The lint screen cannot catch all the lint, some will get past. Lint always builds up in the vent duct, it should be cleaned out every year. When is the last time you had the duct cleaned? I get my duct cleaned once every year or two by a pro, between that I clean the machine (take off the kick plate below my lint filter and vaccum out the entire machine, then disconnect the machine and clean the duct from the inside, then go outside and clean the duct from that end). If too much lint builds up it can cause a fire, it can also ruin your machine. If it has been many years since the duct was cleaned you should have a pro do it, it will cost between $50 and $200 depending on the company. The first time I had mine cleaned by a pro it had obviously not been done for many years, it took him several hours to clean out the lint (our duct is rather long with 3 90 degree turns), and he was using so pretty powerful equipment.

Joanne

Have you been doing general maintanence and cleaning? It takes more than removing the lint from the lint screen/catcher - you have to clean the area BEYOND there, inside the machine with a brush (REGULARLY) and/or a vacuum, as well as any length of hose/pipe it takes to discharge to the outside.

If you use fabric softener, the fine particles of lint that pass through the screen will accumulate, clump, and eventually discharge. If you have a hose from the dryer to the vent area to the outside, lint can accumulate in the accordian pleats in flex hose. That lint is also saturated with fabric softener, which makes it clump together and it's flamable from the fat used in softeners.

In an older house we lived in, we used to take our ELECTRIC leaf blower and blew out the long pipe that carried the vented air out to the outside, and did this several times a year. Note: DO NOT try this with a gas-powered blower - CAN YOU SPELL CARBON MONOXIDE.

If you use dryer sheets, they can occasionally go astray, lodge in a flex hose or pipe and accumulate lint that eventually dislodges.

If your lint trap is located on the top of your dryer and you've pulled it out while the machine is running to remove the lint, an accumulation of lint can easily be sucked from the screen into the dryer vent. Just pulling the lint trap out of the machine will cause some to fall beyond the screen and it should eventually discharge outside.

-Grainlady

Thank you so much for your messages!!
Joanne, can you tell me the general name for a pro to clean this, so I can look it up in the web? (I'm not from the US, so I have no idea of the name of a pro that cleans vents).
Grainlady, we have an electric leaf blower, so we could use it to blow the vent. I have a couple of questions about this...will it be powerful enough if the vent is long? I have no idea if it goes directly outside or if it goes to the attic. We bought the house almost 2 years ago, haven't cleaned any vent since then, and really doubt the previous owners did either. If I use the leaf blower....do you recommend I also use the lint cleaner I bought? (I described it in my original post).
We can see a thing in the outside of the house that roughly corresponds to where the laundry room is. It's a little bit hard to reach, since it's on the second floor and we'd have to actually step on the roof to get at it (I could ask the neighbors how safe is it to walk on the roof), but it seems to be the vent, since we can see lint coming our of it...like it got stuck there.
I really appreciate your comments and anything else you can think of!
Rocio.

You can call a chimney sweep, they usually do that sort of work. So do some places that clean air ducts. Try searching on duct cleaning, or in the US just go to service magic online and they will have companies in your area contact you with info on the work you need done. The link is below.

If you can see the vent on the second floor, measure how far it is from the dryer to the vent. If you can easily reach, and it looks like a straight run from the dryer you can try the kit you bought. Just pull out the dryer, detach the duct from the dryer, and clean the duct from inside. If you think there are multiple turns, call the pro. After the duct is clean, be sure to clean out the inside of the dryer before reattaching it so it does not blow more lint into the duct. You will need a ladder to remove the outside cover from the vent so the lint does not get stuck there, if you don't have one tall enough one of your neighbors might lend you one.

Joanne

Here is a link that might be useful: service magic

You should also wash your lint screen in the sink with warm water and soap and then rinse and dry. The softeners(if you use them) build up in the screen and makes the dryer work harder to dry the clothes. You should wash the screen about every 6 months or so depending on use.

Also I wouldn't leave my dryer on while I was away from home. Too many dryer fires every year..

I'd replace the vent pipe for about $10 or less before I'd pay someone $50-$200 (unbelievable what they charge) to clean it! LOL And actually, that's what I did. I had flex hose and would replace it every 5 years or so because of the buildup. Now I can use a leaf blower more effectively and I recently bought a cleaning brush set. Yes, I'd recommend using them both. Personally, I'd give it a blast with the blower first to get rid of the big stuff, then brush it to loosen anything sticking, then blow it out again. (and smile at the thought of the savings!)

I have an electric blower but certainly wouldn't lose any sleep using a gas one if that's what I had. Of course I'd want a window open for the exhaust fumes to vent and I certainly wouldn't do it when the a/c is running or when the furnace is on but this is a spring or fall job anyway and geez, think about it - you're only going to run it a matter of seconds and the amount of carbon monoxide would be insignificant especially compared to the smell of the exhaust. You're probably getting more CO from an attached garage than you'd get from a little blower motor.

Another handy tool is a plain old shopvac with a long hose. Use it as a blower or as a vacuum, or both.

Back when I had the "heat saver" installed on the dryer vent it was easy to clean out the vent. Now it's more of a chore.

Cynic, I guess it depends where you live. Flex hose is not code by us, you have to use rigid duct at least 4 inches across. Besides which, to easily replace the duct it would have to be a short, straight , easily accessible run. Ours, for instance, has a 90 degree turn at the start, goes down about two feet to under the flooring, another 90 degree turn, travels under the laundry room and under part of the kitchen (about 20 feet), another 90 degree turn, straight to the exit about 5 feet. If that needed the be replaced it would not be easy. I do, of course, replace the flex hose between the dryer and the duct on occasion, but that is really easy to just vaccum out so I only do that when it gets damaged, like I accidently crush it between the dryer and the wall.

If you have rigid duct you don't want to replace it with anything else, the flex hose (beside not being up to code in many areas) can sag, causing more lint build up.

Joanne

Hello, everybody! I just wanted to thank you all for your messages and advices, and tell you our story from yesterday. We took the leaf blower and while my husband blew the vent from the laundry room I stood outside to check if anything came out. This way we could find out, first, if the vent was short and was close to the outside or was going through the attic, and second, if there was any lint left from the "explosion" we had a few days ago. Immediately a little lint started to come out, and my husband kept using the leaf blower for a while until I didn't see anything else coming. Afterwards, we vaccumed (spelling???) the place where the filter was (we had seen a big amount of lint that we took out before vacuuming). Finally, we used the leaf blower from the back of the dryer towards the inside, and there was the huge surprise!! There was an impresive amount of lint that came out...it was like if I had been taking the lint from a full filter and the stuck it in there. It was really impresive! So, we blew a little bit more, m ade sure nothing else was coming and then attached the dryer to the vent again. I washed the filter with warm water and soap.
Now I know we have to do this regularly, before anything really has time to build up. I really appreciate your help with this issue...
Have a great day!
Rocio.