How To Clean A Metal Mesh Cooker Hood Filter

Brandon has been working with range hoods and rang on and off for the past vi years and writes about them to help people make wise decisions.

v Reasons to Clean Your Range Hood Filters

Even though information technology may non seem similar the best way to spend your fourth dimension, you're going to want to make sure that your range hood filters are maintained well. Summit manufacturers such as Broan recommend that you clean the filters at to the lowest degree once a month.

That'due south definitely a lot of cleaning if you're like every regular homeowner. Most people accept never cleaned their filters in years, some fifty-fifty a decade. But, beingness a self-proclaimed skillful on range hoods, I must second what the guys at Broan are telling yous. Consistent cleaning of your filters is necessary for the post-obit reasons:

Improved power efficiency
Longer life of the blower
Effective grease and smoke removal
Easier cleaning
Safety

Regular Cleaning Makes Things Simple

After & before cleaning using just soapy water and ammonia. — After & earlier cleaning using but soapy water and ammonia.

Flickr Artistic Commons

Can All Filters Be Cleaned?

There are basically three kinds of filters on most range hoods:

Material grease filters
Metallic grease filters
Charcoal filters

Grease filters, as the name suggests, take the sole purpose of filtering out oil fumes and grease. They are present in all range hoods with the exception of a few models in the by.

Fabric grease filters work past absorbing the fumes and grease (much similar a sponge) and cannot be cleaned but need to be replaced.

Metal grease filters can and must exist cleaned often. They are usually aluminum or in some cases stainless steel. They would exist either mesh filters or bamboozle filters and are ordinarily visible at the base of your range hood.

Charcoal filters are merely going to be present in ductless models as their principal purpose is the elimination of odor and fume. This is only a necessary step if you're recirculating the air back into your kitchen. These filters must non and cannot exist cleaned. Instead, they need to be replaced every three to four months, depending on how often and what kind of dishes you fix.

How to Clean a Range Hood Filter in seven Simple Steps

It may seem like a long process, only depending on how dirty your range hood filters are and the method you cull to follow, the total time could be anywhere upwardly to an hour, whereas the actual cleaning time would be below 15 minutes.

Detach the metal grease filter(s)
Identify the filter in a large pan/sink
Gear up the cleaning solution
Immerse the filters in the solution
Brush to remove the grease easily
Let them air dry out
Insert them dorsum into the range hood

Detaching the Filter to Be Cleaned

This is going to vary based on your model. However, in all models, the filters are very easy to detach. But earlier y'all showtime fidgeting and trying to figure out how to separate it from the rest of your hood, make sure that you lot switch off the appliance.

Spend a moment to take a look at the overall setup of the range hood. Are your metallic filters conspicuously visible or are they mostly subconscious? The first step is to brand sure that y'all have a clear view of the filters. Remove any protective plastic or metallic casing that surrounds the base of operations of your hood using a screwdriver. In 95% of the cases, at that place isn't going to exist any protective casing.

Scroll to Continue

Preparing the Cleaning Solution and Cleaning the Filters

We're now going to be covering steps 3 through step v of the cleaning process. At that place volition be no clear stardom betwixt the steps as each of the five methods stands on its ain and may skip certain steps.

Notation: I will exist proceeding with the most effective cleaning method to the least effective. This is done to salve reading time and you would but keep to some other method if you lot're out of stock on sure supplies and/or adopt another method due to simplicity.

Method 1: Using Dishwasher Detergent

Rather than using dish lather or a grease remover, y'all're going to be using dishwasher detergent to get the job done.

Wet the filter with a blast hose or nether the tap (preferably with hot water as this gets rid of some grease).
Place the wet filter in a pan or a sink (which is going to remain gratuitous for the side by side hour).
Generously apply and spread dishwasher detergent all around the filter, including the metal rim if you want it to be completely make clean. Leave no surface untouched.
Let the filter sit down for ane hour.
Identify it in a sink under hot h2o and wash off the detergent along with the grease.
Apply more detergent and scrub using a castor to remove whatever minor traces of grease in the corners.
For extremely greasy filters yous may have to repeat the process and let it sit down for some other hr.

Kitchen Exhaust Fan Filter Cleaning

Method 2: Using a Degreaser

There'due south a lot of scrubbing involved in this method when compared to the first. It may non be every bit effective, but the filters do get clean nonetheless.

Observe a cooking pot that is large plenty to hold the grease filter.
Fill it up with water so that the filter can be completely submerged (practise not place the filter in the pot, even so).
Heat the h2o, but not plenty to boil. Spray a lot of degreaser into this water. Effectually twenty sprays if there's a lot of grease that needs to be removed.
Place the filter and make sure that it is submerged. Do not let your bare hands touch this mixture as it is slightly acidic.
Leave the filter in the solution for 30 minutes up to an hour.
Remove the filter using tongs and identify it in the sink and scrub hard on both sides.

