Knowing how to clean your air ducts can save you a lot of money, since the professional duct cleaners charge a small fortune to do it.
Is it a necessary household task? Probably not. Is it one that I do? You bet.
How to Clean Your Air Ducts
Why Clean Them?
Ever since the day I dropped an earring down a floor register and opened it to find a massive spiderweb occupied by an equally massive spider, I’ve made a point to clean my air ducts regularly. It lets me sleep at night. Also, I always notice less dust settling on my furniture after I’ve done such a cleaning.
It just makes sense, doesn’t it? If you’ve got forced air coming out of a duct filled with dust, pet hair, Cheerios, or big ol’ hairy spiders, they’re bound to spread around a bit, right? Why put up with that? That’s why you need to know how to clean your air ducts.
How Long Does This Take?
Fortunately, cleaning your air ducts isn’t that difficult to do if you use the right tools and make a point of following directions. It takes maybe five minutes per register the first time, and only a couple of minutes each if you do it regularly.
How Often Should You Do This?
Follow the steps below to clean your home’s air ducts at least twice a year. If someone in your home has indoor allergies, or if you have a lot of pets, do it each season. You can use this method to clean cold air returns, too. Be sure you change your system’s filter after you’re done.
If you have pets that shed a lot, or kids who like to drop things down floor registers, you might want to consider installing vent register filters. These filters are made from electrostatic material that filters dust out of the air your system blows through the vents while also keeping dust from settling into them.
Steps To Clean Your Home’s Air Ducts
You will need:
- A vacuum cleaner with a dust brush attachment
- Microfiber cleaning cloths
- Screwdriver (to remove wall registers)
- Manual dryer vent cleaning brush
- Flexible vacuum hose extender brush (optional)
Step 1: Cleaning the duct walls.
Floor registers are easy to remove — lift them up. You may have to unscrew wall registers, which is easy enough using a screwdriver. Either way, remove and wash the vent in a sink of hot, soapy water, then rinse and let them air dry. You can clean unpainted metal registers in a dishwasher, but wash painted or varnished ones by hand. (Related: 54 Things You Can Clean in a Dishwasher.)
Once the registers are out of the way, insert whichever brush you’re using into the duct. If you’re using the vacuum attachment brush, make sure it’s firmly attached because you do not want it falling off in your duct system!
Rotate the brush around in the duct, working it against all four duct walls. Lightly scrub the walls as well as the floor of the duct to loosen debris, then remove the brush and set it aside.
Finally, stick your vacuum cleaner hose into the duct to pick up dust and other gunk you’ve dislodged then use it to clean the vent brush before moving onto the next duct.
Step 2: Cleaning the rest.
Using a damp microfiber cloth, reach down into the duct as far as you can and wipe the interior clean. You’ll want to rinse the rag repeatedly because you’ll find a lot of dust and gunk in there the first time you do this. To clean stubborn dirt, spray a homemade all-purpose cleaner on the cloth before wiping.
Wipe the area around the duct, including the floor or wall. Return the clean register vent to place, and you’re done.
Margaret Hawrysh says
Often use the vacuum hose but have not heard of a dryer vent brush, would do a much better job of cleaning.
Katie Berry says
The dryer vent brush is fantastic. It works on refrigerator coils, too!
Nana p says
Where can I purchase a dryer vent brush ?
Katie Berry says
Hi Nana, P. I bought mine from Amazon. This is the one I bought.
Beverly says
How does the dryer brush attach to the cordless drill? It looks like it has a handle on it not a drill bit end.
Katie Berry says
Ugh, they changed the product listing since I first wrote this entry. I’ve updated the link to the brush in the entry. It’s this one.
Judy Oleksik says
1 Senior lady here who doesn’t trust most vendosr who come to the home as we have been ripped off so many times.
We had to gut the underneath of our home back in 2007 due to the inspector didn’t bother to go under the house when we
purchased it and it was awful under the house. We paid a company to clean the air ducts and there weren’t any that were
even holding together and so much mold and decay. He just made $700 off of us and a week or so later they had to be
replaced. So naturally I am not easy with someone coming to do anything on the new system, however, my husband suffers with allergies, and we have a cat, so I am going to think about seeing if we can do this job by ourselves without killing each
other, hahah. So all we need is to follow the directions you give and that is that? Thank you for the directions.Judy
Katie Berry says
What an awful experience you had! I’m sorry you went through that. As far as following these instructions, they’ll remove dirt, dust, and other debris from the ducts as far as you can reach. (That’s where most grime occurs, anyway.)
This method won’t get all the way from floor level back to the furnace/HVAC unit, as the professionals say they do. But, since it doesn’t involve forcing water and steam through the system, it won’t cause drips or mold.
Lalee says
Will the dryer vent brush damage the ducts if we have the foil, flexible ducts and not the rigid metal ones? I’m afraid to try that on my ductwork.
Katie Berry says
Hi Lalee,
I think with that kind of ducts I’d use the brush manually.
becky says
if you do not want to put that dryer cleaner down your ducts (I don’t because if it gets stuck somewhere you will be stuck calling a pro to get it out! anyway what I did was take the furnace filter out for max air flow, and then close off all your vents leaving only one open at a time to clean. This directs all the air from your system only to the vent going to the opening you are cleaning. Then stick the flexible tubing of your vacuum cleaner down a bit into the vent and turn on the vacuum. Then go to the thermostat and turn on the fan only and let the vacuum run for a few minutes. That does a great job and you can do it with or without the brush. When done put a fresh filter in. I only do this for the vents where the air blows out. I would not recommend cleaning the cold air returns this was as you would likely be forcing dirt and dust into your furnace. If you want to vacuum the cold air returns, turn the system off
Katie Berry says
Hi Becky,
Thanks for sharing that tip!
GaryKinnard says
My wife and I are suffering from allergies. We have lived in this house for 37 years and just found out that the A/C ducts need to be cleaned. We had a company one and do the job, but come to find out all they cleaned was the registers and boxes. Their house was to big to go in the duct and we are still getting dust all over the place. I have been looking for a good roto brush so I can do it myself, but all I can find are companies that sell equipment for a high price. I do not want to start my own business, I just want for my wife and I to breath better and keep from getting sick / also not have to dust twice a day. Please can you help. Thank you.
Katie Berry says
Hi Gary,
The roto brush I’d mentioned works great in my home.