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Two Common Questions About Range Hood Filter Cleaning

27 May 2016 by Dustin Cruz

By virtue of being constantly exposed to grease, grime and dirt from kitchen exhaust fumes, range hood filters need to be cleaned on a daily basis, if possible. This article provides answers to two questions that the average homeowner is likely to have in relation to the cleaning of kitchen range hood filters.

What's The Risk Of Having Dirty Hood Filters?

• Foul oduor: The accumulation of grease, grime and dirt particles on range hood filters often results in the release of unpleasant odours into the kitchen atmosphere. The thought of a kitchen filled with unpleasant odours is often enough to kill one's appetite regardless of how good the food is.
• Bugs and insects: In the eyes of a cockroach (for example), a greasy range hood filter is like a five-star restaurant that doesn't charge customers for meals. In a large number of cases, roaches and fruit flies will thrive in kitchens that have dirty range hood filters. This cannot be good.
• Fire hazard: Accumulation of fats, oils and grease on range hood filters may constitute a fire hazard. This is because some of these oils and fats are highly flammable. Thus, they could easily get ignited upon exposure to fire (e.g. when flaming food on the stove/gas cooker).

What Does DIY Cleaning Of Range Hood Filters Involve?

The DIY-minded homeowner can clean these filters to avoid the risks by using one of the two methods discussed below:

• Deep cleaning: Deep cleaning is required for heavily greased filters. These are filters that have never been cleaned before or those that haven't been cleaned in a while. For a deep clean, the filters should be immersed in a zip-lock bag that is half-full of ammonia before they're left to rest in there for a few hours. The zip-lock bag is recommended because it can be sealed so as to contain the harsh smell of ammonia. Afterwards, hot water should be used to rinse the filters before they're left to dry in the air.
•  Sink/bucket cleaning: Filters that are moderately greased can be cleaned in the sink or inside a bucket. In this case, the sink/bucket is to be filled with boiling hot water before baking soda and degreasing dish soap are added into the water. The filter should then be submerged in the hot water and allowed to soak for a couple of minutes. A non-abrasive brush should be used to scrub the filters before they're rinsed in hot water once again. Finally, the filters should be dried using a clean micro-fibre cloth.