The lint trap in your dryer catches most of the lint, but not all of it. The rest travels through the exhaust duct toward the outside of the house, and over months it builds up on the walls of the duct and around the exterior vent flap. In Florida's humidity that lint gets damp and packs tighter, and that is when it becomes a problem.
It's a fire risk. Lint is extremely flammable, and a dryer pushes hot air through it every load. U.S. fire departments respond to thousands of dryer fires each year, and the leading cause is failure to clean. This is not a scare tactic — it is the reason we treat dryer vent cleaning as maintenance rather than a luxury.
It's costing you money. A restricted vent means the dryer has to run longer to dry the same load, which wears out the heating element and the motor and raises your electric bill. If towels take two cycles, the vent is the first thing to check.
Signs your vent needs cleaning: clothes take longer than one cycle to dry, the top of the dryer or the laundry room feels hot, you smell a burning odor, the exterior vent flap barely opens while the dryer runs, or you cannot remember the last time it was cleaned.
How often? Once a year for most households. Larger families, homes with pets, and long or winding duct runs — common in condos and homes where the laundry room is far from an exterior wall — should be cleaned every six months.
What we do. We disconnect the dryer, vacuum and brush the full length of the duct from the dryer to the exterior vent, clean the vent hood and flap, check the duct for crushed sections, disconnected joints or the foil-style flexible duct that should be replaced with rigid or semi-rigid metal, and reconnect everything properly.
Bundle it with other maintenance. Many customers have us clean the dryer vent on the same visit as gutter cleaning or pressure washing — one trip, one invoice.
Total Handyman Services of SWFL LLC cleans dryer vents across Lee and Charlotte Counties, including North Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Lehigh Acres, Estero, Punta Gorda, Matlacha and Port Charlotte. Call or text (561) 714-0541 or email Totalhandymanservices26@gmail.com for a free estimate.