heating ducts

[ben14826]

Not sure if thisis the best place for this question or not, but here goes anyway. Is there any way to run anything through the heat ducts in my home to get the dirty/dusty/nasty smell out of them? Some sort of aerosol or something maybe?

[hvac1000]

That question has been asked many times here and if you do a search you will find some answers.

You can try to clean them out with a rag and your favorite cleaner on a long flexible type cable or dowel. You can check for dirt by using a flash lite and mirror to see just how much dust is in the duct.

I know of no magic spray that will clean the duct just by spraying it in. You will need to use the cleaner of your choice with a rag attached to something flexible so you can run it up and down inside of the duct.

Caution! Make sure you attach whatever you are using to clean the duct. You do not want to loose the rag part way down the duct then have to retrieve it.

At camp when we clean duct we use a old plumber FLAT sewer snake with the little wheels on the front. It is flexible and you can attach the rag to it with wire and tape. I have not seen this item for sale for years since most sewer cleaners are electric these days.

I am sure you will get more answers on your question here with other good ideas.

[ben14826]

Thanx for the reply HVAC, very helpful. I tried a search and didn't really find anything. This helps a lot though.

[Robert]

Hi,

MH ducts are usually not sealed up well or have become opened, so be sure to NOT use any liquid that can leak out or drip out into belly if there is an opening/crack.

MH ducts are also made of thin aluminum and are easily dented, bent, damaged and/or destroyed, so be very careful as to how much pressure you exert when doing this.

They can be cleaned, but it is tedious and time consuming and must be done carefully or you'll end up with a much larger problem and headache.

Take care and best wishes,
Robert

[SpongeBob]

Hi, after cleaning as best we could using all the above mentioned ways; we then put fabric softener towelettes on the inside of the grates. I made little filters out of them with double backing tape. They each last about 10 days of fresh smell, then we change them out. Paying a bit more for brand name fabric softener towelettes proved much better than buying a "weaker" generic brand. Hope this helped. Just make sure nobody is alergic to them.