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Claim Check: Lint Lizard

Can a $10 "magic wand" make clothes dryer lint disappear?

Consumer Reports magazine: January 2013

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The claim. “It’s like a magic wand!” says the website for Lint Lizard, a clear, flexible tube designed to suck up dryer lint, which can cause a fire if too much accumulates. You thread one end of the tube through the dryer’s lint-trap opening and attach the other end to your vacuum cleaner. Lint Lizard cost us $10.99 plus shipping.

The check. In one dryer, we collected and weighed the lint removed by each of three methods we tried in succession. First we took apart ductwork and removed lint by reaching into nooks and crannies with our hands. Then we used a vacuum cleaner and crevice tool. Then we used the Lint Lizard. In a second dryer, we simply compared the amount of lint collected by a vacuum cleaner plus crevice tool with the haul collected by Lint Lizard.

Bottom line. It’s almost like a magic wand! Our reaching hands removed 8 grams of lint; a vacuum cleaner and crevice tool managed to suck up another 4 grams. And the Lint Lizard? Another 15 grams. In the second dryer, a crevice tool and vacuum cleaner removed just 0.3 grams of lint, after which Lint Lizard gulped 52 grams. Drawbacks: The Lizard’s sharply angled tip and curved hose made it miss a bit of lint in some nooks and on some surfaces, and it may not fit into very narrow openings in some dryers. Its sharp tip could also harm plastic ductwork (but it’s best to have metal dryer ducts).