A clothes dryer doesn't seem very dangerous but more than 15,000 homes are damaged every year by fires started by a dryer. The lint that is removed from our clothes is highly flammable and when combined with high heat, electricity or gas can cause terrible problems. The key to fire prevention is getting rid of lint before each use of the dryer. Emptying the lint trap is simple. And, you can use a specially designed brush to clean the area around the lint trap. But there is more that you can do to protect your family and property by using a special brush to clean the dryer vent connections inside and out.
Fuller Clothes Dryer Hose Brush
The Fuller Clothes Dryer Hose Brush is designed with long plastic bristles in a circular shape at the end of a flexible wire shaft that can easily bend and contour to angles in dryer vents. The hard plastic handle has a convenient pre-formed hole for hanging during storage. The brush is nearly three feet in length. The end of the wire shaft is covered with a rubber tip to prevent any scratching of the metal or enameled finishes.
Dryer Hose or Rigid Vent?
For many years, dryers were vented using a flexible vinyl, plastic hose. The hose could be cut to any length and easily attached to the dryer and outside vent. Unfortunately, these flexible plastic hoses easily trapped lint that could cause fires and then the plastic melted causing more problems. Today's building codes require a rigid metal vent between the dryer and the outside vent. Most are made of aluminum tubing that can be fitted to the required length - no vent should be more than ten feet long. There are flexible aluminum hoses available but they are not recommended because they, too, can trap lint.
While the dryer lint trap should be emptied after every load of laundry, the vent hose should be cleaned at least quarterly. The vent should be detached from the dryer and any visible lint cleaned away. Begin by cleaning what can be reached from inside the home using a vent brush to loosen the lint and a vacuum to clean it away. Then go outside and attack from the other end of the vent. The outside area should be brushed and checked to see that the air trap is opening and closing freely.
The Fuller Brush Company
The Fuller Brush Company was founded in 1906 by Alfred C. Fuller. For decades, the Fuller Brush Man was a welcome visitor to home in both urban and rural areas of the United States. Housewives could buy personal care products like hair brushes, cleaning tools and products that were designed to work, crafted to last and fully guaranteed.
The company has been owned by CPAC since 1969. And while there are still some independent distributors, Fuller Brush products are now available at major retailers and online.
Fuller Brands develops, manufactures and markets over 2,700 branded and private label products for commercial cleaning, household cleaning and personal care. Fuller Brands' three business units also sell these products across North America and internationally through distributors and service providers, catalogs, direct response television, private label arrangements, and direct marketing partners.
Laundry Guide Recommendation
I found the Fuller Clothes Dryer Hose Brush to be an ideal tool. The wire shaft was flexible but rigid enough to give a good scrubbing on the sides of my dryer vent. I have a new dryer that I've been using for only a couple of months but I still found lint build up in the dryer vent. And since I live in a hot, humid area, the outside vent had "lint felt" around the opening. I think I'll need to clean it more often than quarterly during the warm months!
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