All posts by Eddie Kyles

Monster Plant in a Dryer Vent in Neptune Beach

Monster plant in the dryer vent of a home in Neptune Beach.With over 10 years of experience in the dryer vent cleaning business, A Lint Free Vent 904.537.1483 recommends getting your residential or commercial dryer vent thoroughly and professionally cleaned on a regular basis.

For some people that means an annual dryer vent cleaning. For some people who wash and dry a lot of loads of laundry and for some commercial laundries, their dryer vents may need to be cleaned more often than just once per year.

We have found some dryer vents almost completely clogged by lint.

Here is a photo of a bird’s nest we found in one client’s dryer vent.

birds nest in a dryer vent duct

Recently, a home owner in Neptune Beach told us it was taking longer and longer to dry a load of laundry. A dryer vent restricted by lint accumulation can cause this. Sometimes, we are called because dryers overheat and cannot finish drying a load of laundry; I have found those dryer vents also clogged with lint.

Imagine my surprise when I removed the dryer vent cap on the side of the home and found a plant had invaded the dryer vent. The warm, moist dryer exhaust air in the vent was perfect for the plant root. As you can see in the following video, the plant was growing nicely but also clogging the dryer vent!

Happily, with the plant root and the lint removed from the dryer vent, our client’s dryer was back to drying loads of laundry as expected. Another happy client!

Eddie Kyles with CoronaVirus facemask - spring 2020Call Eddie Kyles, owner and operator of A Lint Free Vent at 904.537.1483 or Contact Us if you have questions about our residential and commercial dryer vent cleaning and repair, and re-routing services. You can also to set up your annual dryer vent cleaning appointment, today.

Fire Hazard – Look Behind Your Dryer

Remember that old saying, “Out of sight, out of mind?” When is the last time you took a peek at the space behind your dryer?

One of the first things we do when we visit a client’s home or business is to pull the dryer away from the wall so we can access the dryer vent.

Sometimes we find fallen clothes hangers. Sometimes we find that missing sock the client has been looking for. When went to clean the dryer vent in this Jacksonville, Florida home, we found the dryer vent had a sharp kink in it!

Having a kink in your dryer vent duct causes a restriction. When the hot, moist, dryer exhaust comes to the restriction in the vent duct, lint begins to collect and further restrict the duct. The accumulating lint in the restricted dryer vent duct is a FIRE Hazard! The restricted duct causes exhaust heat from the dryer to make that collected lint hotter while the load of laundry dries.

– Lint is combustible!
– Did you know that lint from your dryer can be used to start a fire for your barbecue grill or to start a campfire?

kinked dryer vent - fire hazard behind dryerIf you see your dryer vent duct has been kinked like the one in the photo, the duct needs to be replaced. Straightening the duct out a little will not remove the kink. A Lint Free Vent can replace your kinked dryer vent duct, and also clean your vent duct from the dryer, all the way to the vent cap outside your home.

– – Some people find replacing a kinked dryer vent duct a satisfying home DIY project. Flexible dryer vent ducting is available at neighborhood home improvement stores like Home Depot, Lowes, and Ace Hardware.

– – Other clients decide they are ready to replace their flexible dryer vent duct with metal dryer vent ductwork, a service which A Lint Free Vent can also provide.

Either way, please take a look behind your dryer from time to time to make sure your dryer vent duct has not been kinked by movement of the dryer.

Eddie Kyles with CoronaVirus facemask - spring 2020Call Eddie Kyles, owner and operator of A Lint Free Vent at 904.537.1483 or Contact Us if you have questions about our residential and commercial dryer vent cleaning and repair, and re-routing services. You can also to set up your annual dryer vent cleaning appointment, today.

Dryer Vent Makes Gurgling Sound in Deerwood

Eddie Kyles with CoronaVirus facemask - spring 2020A homeowner in the Deerwood neighborhood of Jacksonville, Florida called A Lint Free Vent 904.537.1483 because when she was drying a load of laundry, she heard a gurgling sound coming from her dryer vent!

