I'm going to confess that I have NEVER done this. I'm starting to get paranoid, so I'm looking into how it's done.

Em, we do this seasonally. You can use your wet/dry vac. Also, if you are in a snow area, make sure your dryer vent is always free of snow.

I have never done it

Twice a year, at the same time we replace the batteries in the smoke alarms, and carbon monoxide monitors.

We have had three fires in my town in the last week due to people not cleaning the chimney. I have never cleaned my dryer vent.

Make sure you don't have this type....

The lint trap or the ductwork? Because I clean the lint thing in the machine each load.

We clean the lint out of our dryer from stem to stern when we see lint coming out of the outside exhaust vent, which is about twice a year. We clean the lint screen in the dryer about every third load. It's amazing how much lint gets caught in the vent hose!

I usually clean the one at my house every year. I cleaned one vent ta couple months ago and it shortened drying time significantly. That vent probably had been a couple years since cleaned and it was a mess

I purchased a home that the dryer vent went through the roof. Vertical venting. I purchased a cleaning kit from ACE Hardware which consided of flexible rods (12' of them) and circular brush. The brush attaches to the rods and the rods to your cordless drill. I moved the dryer - and inserted the brush on the rod into the wall and UP as far as I could. Then using the slowest setting on the drill, 'pulled' the drill/rods down. I was SHOCKED to fill 3 plastic grocery bags with lint! When my roof/gutter cleaner came, I had him use a few rods and start at the roof reaching down, he pulled a couple of handfulls of lint more. I have a front loading W/D combo, hi-E and was happy with the drying time, but once I had adequately cleaned the vent -- WOW! What a difference. I HIGHLY recommend the dryer vent cleaning kit. The brand name of the kit is "Lint Eater" rotary kit. Five Stars!!
And twice a year - when we 'spring back, fall forward' and change the alarm batteries.

It is supposed to be done every year or two. We just had a home inspection and need to have ours done again. I found a place on Angie's List and it is scheduled to be done tomorrow. Their charge is $150 regardless of length of piping. Two years ago when I had it done I got taken at about $300 because I have 30 feet that needs to be cleaned. Drying time is shortened when it's all nice and clean.

Once a year

I stand corrected. Husband said he cleans it twice a year. That is why I married him!!!

The company (dryer fighters) that does our building recommends every 18 months. They charge $125.00 which includes removing the dryer drum where lint also accumulates. Things are a little different in apts. They also have to clear out the vents right to the outside. We get a reminder from management so we don't forget and get a reduced rate as they do a lot in one building.

At least once a year.

Emily, I have my chimney sweep take care of it once a year. Except this year I've been so busy I forgot. When i go past the one year date it is like being overdue for an oil change.....I feel yucky until it's done. He also charges $150, even tho they have to hang a guy by his ankles to get under the house to get to it!

I don't understand how to clean the vent. Does the gas, electricity and / or water need to be turned off while it is done? If you take the tube away from the hole in the wall, how do you get it "sealed" back on? Or, do you enter through the dryer's lint trap and leave the tubing to the wall in place? I can't picture this a t all. Someone, please draw me a picture!

Could we have a similar new discussion on another discussion board for what and how to clean heating vents?

Here's a great how-to source: do internet search for Wiki-how then: how to clean dryer vent. Gives multiple ways, has pictures and yes they say to turn off gas, etc. My handyman did mine when I got a new washer & dryer this summer. There was a lot of lint built-up! Have a friend who had a dryer fire due to lint once. She never leaves the dryer going when leaving the house or going to bed.

After hearing how diligent most of you are, I am super motivated to get mine squared away. I hate how long it takes to dry clothes!

Here's what can happen in the drum area if not cleaned periodically. Granted this is extreme but goes to show what could happen and why the drum area should be cleaned as well as the vent.

