DIY guideDryer
Clean the lint traps on commercial dryers
Clear each dryer's lint screen as often as its maker says, vacuum the lint compartment, check the screen isn't torn, and log it.
- 5 to 15 min
- 7 steps
- Every step animated

7 steps
Tap a step to watch it again.
Wait until the dryer has stopped and cooled down, and leave it off while you work.
Never reach in while the drum is turning.Open the lint compartment's door or pull out its drawer, usually low on the front, with its key if it has one.
Brush or peel all the lint off the screen, top to bottom, into a bin.
Vacuum the lint that's fallen around the screen and into the compartment's corners.
Look for holes, tears or a bent frame. A torn screen lets lint into the dryer and its duct.
Close the door until it latches, so the dryer will run, and log it on the sheet by the dryers.
A torn screen, a burning smell, lint inside the cabinet or a dryer that runs hot: take it out of use and ask Handyman for a laundry machine technician.
Smell gas near a gas dryer? Leave and call the gas utility from outside.
What you need
- A soft brush
- A vacuum
- The log sheet by the dryers
- The lint door's key, if it has one
Call a pro if
- The screen is torn or its frame bent
- A burning smell
- Lint inside the cabinet
- It runs hot or takes too long to dry

Handyman says: Torn screen? I'll find a dryer tech.
Free for every home. Handyman asks a few questions, then books a pro it trusts.
Rather have
a pro do it?