The homeowner said she couldn’t remember the last time she had her dryer vent cleaned.

After we disconnected the flexible exhaust from the wall connector, we saw the inside of the dryer vent was thick with lint.

looking into the dryer end of the gurgling dryer vent

– – Every time you dry a load of laundry, little pieces of lint (from the fabrics being dried) collect on the inner wall of the dryer vent duct.
– – As the dryer vent becomes more and more restricted, more moisture collects in the restricted ductwork.
– – Eventually, the water that formed from the collected moisture began to gurgle at the most restricted section of this vent duct.

We cleaned the lint from the vent duct, from the dryer to the end cap, outside the home.

The dryer doesn’t gurgle when it is drying laundry, now! Another happy client!

Our client was happy to hear that we keep clients on our business calendar, and contact them about a year after cleaning their vent, to schedule another dryer vent cleaning.
– – Download the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) list of Dryer Safety Tips, which includes recommending an annual dryer vent cleaning for most homes.
– – Depending on how much laundry a home does, and the type of materials being dried, a home dryer vent may need cleaning more often than once per year.

Eddie Kyles - owner of A Lint Free VentCall Eddie Kyles, owner and operator of A Lint Free Vent at 904.537.1483 or Contact Us if you have questions about our residential and commercial dryer vent cleaning and repair, and re-routing services. You can also to set up your annual dryer vent cleaning appointment, today.

Clogged and Rusted Through Dryer Vent in Mandarin

A homeowner in the Mandarin neighborhood of Jacksonville, Florida called A Lint Free Vent 904.537.1483. She was having problems with her dryer:

  • Her dryer got hot to the touch on top during a drying cycle.
  • It took several cycles to dry a load of laundry.
  • It had been 3 or 4 years since she had her dryer vent cleaned.
  • She was afraid of a fire caused by her hot dryer.

When we pulled the dryer away from the wall, the dryer vent fell apart! Moisture from the dryer exhaust had collected in the lint clog in the curve of the dryer vent duct. Over the years, this moisture had corroded through the dryer vent duct!

We thoroughly cleaned the dryer vent, all the way to the vent cap, with our rotary brush. (The rotary brush tool is the preferred method for thorough dryer vent cleaning.) We installed a new dryer vent duct, from the dryer to the wall duct connector. Now our client’s dryer is drying laundry as it should, and not getting hot to the touch.

Our client said she was very happy to get her dryer vent repaired and cleaned, and to have her dryer running normally again. She asked us to put her on our A Lint Free Vent calendar for an annual dryer vent cleaning, starting next year.

Call Eddie Kyles, owner and operator of A Lint Free Vent at 904.537.1483 or Contact Us if you have questions about our dryer vent cleaning and repair, and re-routing services or to set up your annual dryer vent cleaning appointment, today.

Residential Dryer Vent Duct Repair – Jacksonville FL

A Jacksonville, Florida homeowner called A Lint Free Vent 904.537.1483 to get their damaged dryer vent repaired, and also get the dryer vent cleaned.

home inspection dryer vent damage report and photoA home inspection found the dryer vent duct had been damaged, and needed repair.
The inspection report provided a photo, which the homeowner shared.

We told the homeowner that we needed to take a look at the actual vent duct to see whether the duct could be repaired, or would need to be replaced.

First we inspected the damaged vent duct, in the attic of the home. We made a simple duct coupling and tape repair. That was all that was needed.

rotating brush, cleaning lint from inside a dryer ventThen we thoroughly cleaned the dryer vent, using our rotary brush tool. (The rotary brush tool is the preferred method for thorough dryer vent cleaning , in our industry.)

Our client was very happy to get his dryer vent repaired and cleaned.

Call Eddie Kyles, owner and operator of A Lint Free Vent at 904.537.1483 or Contact Us if you have questions about our dryer vent cleaning and repair, and re-routing services or to set up your annual dryer vent cleaning appointment, today.

