If you add a tablespoon full of a Lemon dish soap, it will break the surface tension of the water, have better lint absorption, and the air will smell nice. If you notice the smell isn’t as lemony, then it’s probably time for a water change. This also helps chase off mosquitoes.

Added benefit: a cold house motivates me to do my laundry now. Thanks for posting.

I've always HATED wasting all that hot air going outside from my dryer in the winter!! You've SOLD me on this idea! and the venting the air from my attic to dry the clothes in the summer is a gotta do too. Not only does it dry the clothes more efficiently but it moves the air around that gets stale in my attic :) I can smell it after a while, the hot beams and such. KUDOS!! sharing!

Excellent how to video, well done. I have the tiny store bought indoor dryer kit and was thinking about using a 5 gal pail so I don't have to add water all the time.......... then I saw your video which is perfect. You demonstrate and speak so clearly with no loud music like so many others on youtube. Good that you explained why it can't be used with gas dryers. carbon monoxide. You also showed me how to make those lids easier to open thanks.

I appreciate all the effort you put into these informative, and educational videos. Many people owe you a huge debt of gratitude.

Nice video Jeff! I appreciated the focus on content, vs. pitching your channel, etc. The other benefit to your idea that I didn't notice mentioned in the comments here, is that you can avoid using the flap valve on the outside of your house wall where the dryer duct normally discharges. In theory those things close when there is no air pressure from the dryer hose when the dryer is running, but in practice, they are leaky and let some cold winter air backflow into your house whenever the dryer is not running (which is typically 98% of the time). Cold air flows back through the dryer exhaust duct and the dryer itself. Of course you'd have to make sure the flap valve was closed and plugged or sealed in a way that could be reversed for summer use, but packing a wad of insulation and duct taping it up against the outside of the flap valve seems like it should do it.

Great video, Jeff! Thank you so much!! Neat Idea!! South Dakota winters sure made the house dry from lack of humidity. This will go a long way in keeping the air moist!

Thank you, very helpful. I was about to waste a ton of money on amazon on a lint trap. I happen to have one of these buckets laying around, its definitely going to be put to good use!!

I used the nylon stocking trick back in the 80's. I clamped it down at the very edge of the open end of the stocking instead of near the foot end. It just blew the stocking upward like one of those air-filled waving guys :) Never had any problems with clogging either but I did check it every load or two cleaning it as needed.

Good video, with explanations for those who may not understand. I have done this before and it works great, especially with an inner floating tube mod as mentioned in comments. One important thing to note, is that you only want to use this in the WINTER when your air is very dry. Not spring or fall when it’s damp and rainy outside

I followed your steps to the best of my ability and am amazed at what I was able to do! This tip is superb 👏👌👍! Thank you 😊

After watching this video, I ran to Lowes and got the materials I needed to build this. This is just what I needed for my situation. I loved the added benefit of free heat. Thanks for posting this!!

I was in the appliance repair business for a long time, that's why i came up with this vent bucket 25 years ago, it works. Been using it ever since. Never any mold or mildew at all. Most of the moist air goes out into the house not back into the dryer.

Thanks for the making of this video and idea on the cutting my electric bill ! I'm gonna give it a try and see how good it works . Thanks again !

This is a crafty man after my own heart. Nice creation sir. I'll definitely be trying this. UPDATE: I followed this tutorial step by step and I love the end result. I even designed my own shoe dryer using the warm air from the bucket. Thank you for a no nonsense, easy to understand instruction. 😀✔️

Thanks so much for the video. I live in an apartment run by the town housing authority and they wanted me to get rid of the dryer because I was venting it into a a/c filter but it was also venting out through the apt. My back problem will not allow me to hang clothes on the clothes line without severe pain. This is an awesome idea and I can't thank you enough. Now I got to keep my dryer!

6 years later this is still coming in handy - thank you! I have a dehumidifier in that area anyway so this sounds like a great idea.

That's a pretty good idea, I've never thought about how much heat is being wasted to the outside.

Thanks Jeff , I wish that I would have found this five years ago when you first posted it , better late than never ! Thanks again !

This is on my bucket list

Thank you for this video! Instead of the orange lid, I went with the removable black lid so I wouldn't have to cut off tabs. Also, instead of self-tapping screws, I went with 10-32 flat head screws with nuts on the other side to tighten. I discovered the dryer dock you show in the video isn't available at Home Depot; they have a cheap one that bends when you tighten the clip on it, and it doesn't snap firmly into place. I ordered the one you have in this video from Amazon. Another thing I did differently is I cut a piece of aluminum window screen material and closed it inside the lid, to catch any wayward lint that might not make it down to the water. I fill the bucket about 3/4 full with water, rather than half. I think the closer it is to the top, the less likely any floating lint can escape it. One final tip: ask a donut shop for a bucket. They have empty buckets they might give you.

