Featured at WalMart: Lint Lizard Dryer Lint Vac Attachment

Soon after I moved in to my house, someone told me about someone in their family who had a fire caused by lint build up in their clothes dryer. That year, I bought myself and several other people in my family a long brush designed to brush out lint from the areas beyond the lint screen of the dryer.

I used that several times and thought it did a fine job. I used that along with the crevice tool of my upright vacuum to reach as far back as I possibly could. Every few months I would faithfully clean out my dryer and get a substantial amount of lint that my lint filter did not catch. So, when I saw the Lint Lizard advertised on Television and on sale at my local WalMart, I decided to try it. At least, buying it at a retail store, it would be easier to get a refund if I was not satisfied with it than if I had ordered it over the phone or internet.

Following are my experiences with the Lint Lizard.

I may be unrealistic, but when a box advertises something that is 43 inches long, I do not expect it to be in 3 pieces, the longest being a clear plastic hose 31 inches long when stretched out. The three pieces were the hose, the Lint Lizard and the Vacuum adapter. Adding up the usability of those three pieces adds up to about 43 inches. When assembled the Lint Lizard seemed to be J shaped because of the way the hose curved.

I expected to gather so much lint that my vacuum would have so much lint, I would have to empty the tank before I did anything else. That was not the case. It did indeed catch some lint, but not nearly as much as I expected.

I expected it to catch all the lint that was in the dryer. WRONG. It did a great job of reaching some hard to reach areas, but when I went along with a wire brush later, I got even more lint on that. (A significant amount.)

1. It does fit both my Hoover upright Vacuum with the hose attachment as well as my Shop Vacs.
2. It is a fairly reasonable price and the value for the money spent is fair.
3. It does reach in to some far away places that would be difficult to reach without a long, narrow plastic hose.
4. It is clear plastic, so you can (theoretically) see what is being sucked up. I use the see through chamber on my upright vacuum though to see how much I got.
5. It seems to be of decent quality.

The fact that the hose is a firm plastic makes it somewhat inflexible. The hose always wanted to curve one particular direction, but I wanted it to face another direction to reach a stubborn batch of lint. I assume that this is because it was bent into a round shape to fit in the box. I hope it becomes a little less rigid over time. To get the stubborn lint, I had to use my wire brush, so the Lint Lizard was not helpful for that task.

In spite of it's length, there are still some spots it has difficulty reaching. In spite of being attached to the suction of a powerful vacuum, some dirt was left behind until I was able to get it with a wire brush, so it is not a tool to eliminate other tools.

Another problem I had was that when it got in to the deep areas of the dryer, it was very difficult to see where the Lint Lizard was and where the lint dirt was. I sensed that there was lint that was not being picked up, and when I took the Lint Lizard out, I saw some remaining clusters of lint, which I removed with the wire brush. This may be solved if you are able to use a flashlight while you are cleaning.

One technicality that does not seem right

Beware of this and decide for yourself: On the outside of the box, there is an offer for something called a Dust Lizard. It is a Mail-In offer that says "Just pay $5.99 fee. Details Inside"

Inside the box, along with the instruction guide is a flyer that says FREE* Dust Lizard Offer!

It says again "FREE! Pay just $6.99 for processing and handling".

Even if I wanted to buy the Dust Lizard, the two different price quotes tell me that something does not seem quite right and they just lost a sale to me. That tells me that is definitely not free. 

Overall, I would say the product is fair. It did not seem to be something that made me say, "Wow, now how did I ever live without this?", yet it did make it easier to reach some of those hard to reach areas beyond the screen.

I think I will continue to use the Lint Lizard from time to time, but I will still clean the lint traps before every use and will still use my wire dryer brush as well. I may use it as part of my cleaning routine, but it will not be the only tool I will use.