Clean the lint trap after every load, and clear the full vent duct at least once a year. Lint that passes through the trap builds up inside the duct itself, and a restricted vent is behind more dryer problems — long dry times, overheating, blown thermal fuses, and a well-documented house fire risk — than any other single cause.
Why this is worth doing properly
The lint trap in the door or top of the dryer catches most fibres, but not all of them. A fine layer passes through with every single load and settles along the inside of the duct that carries hot, moist air out of the house. Over months, that layer narrows the passage, and the effects compound: dry times creep up, the machine works harder and runs hotter, the thermal safety fuse eventually blows, and in the worst documented cases, accumulated lint in a restricted, overheating vent ignites.
This is genuinely one of the highest-value fifteen minutes you can spend on any appliance in the house.
Signs your vent needs cleaning
- Loads that used to take 40–50 minutes now take 70–90.
- The outside of the machine feels noticeably hot to the touch during a cycle.
- Clothes come out hotter than they used to at the end of a cycle.
- You can see lint building up around the outside wall vent flap.
- It has simply been more than a year since the duct itself — not just the trap — was last cleaned.
How to clean the full run
Disconnect the dryer from power before pulling it away from the wall or detaching any ducting.
- Clean the lint trap first
Remove all visible lint, then wash the mesh screen under a tap and let it dry completely before refitting. A film of fabric softener residue restricts airflow through the trap itself, even when it looks clean.
- Pull the machine away from the wall
Get enough room to work behind it comfortably and disconnect the duct where it meets the back of the dryer.
- Vacuum what you can reach from both ends
Use a vacuum with a hose attachment at the machine end, and again at the point where the duct exits the wall or roof. This alone clears a surprising amount in a duct that has not been done in a while.
- Run a proper vent brush through the full length
A flexible vent cleaning brush, sized for the duct diameter, reaches the sections a vacuum hose cannot. Feed it through from one end, working it back and forth, then repeat from the other end if the duct run is long.
- Check every joint and elbow
Lint accumulates fastest at bends and joints, not in straight runs. Pay particular attention to any elbow sections, and to a long horizontal run if your installation has one — these are the most common blockage points.
- Check the exterior vent flap
Go outside and confirm the wall or roof termination opens freely under light pressure and is not blocked by a bird’s nest, leaves, or built-up lint on the flap itself.
- Reconnect securely and test
Refit the duct with the clamps or foil tape it came with — avoid plastic ducting if your run currently uses it, as rigid or flexible metal duct is considerably safer and less restrictive. Run a load and time it; a noticeably shorter cycle confirms the clean-out worked.
Every extra bend and every foot of duct length adds resistance. If your installation has an unnecessarily long or heavily bent run, shortening or straightening it — within what your machine’s manual allows — improves drying performance permanently, not just after a clean.
How often, and what to use
| Lint trap | Every load |
| Full vent duct — typical household use | Once a year |
| Full vent duct — heavy use, large family, long duct run | Every six months |
| Vent brush kit | Inexpensive and reusable; sized to your duct diameter |
Avoid air fresheners or scented products placed near the vent to mask a musty smell — deal with the lint causing it rather than covering it up, since the underlying build-up is a safety issue, not just an odour one.
When to call a professional
Call a professional dryer vent cleaning service if your duct run is long, has multiple bends, or runs through a wall cavity or roof space you cannot safely access. Call an appliance engineer if, after a full clean, dry times are still long — that points at a fault elsewhere in the machine rather than the vent, and our dryer not heating guide covers the next steps.
Stop and call a qualified appliance technician or electrician if you find scorched or melted wiring, smell burning, see water that has reached electrical components, or if the fault returns immediately after a repair. Never bypass a safety device — thermal fuses, door interlocks and flood switches fail for a reason, and defeating one converts a broken appliance into a fire or flood risk.
