DIY Air Vent Cleaning

Air ducts help you ventilate your entire home and contain millions of dust and pollen particles. These particles can act as a breeding ground for many viruses and diseases and can also promote the hatching of pests and insects like ants and roaches in your home.

Keeping your air vents cleaned and maintained on a superficial level can help you lessen the chances of this happening drastically. In this article, I am going to talk about the ways you can keep your air events clean on your own.

What Are The Air Vents?

Air vents are the openings that allow air to pass out of them. They are usually found in confined spaces like homes, offices, and buildings.

If your home has central heating or central air conditioning systems installed, then it also has air vents. These openings are the grilles vents and are also the registers.

Air vents are different from grilles; grilles are permanent and non-adjustable fixtures that are often found in residential spaces. A home could either have one or two large grilles or a couple of small-sized grilles at different points in the house.

How Do Air Vents Work?

Air vents are present on the ceilings and walls of your homes and serve the purpose of expelling clean and controlled air to the surroundings. You can also easily change the flow of the vents using an adjustable damper.

Adjustable dampers are often present as a rolling guide or lever on the side of the vent.

How To Clean Air Vents In Your House

There are many reasons why you should actively consider cleaning the air vents in your home. Dust and allergies are the main reasons for many people. Clean vents also make your home look neat and tidy.

You may not own a high powered vacuum that can suck out all the dirt from the vents, but you can still clean the vents a little in between your regular duct cleaning routine, which can help your home have a standard quality of air throughout the year.

Heres what you will need

• A screwdriver
• Plastic sheets
• A household vacuum
• Paper towels
• Furnace fillers
• Brooms or Cleaning brushes

Directions:

1. Turn off the power supply that is connected to the heating and air ventilation system. Turning off the power supply helps stop dust from flying everywhere when the ducts are opened.
2. Line the area surrounding the opening with plastic sheets so that you don’t have to spend the next few hours cleaning off the dust from the floors.
3. Use a screwdriver to open the vent covers, detach these covers and place them in lukewarm water. Clean and wipe them gently with a brush.
4. Place the hose of your vacuum inside the openings and try to reach as much dust as you can. The vacuum won’t be able to reach all the ends and be able to clean all the moulds thoroughly. If in between you realize that your ducts are filthy you can contact your duct cleaners to take over and do the rest of the job for you.
5. Clean the ceiling and the grilles with a broom. Dust will naturally stick to the walls and ceilings so to make sure that your job is done correctly, you can use a brush to clean off the dirt.
6. Repeat all these steps for all the openings in the house.

If you’re someone that is allergic or prone to react to dust, then I would strictly advise you to get your air vents cleaned by professionals or, at the very least, wear appropriate protective gear to ensure that you don’t fall sick.

This method is not perfect and is not a substitute for duct cleaning, but it can help you prolong the life of your HVAC system by lessening the load on it. You will typically only need to do this once a year.

If you’re looking to clean your air vents properly, I would advise you to get the work done from professional duct cleaners who know what their job is and are licensed. Look for duct cleaners near your area.