Dryer Vent Cleaning during CoronaVirus-19 Pandemic

Eddie Kyles with CoronaVirus facemask - spring 2020A Lint Free Vent is providing residential and commercial Dryer Vent Cleaning and Dryer Vent Re-Routing services in our Jacksonville, Florida and surrounding service areas during the CoronaVirus-19 Pandemic of 2020.

We wear face masks, and maintain the CDC recommended 6 foot “social distancing” guidelines at each client’s home or business.

Every time you dry a load of laundry, moist lint from your drying laundry collects in the dryer vent, the exhaust path of clothes dryers.
And more and more of this lint collects inside in dryer vent duct each time the dryer is used!

Also, the National Fire Protection Association recommends getting your dryer vent duct cleaned on an annual basis, because dryer lint is flammable.

Eddie Kyles cleaing dryer vent with CoronaVirus facemaskDoes your dryer take longer and longer to dry a load of laundry?
Do you need to run the dryer through several drying cycles to get your laundry dry?
Just call Eddie Kyles at A Lint Free Vent 904.537.1483 to make an appointment.
Get your dryer vent thoroughly and professionally cleaned.

If Eddie finds your dryer vent needs a repair, or would perform better if it were re-routed, don’t worry, Eddie can do those jobs for you, too!

Signs Your Dryer Vent Needs Cleaning

Fighting a house fireDo you use an electrical or gas powered dryer to dry your clothes, bedding, and other laundry? The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) recommends that you get your dryer vent cleaned annually.

Based on years of collected fire safety data, NFPA warns that the lint collecting in your dryer ductwork is flammable, and has caused thousands of house fires each year. Some of these fires end in fatalities.

lint clogged dryer vent roof capThere are some easy ways to know your dryer vent needs to be cleaned out:

  • Do you see clumps of dryer lint on your roof, or hanging out of your dryer vent cap on your roof?
  • Does your dryer take longer and longer to dry each load of laundry?
  • Do your laundry items still feel damp at the end of a timed drying cycle?

If you see any of these signs, your dryer vent needs a thorough cleaning! It’s time to call Eddie Kyles at 904.537.1483 and make an appointment to have A Lint Free Vent thoroughly and professionally clean your dryer vent.

rotating brush tool cleaning lint from a dryer ventOur mobile dryer vent ductwork cleaning service usually takes less than an hour. We provide a thorough cleaning from dryer to vent cap (on the roof top, on the side of your home, or in your garage). And, we use a rotary brush. Cleaning lint out of dryer ductwork with a rotary brush is the recommended method for best results.

A Lint Free Vent provides mobile residential and commercial dryer vent cleaning services all around Jacksonville, Florida.

Call Eddie Kyles, owner and operator of A Lint Free Vent at 904.537.1483 or Contact Us if you have questions about our dryer vent cleaning service or to set up your annual dryer vent cleaning appointment, today.

Dryer Vent Cleaning Surprise!

You just never know what you will find when you take the dryer vent duct connection loose from the wall duct connector.

We have found nuts that squirrels had stored in several vent ducts, and mud in one vent duct that went under the slab the home was built on.

birds nest in a dryer vent ductLooking in this client’s dryer vent duct wall connector, you can see a bird’s nest!

  • There was no flapper in the vent cap, on the outer wall of the home.

After checking the nest for bird eggs or baby birds, we carefully removed the nest. Further in the vent duct, we found a second nest. We again checked the nest and then removed it.

Then we cleaned lint from the vent ductwork with our rotating brush tool.

rotating brush, cleaning lint from inside a dryer vent

Our client was amazed when we showed them the first bird’s nest. And really shocked to hear there had been two bird’s nests restricting their dryer vent duct, as well as the lint we removed.

When we finished cleaning this dryer vent, we installed a vent cap with a flapper in it, that automatically closes when the dryer is not running. That will keep squirrels and birds out of this client’s vent duct now!

Call Eddie Kyles, owner and operator of A Lint Free Vent at 904.537.1483 or Contact Us if you have questions about our dryer vent cleaning and repair, and re-routing services or to set up your annual dryer vent cleaning appointment, today.

