Cleaning out a dryer lint trap
Giving your dryer lint trap a good cleanout is a satisfying and simple job. It will also freak you out at what you find in there.
I alluded to THIS post in my post about Changing a dryer drum/drive belt. In step 2 I said “Trust me, you should stick something in there. you think you won’t drop a screw but you could, and then you’re removing the whole back of the dryer and that’s what will turn this into an hour-long job and another post.” When I said you COULD drop one, what I really meant was I DID drop one, and it turned my little belt changing into a lint trap cleaning.
There are a few AS SEEN ON TV lint trap cleaning contraptions like the ‘Lint Lizard”. I think that’s an attachment for your vacuum. I’m sure it works decently, but I’m the type of guy that says “The puddin is delicious” no, wait, that’s LL Cool J. I’m the type of guy that gets all OCD about cleaning things. I want to see all the lint cleaned out, not hope I’m getting it all with a tiny vacuum attachment. I’ll sit there a scrap every bit off until it looks factory new because I’m anal. Why else would I spend hours cleaning copper pots?
This post doesn’t pertain to all dryers. My dryer is a Whirlpool dryer with the lint trap up in the top hood of the dryer. Like this one:
It seems asinine, but I really did drop one of the 2 screws on the lint trap chute mount right down the hole.
Soooo, making work for myself by stupidly dropping a screw down inside the dryer wasn’t the best move, but it did lead me to clean out the dryer lint trap and fan and it really is a simple repair/maintenance you can do in your spare time. You really just rip the back off the dryer, clean out the lint, and put it back together. But I’ll drag it out a little for you.
Step 1: UNPLUG THE DRYER
Step 2: Remove the 2 screws near the lint trap door up on top of the dryer (you know, I dropped one of them down inside).
Step 3: Take off the back of the dryer.
I think these were 5/16″ heads.
Once those screws are all out, the big metal back of the dryer will fall right off and you’ll see the wonders of the inside of your dryer.
Ooooohhhhh Aaaaaahhhhhhh.
I said ACHTUNG! in the above image because I MAY have left the dryer plugged in, and when I reached down to unscrew the dryer lint chute I touched that baby with the side of my hand and I got one helluva JOLT. Like a knock-you-on-your-ass jolt. I then unplugged the dryer so I can see my daughter grow up.
Step 4: Remove the Lint Chute
Four screws and it’s out.
Step 5: Lift chute out and be amazed at all the crude and weird stuff that worked it’s way in there.
Not only did I get TONS of lint out of the bottom of the chute and inside the fan assembly. I also got some spare change, beach glass, band-aids, and more screws than just the one I dropped down there. I took the shop-vac back there and sucked stuff out while I used a paint scraper to dislodge the caked on lint.
Step 6: Put it back together in reverse order.
Fit the chute back into place and replace the 4 screws.
Put the back of the dryer back on and use all the screws. There shouldn’t be any leftovers.
When you get to the last step of putting the 2 screws back in the top end of the dryer lint trap chute shove a cloth in it to prevent yourself from dropping one down there again.
Simple? Yes. Fun? Yes. Satisfying? Yes. Removing some kind of fire hazard? Possibly. Dragging a short post into a long post with photos and run-on sentences? DEFINITELY!
Just one question. On my dryer, the lint trap is in front, at the bottom of the doorway where you toss the clothes in. How do I get to the lint trap in that position?
The fan and all that is still probably in the back near the discharge chute but I can’t be sure.
I just dropped a washcloth down mine while I had the lint trap out to clean, now what do I do, I am 85 y y active lady but this may be beyond my pay scale, can’t move the dryer out, bought this place with appliances left and the previous owner put shutter doors to pull in front of appliances and from what my eyes tell me the one on the dryer side would have to come off before the dryer can be pulled away from the rear wall. Oh me, HELP!
Oh my. Where do you live? Is there any way I can stop by and help? I wonder if you could fish it out with a wire coat hanger straightened out with a hook bent into the end?
Just discovered your blog while looking for Cat Tree instructions, and will definitely return!
On a note realted to this post, while you’re cleaning out the lint trap, you might as well go whole hog and clean out all the ducting, too. My son and I did this in August, and I got out approximately 1 gallon of lint. In places, the ducting was three-quarters clogged.
The dryer works much better now (as in, the clothes actually get dry), and my chances of having a fire are much reduced.
It’s scary how much lint and junk gets jammed in there isn’t it? I kind of thought I implied that you should clean out everything while you’ve got it apart, but you’re right, I should have added it in more plainly.
soooo, I’m pulling the lint thing out, (I washed the DOG’s blanket- 80lbs of FUR ok?) and I see that (as usual), the lint blanket that formed didn’t all come out. grr. I removed 1/2-3/4 when it plops down the back. (there are now forehead shaped decorations on my cement wall). ahem. So, I started it up, hoping it would blow out (outside), and POOF this pile of hair created this fantastic snow sculpture outside. But I too am anal, and worried now. So I was looking how to uh, undo this (stupid) action, without asking my dad (and get a lecture on animal hair _ shrugs). and found THIS page! YES! muwahaha! so, tomorrow, when I am sane of mind, and the pain of banging my head against the wall is gone, I will attempt to clean it myself. and if I fail, my dad is coming over the next day. I WILL try first. :) thank you SO much! I’m pretty sure its mostly out, but I don’t want to chance it. ^_^ thanks again!
Thanks, Cynthia. Make sure while you’re back there you try and snake out the lint hose that goes out the side of the house as well. There’s some ‘As Seen On TV” Lint Lizard thing that much work to get up your piping. I usually go with a shop-vac. PS. if you have flexible hosing back there from the dryer to the lint vent go ahead and switch it out for rigid.http://dadand.com/wp-admin/edit-comments.php#comments-form
Hi Pete,
Thanks so much for this posting. I am a single gal on my own and my dryer broke today. Stinky, smoky smell and dreadfully loud noises were coming from my dryer. I played around on google for a bit, diagnosed the possible problem, and found your super helpful instructions and photos. I cleaned the lint trap, the wheel thing back there (it had a huge lintball clog on one of the blades……hence that terrible noise, and everything else I had access to. My dryer is working beautifully again! Thanks for saving me from a repair call and for empowering a single gal!! Who needs a man? Ha ha…..just teasing.;)
Feels good to do it yourself, doesn’t it? Very empowering.
My daughter spilled a bottle of stain remover down my lint chute. I was trying to take the thing out to clean it but it would not come out. Then I found your website and realized that I had forgotten the two screws at the top of the chute. (The ones that you dropped down there.) Thanks for posting instructions. I could not believe what I had to clean out of my dryer!
Glad our little corner of the internet could help. I hope you took our advice and shoved a towel or something in there when replacing the screws to avoid dropping them down there like we did.