How To Clean A Air Return Vent Cover

You may be surprised at the amount of dust and lint lurking in the vents and ducts in your domicile. Keep reading to learn how to hands clean air vents!

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I'll be honest, cleaning our air vents has never one time crossed my mind. That is, until the day I glanced over at the render air vent in our living room and noticed the disturbing amount of dust bunnies hanging out on that vent. And in one case I noticed how gross information technology was, I couldn't unsee it.

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I started thinking about all of the dust, canis familiaris hair, and Cheerios that find their way into your air ducts and it only makes sense that you lot should probably clean your air vents every now and so. Who wants that muddy, dusty air circulating their business firm?

Cleaning is most definitely non my forte but I took to Google to discover out how I could clean my own air vents. And it's really actually easy!

This is a swell projection to add together to your seasonal cleaning routine.

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Cleaning Your Own Air Vents

Cleaning all of that dust out of your air vents is an like shooting fish in a barrel job that'south perfect to add together to your spring cleaning routine.

You can pay professionals to deep clean your air duct system, just I'chiliad frugal and always game for a DIY approach. Of course, you won't be able to deep clean your ducts as thoroughly as a pro, just I effigy most of the debris hangs out near the vents and floor registers anyway. Plus the vent covers themselves are super like shooting fish in a barrel to clean.

Sentinel this video see how muddied these air vents really were and how I cleaned them then they are sparkling clean again! I can't believe the water wasthatdirty subsequently soaking them!

Supply listing

Bristle Scrub Brush (these ii brushes from Full Circle worked really well)
Dish Lather
Safe Gloves
Screwdriver
Vacuum with a hose attachment or Store Vac

ane. Turn Off HVAC Organisation

Before y'all get-go cleaning, be certain to turn off your furnace and air conditioner.

two. Remove Vents

Pull up floor registers and remove return air vents. My wall vents required a flat head screwdriver.

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iii. WASH Vents

Lay all of your vents in the bathtub and fill the tub with warm, soapy water. Dish soap works great for this, specially dish soaps that take a degreaser in them.

Allow your vents to soak in the soapy water for 10-15 minutes.

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Use a bristle scrub brush to remove any remaining crud from your vents. These ii brushes from Total Circle worked really well for cleaning air vents! The larger brush's narrow shape reached in between all of the vent grates. I too used Total Circumvolve's modest detail brush for a few hard-to-reach spots.

Subsequently you lot've scrubbed the vents clean, rinse them nether warm water and lay on a towel to dry. If you have a shower head attachment, it works really well for rinsing! I laid all of my clean vents out on a large bath towel and let them air dry out while I moved onto step 4.

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4. Vacuum Ducts

Use a shop vac or your vacuums hose attachment to clean out your ducts before replacing the vents. I borrowed my father-in-law's pocket-sized store vac for this task.

Use your vacuum'southward hose to suck up all of the cobwebs, crumbs, and dust lurking in your ducts. You won't be doing as deep of cleaning as a pro would, but only getting the stuff that's nerveless around the duct opening is a huge improvement.

five. Put Vents Back In Identify

Put all of your vents back where they belong. If they're nonetheless a little wet, that'due south okay because they will air dry.

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half-dozen. Replace Furnace Filter & Turn On HVAC

Before yous turn your HVAC back on, take a minute to replace your furnace filter. If your filter is dirty, yous'll even so get dirty air coming upward through your vents and information technology volition ruin all of your difficult work!

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I know learning how to make clean air vents is basically the most mundane topic I could web log near, only I am and then appalled at all of the dust bunnies clinging to my vents that I had to exercise something and had to share it with you!

Looking for more cleaning tips? Have a look at these!