Residential Dryer Vent Cleaning in Orange Park Florida

A homeowner in Orange Park, Florida called A Lint Free Vent 904.537.1483, making an appointment to clean their dryer vent.

This person had read one of our articles about some of the signs that a dryer vent needs cleaning . They also knew it had been “a while” since their dryer vent was last cleaned.

Instead of a vent cap on the roof or side of the home, this dryer vent duct went from the laundry room, under the concrete slab, and came up outside the home, topped with a “shepherd’s hook”. (A shepherd’s hook is just two, 90 degree elbow sections of PVC pipe, joined to make a “U” shape, and installed on the end of the dryer vent duct.) The hook is easily removed for cleaning lint out of the dryer vent ductwork.

rotating brush tool removing lint from dryer ventA Lint Free Vent uses a rotating brush tool to remove the lint clinging to the interior of the dryer vent ductwork. Using a rotary brush is the preferred cleaning method to get best results in the dryer vent cleaning industry.

We clean residential and commercial dryer vents. And we clean out each dryer vent thoroughly from the dryer end to the duct termination cap.

As you can see in these photos, even thought the shepherd’s hook is a large diameter PVC pipe, a bunch of lint can still be trapped inside the walls of the dryer vent duct.

Having a clean dryer vent in your home or business helps a dryer get laundry thoroughly dry in less time. That means no more repeating drying cycles several times to get laundry dry. Getting laundry dry in less time saves energy and gives more time for other activities.

Get your dryer vent cleaned on a regular basis. For most folks, that means at least one cleaning per year.

Call Eddie Kyles, owner and operator of A Lint Free Vent at 904.537.1483 or Contact Us if you have questions about our dryer vent cleaning and repair, and re-routing services or to set up your annual dryer vent cleaning appointment, today.

A Clean Dryer Vent Helps Shorten Dryer Time

Eddie Kyles - owner of A Lint Free VentA client called A Lint Free Vent 904.537.1483 from St. Augustine, Florida. The dryer vent in her home had been cleaned by another company, earlier this year, but it was taking longer and longer for her do get a load of laundry dried.

She had read several articles on our website, and called us to make an appointment so we could see if we could identify and fix the problem with her dryer, or if she needed a dryer repair service.

When we removed the dryer vent duct from the back of the dryer, the problem became clear. The dryer vent duct was totally blocked.

  • There were only 2 people in her home. There is no way that they could have created this much packed-in lint in the dryer vent in only a couple of months!
  • It was obvious that the prior dryer vent cleaning company had not done a thorough job of cleaning this dryer vent!

This photo shows the dryer duct when removed from the wall connection.

clogged dryer vent in St. Augustine home

 

This photo shows the other end of the duct work, going into the dryer.

clogged dryer vent in St. Augustine home

I showed the client how much lint was in their dryer vent and how it had backed-up into their dryer, and she was shocked!

Then we proceeded to clean the dryer vent.

A Lint Free Vent uses a rotating brush tool to remove the lint clinging to the interior of the dryer vent ductwork. Using a rotary brush is the preferred cleaning method to get best results in the dryer vent cleaning industry. We clean residential and commercial dryer vents. And we clean out each dryer vent thoroughly from the dryer end to the duct termination cap, using a rotating brush to remove lint that clings to the internal walls of the dryer vent duct.

Our client called us again a few days later and thanked us for cleaning her dryer vent. She said her dryer is much faster at drying a load of laundry now!

There are some easy ways to know your dryer vent needs cleaning  :

  • Do you see clumps of dryer lint on your roof, or hanging out of your dryer vent cap on your roof or out of the dryer vent cap on the side of your home or business?
  • Does your dryer take longer and longer to dry each load of laundry?
  • Do you find that your laundry items are still damp at the end of a timed drying cycle?

Call Eddie Kyles, owner and operator of A Lint Free Vent at 904.537.1483 or Contact Us if you have questions about our dryer vent cleaning and repair, and re-routing services or to set up your annual dryer vent cleaning appointment, today.