Welcome first time readers & welcome back to those of you who continue to read what I hope is informative & empowering blogs I’ve written that equips you with pro-tips & useful tips. The Space Coast continues to boom with growth, while Nate’s Dryer Vent Cleaning continues to provide high quality customer service and workmanship to Brevard County residents and the surrounding counties.

Yes, you read that right, in case you didn’t know, we service downtown Orlando and East Orange County, on up to Osteen & Geneva Florida as far north as New Smyrna Beach. We do not, have no intention of covering Indian River County, as there are already two GREAT options for folks in Sebastian, Vero Beach and St Lucie in regards to Dryer Vent Cleaning.

Both of these companies offer the complete service that dryer manufacturers recommend (cleaning the vent and taking apart the dryer to clean it) just like we do – however it’s always important for me to note that most companies that offer dryer vent cleaning do NOT offer both halves (the complete job) of the service that dryer manufacturers recommend. I’ll go ahead and inform you, the reader, of whom I recommend in Indian River County in case you reside there and are interested in that information.

For appliance repair recommendations I HIGHLY recommend Brandts.

For Dryer Vent needs I recommend MasterTech & The Dryer Vent Specialist (which is Veteran Owned like us)

Now for the purpose of this blog, why we (and many others) do not recommend using dryer sheets & instead we recommend utilizing wool dryer balls.

Wool dryer balls are proven to work, and they can reduce drying time, soften clothes, and reduce static. They’re also environmentally friendly and chemical-free! Here’s a solid article from Parachute.com on the topic. The NBC Today show even covered the topic you can read here. If you’d like to know what brand I personally recommend, that would be Smart Sheep, utilizing wool from lambs from New Zealand! They have a great online store with many options & of course you can purchase on Amazon also.

Here’s my top 3 reasons why we don’t recommend dryer sheets, starting with #3 the least important reason, if you will:

Reason #1 – Dryer Sheets require you to continually purchase them, albeit not necessarily frequently, it is an expense, nominal at that. In contrast, if you buy a package of wool dryer balls (they sometimes come in packs of 4-8 balls & you only really need 2 or at most 3 in the drum at any given time), the initial few you utilize will last a 1-3 years before having to change them out.

Reason #2 – Did you nearly all dryer sheets produce what they refer to as VOC?
“A “VOC” stands for “Volatile Organic Compound,” which refers to a group of chemicals that readily evaporate into the air at room temperature, often found in everyday products like paints, cleaning supplies, and building materials, and can potentially be harmful to health when inhaled in significant amounts; essentially, they are chemicals that easily turn into vapor.”

If what I am about to say doesn’t apply to you, I think you would be quite surprised to hear the percentage of our customers that tell us how they are hyper allergic to various allergens in addition to chemicals found in normal house hold products, like dryer sheets and even detergent. It’s a little surprising to me to hear the many customers that have communicated to me and my staff how what seems to not effect (at least immediately/ acutely) most folks, has quite impactful, negative unintended consequence when exposed to these things.

Without getting too much into the weeds on this topic, many chemicals in your home, whether from dryer sheets, detergents, cleaning solutions, etc, essentially contaminate your indoor air quality. Although I’m not the type of person that necessarily trust information the government disseminates, here’s what the EPA has to say on the topic. Here’s information from the American Lung Association. Lastly, here’s another great source from a popular site, Science Direct.

Now, Many dryer sheets have an option of having a subtle scent infused into the sheet, such as lavender for example. I totally understand how folks want their clothes coming out of the dryer smelling pleasant and fresh. My recommendation for wool dryer balls is utilizing your favorite(s) essential oil. All it takes is dropping a few drops onto the wool dyer ball(s) and it creates the same subtle effect.

Now, our #1 Reason by far in my opinion the most important or at least tied with reason #2 – We have found on a number of occasions where dryer sheets have directly caused machines to overheat, resulting in part failure, which required the machine to be repaired. How can that be? Let me explain with both words, picture & video!

The lint trap compartment in your dryer is the beginning of your vent system. Now, let me define some terms so we’re on the same page. The screen where the lint collects is often referred to as the lint trap & the compartment it drops into is, the lint trap compartment. Now that we got that out of the way, the hot humid air in the dryer drum evacuates through the compartment (along with lint). For starters, if you try and dry clothes with a thick or even a thin layer of lint on the screen, your dryer will run much longer than it should to dry the clothes. That clogged screen is acting as an immediate blockage.

Here’s a quick story: I was hired to clean the vent at an Airbnb property in Cape Canaveral. When I arrived I realized the vent was short, straight through the wall. I met the husband there, we turned the dryer on, stepped outside and checked the airflow with my hand (not an anemometer) and it felt pretty good, but not 100%. While we’re walking back inside to the dryer he tells me his house keepers and wife were telling him it was taking more than one cycle to dryer. I turned the dryer off, opened the dryer door and found a very thick layer of lint on the lint screen. I cleaned the screen & problem solved! He was a little embarrassed and flabbergasted that his wife nor house keeper didn’t clean the screen. See below, we frequently arrive to people’s homes and the lint screen looks like it hasn’t been cleaned in weeks.