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All the Important Tools You Need to Clean the Air Ducts

Photo by: Bigstockphoto
Photo by: Bigstockphoto

It pays to keep the air ducts and ventilation shafts clean as a whistle! You don’t want random dust bunnies and pollen to cause allergies or create clogs in the ventilation shafts. A clean air duct means freeing the home from contaminants that can affect your health such as pollen, mold, dust, mites, and spores.

Of course, you need the right tools to keep the home’s air ducts spotless. In today’s post, we are listing down all the important tools you need to clean the ducts:

A Ladder

Cleaning the air ducts and ventilation shafts require reaching to every nook and crannies. And sometimes, you’ll need to a ladder to reach these areas for cleaning. If you don’t already own a ladder, you can always buy, rent or even borrow one from a neighbor. You can even make your own ladder if you’re a hardcore DIY-er. However, if you do create your own ladder make sure it’s solidly built to avoid accidents.

Brushes

You need a specific kind of brush, one with very long handle and stiff bristles. The long handles allow you to reach to every corner of the ventilation shaft effortlessly while the stiff brush gets rid of dust, grime, and debris with ease. The bristles are meant to agitate the dust, so it can be cleared by the vacuum later on. Also, the brush should be slim so it can reach the sides of the duct as well.

Vacuum

You want a powerful, industrial vacuum to eliminate dirt from the air duct. The ordinary vacuum won’t cut it. The vacuum will suck up all the agitated dust, debris and other blockages from the shafts. Because the unit will create a negative pressure to the ducts, you’ll be able to clear the area faster and without hard labor. You can use two types of vacuum, one that fits over the opening of the ducts, and another that can fit into the duct coils and sharp turn because of its long hose.

If you don’t already own a vacuum cleaner, you can either rent one at a hardware store or again, borrow one from a friend or neighbor. Just make sure to get a vacuum with HEPA filters to prevent contaminated air in the home.

Air Compressor

An air compressor has the ability to blast and blow compressed air into a space. It allows you to work on specific areas of the space to eliminate hard-to-remove grime. You can blast air inside the duct walls and shafts. This way, you don’t have to scrub the area manually. You can rent an air compressor from your local hardware store.

Pressure Washers

Pressure washers are only needed when the duct has not been clean for a very long time or the home is prone to natural disasters. When the duct is not cleaned for years or decades, the contaminants have spread to the entire length of the ventilation duct. The same thing goes if the duct is exposed to flood and damages caused by natural disasters.


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