We have it done yearly. We also use an attachment on the vacuum to clean deeper inside where the lint trap is located. When we moved in our new house two years ago we had it cleaned. The piping to the outside dryer vent never been done. The plastic piping (which is a no-no) fell apart in my husband's hand.
Get it cleaned out! Your dryer will work better and last longer. Another dryer tip from a repairman. Don't use the hottest setting. Your dryer heating element will last longer.

The hottest setting is very hard on the clothes, too.

We have a condenser dryer, so there's no exhaust. All the lint goes into an elaborate metal filter-like apparatus at the very bottom of the machine. A buzzer tells you when it's full, you open a hatch, pull out the apparatus and clean it. So far so good.

In our new home my washer and dryer are stacked, so that the bottom of the dryer is at waist height. When I recently cleaned that metal lint trap, I could, for the first time, look right into that opening (without laying flat on the floor) and what's behind. More lint. I never knew that! Fortunately, it could easily be removed. Now I check that secret chamber regularly.

For faster drying time. Clean after each use.

I've always had a vented dryer - and have always made sure the vent duct was short for ease of regular cleaning - stand at the vent outside, remove the vent cover (you know, the one that keeps the critters from surprising you).

Using a specialty brush (Ace Hardware or Lowes in the US, Wickes and the local ironmonger over here in the UK) give the short duct run a thorough brushing until no lint comes back on the brush.

Go inside, pull the dryer away from the wall, unscrew the duct clamp and brush what's left (usually a surprising lot if you only do this once or twice a year), reinstall the duct and marvel at the shorter drying time.

I usually do this at least four times a year at the beginning of each season. Saves a lot of money on running costs and of course keeps the dryer from being a fire hazard.

Sheet metal ductwork is the safest and best for ducting, and turns are not recommended - if you want to install a tumble dryer in a place where you would have to use turns and long runs, skip having a vented dryer and chose a condenser model instead for safety.

@midmodfan - The lint screen thing in my parents' dryer sits vertically, and yeah, there can be lint that doesn't get stuck to the trap. I use a plastic butter knife to help get those clumps dislodged so I can remove them. (Luckily they tend to stick together fairly well so it's not a major issue.)

I don't clean that bit every use, just every so often.

I once rented an apartment that had a stacked washer/dryer unit in a closet. I couldn't find the lint trap on the dryer; it seemed to not have one. As the months went by the dryer worked increasingly badly. Then it just didn't get anything dry anymore. The lint trap question had been forgotten about, but it finally came back to me that there has to be one and how could I have thought otherwise. I finally found it on the inside back wall of the dryer drum. I had never seen such a dryer before and it seemed to have been designed to not be noticed.

@David that is not good. Renters and new apt/condo owners should be made aware of things not obvious. Vert negligent on the part of landlord. I too had a very inconvenient 2nd lint trap-in the ceiling at the back of the dryer. Not only a bad location but a very poor design, almost impossible to get it back into the space. Fortunately management had the company that cleans our vents and dryer drums install a different gadget that is held in place by magnets, now just slip it out, clean the screen and it gets pulled back in place by the magnet.

I'm embarrassed to say that I never did my old one in 30 years. Guess I'm just lucky I didn't have a fire. My new dryer has an easy in-machine lint collector which I clean every load, but the duct to the outside is an extra narrow (2", I think) duct to the outside vent & minimal turns. Does anyone know how often and how to clean it?

Well I think my husband has done it maybe one or twice in 11 years....?

Having a blocked dryer vent is super hard on your dryer and it can take forever to get your clothes dry. I'm in Colorado, I vent directly in to my laundry room, helps with heat and humidity. Nylon on the end if the vent hose.

I rented a place that was venting between the lower and upper floor joists, and was at least 7 years before we rented and the dryer wouldn't work... and it took ripping ceiling out, cleaning all that out and laying new venting.

Here, I replace the 5' of flexible vent every two years; and I got one of those flexible hose sucker things to put on the vacuum to suck the dryer out from the cleanable linttrap end, I'd say about every 3-4 months.