Thanks so much really works great, so much more moisture in my house now. No more static at my house great tutorial thanks so much.

When dumping out the wet lint, dry it out cut it up and use it for fire starter 🤗

I love when ppl are so simple and str8 to the point!

The Rainbow vacuum cleaner uses water for there filter and have been doing so since the 1970's i believe. Works beautifully. Vehicles use to use a oil bath air filter before paper filters came along. The dirt was trapped in the oil.

I just wanted you to know my husband and I just made this bucket sytem from your video. Not only do we think its going to work great, we also discovered the vent from the stove exhaust was broken so both vents are now fixed! No more drafts and hopefully not as dry an environment. Thank you for the video!

I like how easy it was to do and I watched it all the way through. Great savings, wish I did not have a gas dryer. Thank you for the informative video.

Just did one for me today!! So happy I could do it all by myself, too!!

I have actually done something similar for alot of my customers that live in trailers. Most of them have issues with freezing pipes during winter months so I install a T valve and send one end out of the house for summer and the other through the floor for winter. The humidity and heat helps to keep the underside of the trailer warm and prevents freezing. The ventilation from the skirting helps prevent water buildup on insulation and structural materials so no mold or rust damage done. The excess heat also helps to heat the flooring of the trailer which keeps the furnace from running as often. Thank you for the video. Definately something to keep in mind for customers with much larger homes.

Dude.. love the idea, ordering parts for it now. Very glad to have found this... and knew someone had an answer for the problem I was looking for. I have to modify the design a bit... but very awesome!

I live in Virginia. I’m also a hvac tech I tried this in January which is our coldest/driest month. Within 30 minutes my windows were dripping wet and the drywall had water running down all over. Just get a steam humidifier and use distilled water. Way less trouble

I followed your instructions. The trap works well! Thanks!

Genius idea! Thank you - It worked great for me!!

Perfect personality for no bs explanations! Great, simple ideas, too.

Looks like a really good idea for the folks who have a dryer sitting in the middle of a room. The pot-bellied stove of the 2000s.

Great idea too - I'd love it if you showed this running. Also the one about cooling your home.

The way the lint collects in the water is the same way dirt is trapped in the Rainbow vacuum cleaner, which is a very high end vacuum. Works extremely well to trap the dirt and is great for those who suffer from respiratory problems. Awesome!!! Heat and clean air too.

This is a really great video. A couple of additional notes to keep in mind: Any VENTED dryer air that's exhausted from your home in the winter is replaced by air LEAKAGE into your house, which you subsequently have to heat to home temperature. Hence a conventional dryer with no heat recovery makes you lose energy in 2 ways, making it even more of an energy sucker (wallet drainer). Secondly, dryer efficiency decreases with more humidity in the air (its intake is in the same room), so it really IS much better to locate the bucket in another room or adjacent hallway (laundry room door closed), so you're not trying to dry clothes with air that already has high humidity. If you MUST have it in the same room, then as a minimum, leave the laundry room door open, and perhaps consider a small fan to help to circulate the warm, humid air out of the room and into the rest of your home :)

Thanks, Jeff. We've used your video to create our own lint colector/humidifier. It works great. Sure appreciate your sharing.

I am from Qatar and that just blows me away.. well done 👍 I will implement your idea because I struggled with all air and dust that come out from the dryer

By the end of the video we became friends and he kept talking about his personal life and family. It was great

Thank you So much!! I really needed this video, and it solves a huge problem for me. Bless, Sheila

First and foremost THANK YOU. As a first time home owner of a 60yr old house with no vent. This video was excellent, super detailed and really well paced. Thank you 🙏 again

That is an excellent idea, thank you for sharing. ..i intend to build the dryer bucket this weekend!

This actually works great! This is my 2nd year using this. It has helped my allergies so much! I add essential oils to the water and it has been a game changer! ❤❤❤

As given, this blows a lot of lint into the laundry room, and we couldn't remember to check the water level. To fix these issues, I made a couple of mods: I conveniently put the bucket near the HVAC return vent to induct the warmth & humidity to the rest of the house. I hooked a toilet float to red&white striped stick thru one of the vent holes to indicate the low water level with a glance. I extended the vent hose to a Styrofoam ring float with a tall half-gallon plastic bag with the bottom cut off and glued to the ring, so all the air must go down to the surface of the water, losing more of its lint. Another convenience is a piece of hose from the deep sink to another of the vent holes, for quick refill and occasional rinse-out.

