Dryer Venting Through Roof/ Paint Strainer Keeping the Vent Run Clean!

About a year ago (give or take) I posted about having to use a leaf blower about every 4 to 6 months in my dryer vent run which goes through the roof about 15 to 20 feet. In addition to that, I used a tool brush that runs through the entire vent as well. So sick of it. Here is the idea I got from someone on Garden Web. After you read this, I will follow up below that:

"Been there, done that...lint is such a HUGE annoyance to my life.
We're in a 2nd floor condo where the dryer vent ducting goes to the roof through the attic over 20 feet and several elbows. My husband bought the condo years before we met, and the ducting was clogged after several years. At the time, he decided to disconnect the vent from the duct. The resulting moisture did some damage to the cabinetry (swelling of the particle board, even under layers of oil-based paint). Soon after we married, he decided we needed to fix the problem correctly. He went up into the attic and disassembled the ducting, brought it outside, and blew it out with his air compressor. I pushed some cleaning tool through it as well.

We can't be doing this regularly! I mean preferably, never again! So, I had him put a filter -- a gallon paint strainer -- over the dryer vent where it connects to the machine. This clogs every month or so, we pull the machine out, disconnect the vent, clean the strainer, and put it back. This is still an annoying chore, but not the nightmare of dealing with the whole duct run.

My husband had a cool idea, that what we need to do is sew a new, longer strainer that tapers to a skinny point, so that even when it clogs at the point, there can still be air flowing past the clogged strainer, and we should be able to go longer between cleanings.

We got a new dryer last summer, and pulled the ducting out of the attic to clean it -- but it was already clean as a whistle. So, our secondary filter system has kept the duct run clean for 9 years.

I found you can buy secondary lint traps with a door that opens to clean them out, but we don't have room to install the box in our laundry room, and I don't think it would work any better or be easier to clean than our homemade filter.

When I redo the floor, I plan to put magic slider thingies under the dryer feet to make it easier to move in and out, plus I won't want to gouge my new floor.

I have researched other solutions. People claim that solid metal vent will maintain better airflow than pleated, but I think it will still clog because we need 2 90-degree elbows to get it connected to the duct in the wall. And if it clogs, how do we pull out the machine with a non-stretching vent? If we could move the duct in the wall to match the dryer vent outlet, that would eliminate 2 elbows and would probably help...

I also found you can install a secondary fan in the ducting near the exit, increasing the airspeed in long ducts so the lint won't clog. They cost $150-200, but if I never had to clean out the duct run or pull out the dryer to clean my makeshift secondary lint trap ever again, it would be well worth it.

I also think that our ducting is leaky somewhere, because rooms on the other side of the wall (our master bath) get crusted with lint all the time. Finding and sealing those leaks would probably improve airspeed some, plus save me tons of work cleaning the lint all the time.

I think the additional fan is the way to go. In 2 other areas where we replaced an ineffective low-cfm cheap fan with a high-cfm good one, like the hood over our cooktop, it made an amazing difference, night and day."

So......I decided to try this about a year or so ago, and I posted and some of the responses weren't that great. I have to say that I did it anyway, and still doing it, and about once per month, I get behind my dryer, clean the paint strainer, and there's NO lint in the ducting. The Gallon paint strainer just goes in the small duct that connect from the back of the dryer to the wall and you just put it in that as if you were lining a trash can with a garbage bag, then connect. Amazingly, there's no lint in my entire vent run or the roof cap where lint used to collect on that.

The paint strainer doesn't seem to be inhibiting air flow....

So much easier than having to clean the entire run. I make sure to never forget to clean this once a month or so. It takes about 15 minutes.


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Post# 739248 3/4/2014 at 14:36 (3,703 days old) by mark_wpduet (Lexington KY)
Checkrate/Likes About a year ago (give or take) I posted about having to use a leaf blower about every 4 to 6 months in my dryer vent run which goes through the roof about 15 to 20 feet. In addition to that, I used a tool brush that runs through the entire vent as well. So sick of it. Here is the idea I got from someone on Garden Web. After you read this, I will follow up below that: "Been there, done that...lint is such a HUGE annoyance to my life. We're in a 2nd floor condo where the dryer vent ducting goes to the roof through the attic over 20 feet and several elbows. My husband bought the condo years before we met, and the ducting was clogged after several years. At the time, he decided to disconnect the vent from the duct. The resulting moisture did some damage to the cabinetry (swelling of the particle board, even under layers of oil-based paint). Soon after we married, he decided we needed to fix the problem correctly. He went up into the attic and disassembled the ducting, brought it outside, and blew it out with his air compressor. I pushed some cleaning tool through it as well. We can't be doing this regularly! I mean preferably, never again! So, I had him put a filter -- a gallon paint strainer -- over the dryer vent where it connects to the machine. This clogs every month or so, we pull the machine out, disconnect the vent, clean the strainer, and put it back. This is still an annoying chore, but not the nightmare of dealing with the whole duct run. My husband had a cool idea, that what we need to do is sew a new, longer strainer that tapers to a skinny point, so that even when it clogs at the point, there can still be air flowing past the clogged strainer, and we should be able to go longer between cleanings. We got a new dryer last summer, and pulled the ducting out of the attic to clean it -- but it was already clean as a whistle. So, our secondary filter system has kept the duct run clean for 9 years. I found you can buy secondary lint traps with a door that opens to clean them out, but we don't have room to install the box in our laundry room, and I don't think it would work any better or be easier to clean than our homemade filter. When I redo the floor, I plan to put magic slider thingies under the dryer feet to make it easier to move in and out, plus I won't want to gouge my new floor. I have researched other solutions. People claim that solid metal vent will maintain better airflow than pleated, but I think it will still clog because we need 2 90-degree elbows to get it connected to the duct in the wall. And if it clogs, how do we pull out the machine with a non-stretching vent? If we could move the duct in the wall to match the dryer vent outlet, that would eliminate 2 elbows and would probably help... I also found you can install a secondary fan in the ducting near the exit, increasing the airspeed in long ducts so the lint won't clog. They cost $150-200, but if I never had to clean out the duct run or pull out the dryer to clean my makeshift secondary lint trap ever again, it would be well worth it. I also think that our ducting is leaky somewhere, because rooms on the other side of the wall (our master bath) get crusted with lint all the time. Finding and sealing those leaks would probably improve airspeed some, plus save me tons of work cleaning the lint all the time. I think the additional fan is the way to go. In 2 other areas where we replaced an ineffective low-cfm cheap fan with a high-cfm good one, like the hood over our cooktop, it made an amazing difference, night and day." So......I decided to try this about a year or so ago, and I posted and some of the responses weren't that great. I have to say that I did it anyway, and still doing it, and about once per month, I get behind my dryer, clean the paint strainer, and there's NO lint in the ducting. The Gallon paint strainer just goes in the small duct that connect from the back of the dryer to the wall and you just put it in that as if you were lining a trash can with a garbage bag, then connect. Amazingly, there's no lint in my entire vent run or the roof cap where lint used to collect on that. The paint strainer doesn't seem to be inhibiting air flow.... So much easier than having to clean the entire run. I make sure to never forget to clean this once a month or so. It takes about 15 minutes.