Like others, our dryer has a vertical lint trap that I clean after every load. It is not bulletproof, though, so I use every month or so a lint 'wand brush' to clean a bit deeper. The whole venting system from the back of the dryer to the outside has only been professionally cleaned once.

BTW, if you use dryer sheets, the screen will get clogged and won't function as well. When I remember, I take out the lint trap screen and clean it with Dawn D/W liquid.
You can test when it is time to clean by holding the screen over your sink, adding 2-3 tbsp's of water, if the water doesn't drain quickly ... time to clean the lint screen.
Yikes, now I have to clean the cleaning things!

I have a vent booster which does it automatically every time I use the dryer.

I just repainted the laundry room after five years and was surprised how much lint build up was in the vent duct! I replaced the whole thing for under $15. Money well spent. I plan to do it very other year going forward.

ALWAYS clean out the flexible vent at minimum twice a year. The lint that accumulates is very, very flammable so it's dangerous. The awesome thing is that if your dryer vent is clean, then your clothes will dry much faster and you'll have lower energy bills!

It's very easy to do, just pull your dryer away from the wall a little, and then the flexible vent hose will come off from the dryer and the wall with a twist and pull. The vent hoses are super cheap at home depot/sears/lowes, so if it's really clogged or kinked it's easier to just get a new one.

If your dryer vent goes a long way before exiting the house, you might want to install a secondary trap that catches the loose lint before it clogs up the vent that's in between walls. Makes cleaning easy and you have peace of mind that a fire won't start inside the walls or roof. Luckily, my dryer just vents through the wall of the garage, so cleaning the hose is really simple.

@saratoga: What is a vent booster?

Twice a year my husband detaches the hose from the metal vent and blows out the metal vent with his leaf blower and then reverses his blower and sucks out the hose. works VERY well. and easy. I you have a short vent, if can be done with a vent brush.

My husband also takes it all apart and cleans twice a year.

At least once a year , clean your dryer exhaust system!
Save $ on electricity and gas bills , shortened drying times and give your dryer a longer life ;)
DVentPro.com

I clean the 'easy' one every time I use the dryer. About once a month I use a long wand like flexible brush to clean as far down into the vent as possible. I also use the wand attachment on the vacuum to clean as far into the vent as possible once a month.

I became diligent about this after seeing the Fire Chief of a small town on television talking about it. HIS house burned to the ground because neither he or his wife ever deep cleaned the dryer vent. Made a huge impression on me!

I clean my dryer lint and throw away the hose 2 times a year. My husband and I do it when we change the time changes.

Lint trap in dryer after every use, whole system once a year.

lint trap daily-

Answering the question, it depends...

When your dryer is right next to the outside wall and vents right out, don't even waste your money or time on getting it done. It just does not need it.

For dryer vents which are up to 15 ft - al least every 2-3 years and for a dryer vent that is more than 15 ft, we recommend having the service to be done every 1-2 years.

You can follow the link for some simple instructions on how to clean dryer vent.

We clean ours out once a year. I can usually tell when it starts to clog up because it takes our clothes longer to dry.

I clean my lint trap every time I empty the dryer. I clean the dryer vent from dryer to outlet once a year. I set a reminder on my google calendar so I don't forget. We're lucky our dryer is right next to the exterior wall where it vents out so our vent is only maybe 1-2 ft long. It's easy just to reach in there and clean it out. There's not usually anything stuck in it because it's so short and straight.

It is super important to clean that out on a schedule. My parents had a fire in their dryer vent at their last house. Super scary stuff but totally preventable.

Remove the lint screen, and use a vacuum to remove any small bits of leftover lint.

Take the lint trap screen to the sink, and wash it with warm soap and water.

While the lint trap dries, use your vacuum to clean the slot the lint trap slides into. Use a long, narrow vacuum extension to reach as far down as possible. You might be surprised by how much lint you find polo g