Nice idea. We used to live in a house with the washer/dryer in the garage. Our exhaust vent hole was too high up on the wall. So we just angled the vent hose out the back door on the ground. Then picked up the lint. I think that the hole in the wall for the vent was clogged. Our apartment has a place in the kitchen for our washer/ dryer. We kept having problems with the dryer. So the handyman cleaned it out. There must have been lint in the wall for years. It works so much better. Then our washer water would spill out onto the floor. So the handyman had to connect pvc pipe behind the washer-refrigerator-oven- to a pipe joined to the kitchen sink. It is so much better. It's the simple things in life that are really exciting when an appliance problem gets fixed.

From Leo: I have used a similar bucket for years. In addition, I cut a disk of a furnace filter with the big hole in the middle that filters the lint out of the discharge. That keeps the house a lot less dusty. I also keep a couple gallons of water in the bucket and no longer have need for a humidifier. A small fan in the laundry room door pushes the warm moist air out into the kitchen where normal Furnace cycling distributes it. I would not use it with a gas dryer, only electric.

I wish you could make a CD so I could use it as needed to remember all this. It is great !!!

what neat idea, makes sense to use the wasted energy.

My dryer vents to the garage into one of those small vent traps, but lint still gets all over the place ! I just needed a better system to trap the lint, so I tried this ! Just finished. Hope it works as well as you say !

I made one... It REALLY does work it heat up my apt by 5 degrees with just one load... Thank you!!

I did a similar thing a few years ago in my garage. The washer and dryer are both in there. I found that moisture is NOT something you want in your garage. It sure did help everything rust faster.

Thanks for the great idea! To be sure, I calculated the area of a 4" hole to be about 12.5 square inches, and the area of a hole from a 15/16" bit to be a meager 0.7 square inches. So you'd need 12.5 / 0.7 = about 18 (15/16") holes to pass the volume of air of that center 4" hole. He's not kidding when he says to make Lots of Holes. I'm gonna make one of these for sure.

Thats actually good thinking, man!! Awesome idea, Jeff!

Thank you. This is great. In Florida though, we barely have winter. You said not to use this in summer. Can't wait to see how to save in summer.

This is on my bucket list.

This is also work very well; no, extremely well for growing large amounts of black mold. My wife and I suffered from good health until we installed this red neck heater, but mow between the headaches and Namonia, it's totally worth the investment. Next I think I'm going to install a wood stove seeing as how the tire shop down the road has an endless supply of tires for me to burn. The btu rating is 10x that of regular firewood. Love sticking it to the man. Thanks for the helpful informative video!

That really is a handy knife. I've had one in my back pocket since becoming an electrician 7 years ago.

I have the little box which diverts the moist hot air into my basement . Humidity levels in the house are on the low side during cold weather . The furnace dries the inside air and the moist dryer vent helps put moisture back into the house . I clean that small screen filter after every drying cycle . Your idea seems to be a step up from what I'm using .Thanks for your video !

The bucket collector is a good idea but one thing that should be taken into consideration is that at a minimum you must have enough holes that the area of the small holes is equal to or greater than the incoming duct, 4" in this case. Based on my math you would need over 18 15/16" holes. A small mode such as a the dust collector cyclones used on shop vac may work better.

Pretty cool idea!

Thanks Jeff. Will do. Have a great day!

I did this in my basement in new hampshire.. Helps a lot

Ingenious! I own a gas dryer; however, I will pas the info to others. Thanks for sharing YOUR outstanding idea.

Nylon like a panty hose leg IS the best way to go! I've done it for years! Just like the dryer lent screen it needs to be cleaned from time to time, not every use like the screen but it does need cleaned. Also use a long length of panty hose leg not just a short section that just covers the hose end, that does not restrict airflow or moisture when using a full leg or 1/2 the leg. Also for some of us that use wood heat and run hot fires at times, put a dryer near the wood burner and modify the air intake to suck hot air from beside the wood burner. No control of heat this way but does not really matter, clothes dry great and do not over heat, just disconnect the wires from the dryer heating coils if electric or do not connect the gas if gas dryer! Only electric used is then for the 110v motor to spin the drum and blow air. I did this years ago when I bought a gas dryer for $35 used and have no gas to run it LOL I set up the extra wood heat dryer when heating season comes. . All electric house other than stove which was ran on a small tank. Wood heat and panty hose for dryer saves me allot on electric and the moisture reduces the static shocks that occur with dry air.!

very usefull information , i have already applied the videos ive watched so far. now that iam retired keeps me something to do.thanks keep up the good work.

I have just found your videos on KZfaq and thinking of going off grid there in southern Missouri I really enjoy the videos I seen so far keep them coming lol

Easy dryer vent bucket to build

Assuming that 4" vent hose is required for proper air flow. You'd need about 18x 15/16" holes to vent keeping the same amount of open area. That said ensuring that the holes are clean and smooth will also help reduce restrictions. You just have to adjust your number of holes based on the size of holes that you drill in the lid.

