the horse shoe and re-secure it with its screws to prevent strong winds from knocking off the caps and cause dryer back drafts. The mop like device is to be dropped down from the vent openings on the roof, down and back and forth in the pipe while being swirled. Makes a bit of noise, but does a great job of cleaning the lint out of the vents. Since the backs of the dryers are hidden from the public, one can do lint cleaning during normal business hours. Just mark the dryers being cleaned as being out of order and remove the sign when finished cleaning. Customers can use the dryers that have not yet been cleaned, or those that are finished already. That way, business goes on. Dryer vent cleaning is more a comfortable two man chore. One on the roof handling the mop tool and one at the bottom holding the plastic bags used to trap the falling lint. By the way, the openings to those bags should be taped around the bottom of the pipe while cleaning so that little dust escapes to drift into the customer area of the laundry. Do not forget to do a job of cleaning on the dryer''s lint box and screen. Here is where the stiff brushes and rags come in. Brushes should be used to clean the nooks and crannies inside the lint box. Use the rags to wipe up the dust and lint. Remember, lint attracts lint like a magnet attracts metal. They seem to bind together and then attract even more and more nodules of lint. Take out all the lint you can now to save having to remove even more later.