Method 3: Vinegar and Baking Soda Solution

As an culling to method two, you could besides use a combination of vinegar and baking soda to get the job washed.

Find a pot large plenty for the filter and sufficiently fill it upwardly with water.
Bring the water to a boil.
In one case boiling add three tablespoons of vinegar and ii teaspoons of baking soda to the solution, one after some other. Add the blistering soda in slowly and non all in one go.
Identify the filter and allow it stay for 30 minutes to an hour.
Remove the filter using tongs and identify it in the sink and scrub hard on both sides.

Comparison: Method 2 vs. Method 3

Method four: Hot Soapy Water + Ammonia

If you've been following your cleaning schedule and cleaning every other month, this uncomplicated method using just soapy water and ammonia (not ever necessary) is all you lot're going to need.

Block the kitchen sink and add water + dish soap. You may also desire to add some ammonia to brand the job easier.
Mix the solution and then identify the filter in.
Employ a brush and scrub on the filter.

Cleaning a Range Hood Filter the Broan NuTone Manner

Method v: Placing in the Dishwasher

Nearly modernistic-mean solar day range hoods come with dishwasher-friendly aluminum or stainless steel grease filters. You're going to need to wait at the production specifications to find out if the filters are dishwasher friendly, alternatively, you could look up reviews of the product or contact customer support.

If your filters are dishwasher friendly, y'all should, by all ways, brand sure that you lot make clean it every other month. Because, if you practice this consistently, you're not going to take to worry well-nigh scrubbing and using special solutions to make clean them.

However, if you've failed to regularly clean them, your filters may have accumulated a lot of grease and dirt. In this case, just placing them in the dishwasher is not going to do much. You lot will instead have to follow i of the first three methods explained in a higher place.

Air Drying and Reattachment

Since the filters are metal, I would not recommend using a blow dryer as this could in unfortunate cases lead to electrical shocks. Therefore, the best thing that you could do is allow them to dry in time. Earlier you set them dorsum in identify, make sure that they are completely dry as you don't desire the wiring of the range hood getting wet by any risk.

Dirty Range Hoods Can Be Dangerous

A muddied range hood doesn't just impairment the range hood and increase your electricity bill, it's likewise a health and burn risk.

Wellness Hazards

A dirty range hood is greasy, slimy and warm. This is an environment where some pathogens (bacteria and the like) thrive. Likewise, the minor food particles that are carried along with the fumes and settle on the filters help feed the growing bacteria.

Burn down Hazards

The oil and grease deposits on your range hood, but above your cooktop are a burn hazard waiting to happen. Information technology'southward not common that fires are caused this way, but there have been a few cases where uncontrolled flames on the stove take risen and ignited residues on the range hood filter.

Cleaning the Area Around the Filter

In that location are bound to be oil and grease deposits on certain parts of the range hood which are immediately above the cooktop and also effectually the grease filters. These areas can easily be cleaned using a mild degreaser.

All yous need to do is use a napkin, spray some degreaser and wipe away. Brand sure that you read the instructions earlier you spray, as some of them are concentrated and you need to mix with water earlier use.

This commodity is accurate and true to the best of the author'southward cognition. Content is for advisory or entertainment purposes only and does not substitute for personal counsel or professional advice in business, financial, legal, or technical matters.

Questions & Answers

Question: Can I make clean range hood filters in the dishwasher?

Answer: If the manufacturer says you lot tin can, then yous could. If yous don't have those details use your own judgment. Are in that location small parts that could be damaged? If yes, exercise not put it in the dishwasher.

Brandon Lobo (writer) on September 03, 2018:

Hey Marian, cleaning the fan. Hmm, it really depends on your range hood model. I would most probable employ a damp cloth, soaked in some cleaning solution to wipe the blades. I would also advise against getting any electrical components wet. After cleaning the fan, as a precaution, I would suggest that you do not plow on the range hood for at least a few hours, allowing any wet on the electrical connections to dry upwards. Do come dorsum and let me know how it goes and what yous decide to practice. I would love to add to this article, and I'm sure it would help many readers in the future.

Marian Laureta on September 03, 2018:

Hi Brandon: thanks for your crawly write upwardly. Cleaning the filters are no problem. The question I have is: do you recommend cleaning the actual fan? I accept had difficulty finding info on this.

Brandon Lobo (author) on July 30, 2018:

Hi Carl, thanks for sharing. Glad that you managed to clean those filters.