Awesome! I will be doing this today after work, thanks so much for the video.

Very nicely done sir,being a tinkerer I've gotta try it,fyi setting a dryer on 4 square cat litter buckets eliminates an expensive dryer stand,saving your back and good for storage.

Great video thanks!

Great tip about the nylon stocking over the dryer vent. If you restrict the flow, lint can build up inside the dryer and actually cause a fire! I had a duct cleaning business and cleaned dryer ducts too. Had one customer who's dryer actually caught fire because of a blocked vent! Also had many that I cleaned that were close to having a fire! It's a good idea to have your dryer cleaned inside every couple of years along with the vent.

We have one of the tiny buckets from the hardware store connected to our dryer. It's not ideal but was necessary because the outside vent is too far away from the dryer, and it took hours to dry one load.

You're a very wise man, just the video am looking for, you deserve a reward, Thank you so much.

Back in the 70s I created a simple invention that cut my gas bill in half. I could not give it away. Nobody was interested. Perhaps today some will run with it. Back then the electronics were quite crude. It had two thermostats, one set normally and one set cool with some electronics to switch between them. Today all this could all be integrated on one circuit board. I used crude burglar alarms. If one were triggered, it would use the warm thermostat for 20 minutes. If there were no more triggers, it would revert to the cold thermostat. The effect is, the thermostat turns down the heat if people go out or go to sleep. It works no matter how chaotic the schedule. My dog Sheldon learned to jump through an infrared beam of one of the burglar alarms when he was feeling chilly.

I usually cut my power bill in half with a pair of scissors.

I also use this in the summer. My dryer is ducted outside..... about 15" from my a/c condenser!! (Who designed THAT!) Keeps all that lint from getting sucked straight into the cooling fins!! 😎 Great video!!

I made the 5 gal bucket hat air filter about 10 years ago and it works great

Yep, cool idea. I have done this for years. But I added something to help keep from having to move the dryer out in summer to replace vent duct. I used a T and a 4 inch shut off valve. This way in summer I simply reach to the back of my dryer and turn for air in or out. LOL works just a little idea i added to the fix. :-)

do the world a favor - take another large bucket, put a fine wire mesh screen over it, slowly pour lint water into mesh screen to catch the lint so you can reuse the water. Let the lint dry and voila(!), easy fire starter material (lint).

Thank you so much .I have my laundry room on the second floor ., in my bricks old house with hard metal siding. This so easy and genius !!!! 😀😀😀

I'll be implementing this directly!! Thank you sir!!

Great idea! Running some numbers here (I'm not an engineer), but I assume the total area of the small vent holes should be equal to or just greater than the total area of the 4" hole (12.5 square inches). 1-inch holes will require 16 holes. Ironically, I just unpaused and watched your calculation again and 16 holes at 15/16 is spot on. 1.5-inch holes will require 8 holes Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

You could probably take the disc of lint out of the bucket when you change water and set to dry out then make a bunch of fire starters to use lighting you fire for cooking out doors.

I am going to build that with my girls. They will enjoy that thanks Jeff! I want to learn how to cool too!

Great video sir! I wanted to do a similar setup yrs ago but I really over complicated it. Good simple design my friend. Thx

Thank you! I’ll definitely add this to my bucket list.

Well Done VIDEO. I've Watched Many of Your Excellent 'MissouriWindandSolar' Ideas & Videos & Each One Builds Much Confidence in What You Say & Do & Have to Offer! I'm Amazed That I Can Understand What You're Saying, Every Word! Thanks! I'll Look for More!

i made one and iz working great. 1in 3/8 hole saw is all i had

I believe I'm going to try this. My dryer vent goes straight up and out the roof. A 90° pipe bend up followed by an offset, then out the roof. Gets clogged all the time of course. I get tired of getting on the roof and duct cleaning. Thank you for this video.

Neat idea. Been using the dryer a lot this winter the vent goes out side. So I will give this a go, I wonder if you can place a clothes horse around the bucket for a kind of second FREE airing.

The humidity level in your home should be 55 to 60 percent. If your humidity in the winter months is lower then that then the lint bucket will help to bring that humidity level up. If where you live the humidity is already higher then 60 percent in the winter months then this bucket will not work for you. There has never been any MOLD issue since people have been using this type of lint bucket since the 1980's.

This was so beneficial for me living in China where a lot of apartments do not have adequate filtering areas for dryers!

Fantastic idea! Thanks. I'm making one today.

Cut in reverse with that style Drill bit in thin metal or plastic. It makes a better clean hole. Also nice Video and well explained. Good Job'

I don't know what this guy is talking about, I just did this for my grandmother and she has a gas dryer. Wish me luck

Very cool. Made one tonight. Works well. Thanks for idea.