Your home's air quality is a big deal, especially with a worldwide pandemic that has made it necessary to stay at home more often. And during the winter when your home windows rarely get opened up to vent out your home air, the inside air quality can become dirty. For these reasons, it is a great idea to clean your home's ventilation and improve your air quality. Here are some recommendations to help you keep your home's interior air clean and free of dust, dirt, pollutants, and allergens with a good vent cleaning process.

Complete Your Vent Cleaning

There are many parts of your home ventilation system that will be getting dirty and dusty from use and age, so it is important to recognize all the different areas so you can clean them properly. It is best to have a high-powered vacuum, such as a shop vacuum or other commercial-style vacuum, which will be useful for sucking debris from down inside your vent system. And the longer the suction hose is, the better chances you will have of reaching further into the ventilation of your home.

Remove your HVAC's supply and return vents and vacuum them out, reaching down as far as possible to clear out any dirt, particles, and other debris. You will find that floor vents will accumulate a great deal more debris, and you should follow up with weekly or monthly cleaning to pull out new dirt that has collected. Use a toilet brush to loosen any debris that is inside your vents, then repeat the vacuuming to clear it out. You can also use a damp cleaning rag to wipe out the interior of the ductwork. 

After you clean out each individual supply vent and before you replace them, place a paper towel to line the inside of the vent to catch loose particles when you turn your HVAC fan system back on. This will blow out any debris that is still loose in your system and catch it onto the paper towels instead of blowing it into your home.

Clean Vent Covers

You should also plan on cleaning your vent covers from both the supply and return hatches. They can become coated in dirt and dust, especially the return vents, which pull air through them from your home's interior. Vacuum the front and back of the vents to remove loose dry dirt. Soak each vent in a sink filled with warm soapy water, then brush them clean with a cleaning brush. 

You should actually plan to repeat this cleaning to your vent covers every spring and fall or periodically through the year. These vent covers are a big collection point of debris that will end up in your home's air, so diligence in cleaning them will pay off.

Follow this up by checking and replacing your home's HVAC filter regularly to keep it flowing well, and contact a professional vent cleaning service for a full vent home cleaning.

Share