Carl on July 29, 2018:

I cleaned my range hood filters last night. They were very greasy. Offset, I tried a strong ammonia solution -- no expert. Then I tried a strong dish detergent solution -- no practiced. Finally, I tried a strong dishwasher detergent and very hot water solution -- worked!

Brandon Lobo (writer) on April 02, 2018:

Very true.

Linda Bryen from Britain on April 02, 2018:

Hullo! Brandon, nosotros practise learn from each other hither on Hubpages. That is what I like about the website too. Likewise many things to learn and share. Thanks.

Brandon Lobo (author) on April 02, 2018:

Hi Linda, white malt vinegar on burnt stuff, I should try that out. I try and use strength or hot water to assistance. Thanks for the helpful tips.

Linda Bryen from U.k. on April 02, 2018:

Hi! Brandon, what a well written and informative hub. Thank you lot. What I find best for cleaning cooker hoods is the vinegar and baking soda combination and fairy liquid merely to finish information technology off. Or sometimes I apply the white spirit they employ for thinning paint. I spray the cooker filter and leave it for an hour or so then I clean it with fairy liquid. I tried degreaser products simply they don't seem to work, also very expensive. Vinegar and blistering soda is the all-time cleaning agent for cooker filters I think, and not and so expensive. I use white malt vinegar for burnt saucepans and blistering trays. Just soak it with vinegar overnight and clean it the side by side day. The burnt stuff comes off hands.

Bigtexun on March 10, 2018:

So I took a lot of chemestry in school, and paid for that schooling with reseaurant work, including cleaning range hoods.

Don't dilute your degreaser if it comes in a spray bottle, it is already dilute. spritsing spray degreaser into a big amount of water is counterproductive. On the other paw, full-bodied degreaser needs dilution with hot water to work. Industrial purple from Zep is similar to what the pros use.

If you use vinegar and baking soda, recall about what y'all are doing. Vinegar is an acid, baking soda is a base, they cancel each other out and produce co2 and common salt. co2 and salt are not useful. Basking soda is good to use dry or in paste form, for a diverseness of jobs. Vinegar is great for other jobs, expecially descaling. Mixing them together is deactivating both. So to follow the instructions hither, what you are doing is cleaning the filters in a weak acis bath, that yous make weaker every bit you add the baking soda. And in the process you are doing zero for grease. Just considering grandma used it doesn't make it work. Gradma cleaned things by scrubbing and scrubbing, the baking soda and vinegar did not actually help, only the hot h2o did, b ut grandma and dish soap did most of the bodily piece of work. The foaming activity has the illusion of scrubbing bubbles... bubbles can help agitate, only they don't scrub and they don't really help with /this/ task.

A stong alkali in boiling water will piece of work for a quality stainless alloy, turning the grease into soap, only that is dangerous for the skin and can produce fumes... But when grandma was serious about degreasing something hard to scrum, lye was her get-to degreaser... Plow that grease into lather then it simply dissolves in water. The alkali will destroy aluminum, then industrial blueish degreaser is the best for aluminum. Grandma used lye for a lot of serious cleaning, but it is not prophylactic, so stick to the degreaser and dish soap.

If your sink is large enough to soak the filters, a expert automated dishwasher detergent is also good, this is what I use at habitation when I don't have industrial imperial.Automatic dishwashing powder is slap-up for soaking, and volition assistance loosen and lift the soiled grease out of hard to scrub areas.

baking soda and vinegar together are for leavening quondam fashioned from-scratch cakes... THAT is where vinegar and baking soda chemical science actually does more than than brand a table salt.

Brandon Lobo (author) on March 10, 2018:

Hello Colleen, maybe try finding something that fits in to those knob holes perfectly so that you have some leverage to go them out? You're going to accept to improvise with something at home. Expert luck.

Colleen on March 04, 2018:

Howdy Brandon

I have a Faber hood with bamboozle filters. They are not installed properly so the knobs to remove baffles are not in that location. Is there a tool I can use to pull the baffle dorsum enough to remove it! At that place are holes for the knobs merely no knobs! Please assist if u tin!

Brandon Lobo (author) on January 28, 2018:

Thank you for this comment iSky, at that place was someone who was complaining that this is confronting loftier school chemistry, mixing an acid and a base of operations. Information technology works, the mixture of vinegar and baking soda.

iSky on January 28, 2018:

My filter was horrible. I soaked it overnight first using dish soap. Then for an hour with dishwasher soap. Information technology was very make clean simply had a couple spots. And then used the vinegar and baking soda method. Came out sparkling clean.

Neil from SHEFFIELD on Dec 13, 2017:

In most cases I find the dishwasher works neat for cleaning these extractor filters, just brand sure they are fully dry earlier re-fitting otherwise corrosion can appear.