You may have a sparkling clean oven right now, but if you take a look underneath your cooker hood, you may see a different story when it comes to your extractor fan filters. If it’s been a while or you’ve never done this, it’s not going to be pretty. The purpose of a cooker hood filter is to collect grease in the kitchen, so if it’s doing its job correctly, it’s going to look and feel greasy.
Over time, the filter may become so blocked with grease and grime that it loses its effectiveness, which is why it’s important to clean these filters periodically. A good rule of thumb is to clean them every two to three months; however, if you use your stovetop regularly, fry foods often, you might want to up that to monthly cleanings. Although if you don’t use your hob often, you can likely go a few more months without a cleaning.
Taking to the Mrs Hinch Cleaning Tips and Tricks Facebook page, group members shared their best methods to clean extractor fans properly.
The majority recommended either using soda crystals or washing powder to lift grease from extractor fans.
James Barclay-Smith instructed: “Dissolve soda crystals in boiling water, add a good squirt of dish soap and use a sponge scourer or soak. Very good degreaser.”
Liz Ede wrote: “Put them in boiling hot water and sprinkle soda crystals on. Leave for five minutes before giving it a rinse.”
Rebecca Palmer added, “I’m very lazy, so soak mine in hot water and soda crystals and liquid for an hour or two. Then drain the water away, give them a rinse, and pat dry, then back up. Don’t need scrubbing or anything else. This does a better job than the dishwasher did on mine.
Posting anonymously, one user said: “Take it down and soak it in hot water and soda crystals, a good amount. After about five to 10 minutes, give it a gentle rub with a non-scratch scourer. You might need to use a small brush for the awkward parts.”
Rebecca Mippress wrote: “Get a big tub and soak them in hot water and soda crystals for a couple of minutes.”
Sally Oldroyd commented: “Pour in a cup of washing powder in warm water, just soak them, the grease comes straight off dead easy.”
Matt Del Rio said, “Soak in biological laundry detergent and hot water in the sink for about half an hour. The grease dissolves and wipes away. Trust me.”
Natural cleaning expert Wendy from Moral Fibres recommends using soda crystals and laundry powder together when cleaning anything greasy, particularly extractor fan filters.
“Your extractor fan filter full of grease doesn’t have to be a big job to get it clean. All you need to do is dissolve two large spoons of soda crystals and three large spoons of laundry detergent in hot water.”
Pop your extractor fan filters in to soak for around 20 minutes before wiping them down.
She added, “I used to dread this job, but soda crystals really do make it easier without too much elbow grease.”