Kitchens are one part of the house that is cleaned daily, but one part of them is often neglected – extractor fans. Your cooker hood filter is the heart of your kitchen and plays a vital role in keeping it clean and healthy. Over time, the filter may become so blocked with grease and grime that it loses its effectiveness. If it doesn’t work properly, you could be breathing in pollutants every time you cook.
It’s recommended to clean your extractor fan filters every two to three months, depending on how often you cook. If you frequently fry or cook with oil, you may need to clean them more often to prevent excessive grease build-up. While it may seem like a tiresome chore, cleaning your extractor fan filters is easier than you might think, and you may already have everything you need in your kitchen cupboards, according to a DIY TikToker.
Taking to her TikTok page @the_daily_diy, Melissa shared a video of her go-to cleaning tip. She captioned it: “It’s about time you clean your range hood filters. Here’s a fast and easy way using baking soda.”
What makes bicarbonate of soda so good for cleaning extractor fan filters is that it reacts with oils and fats and dissolves them.
What’s more, baking soda can tackle the grease and cooking smells by neutralising the odours.
Melissa’s cleaning hack involves adding the cooker hood filters to a large pot of boiling water and baking soda.
For this method, start by getting a large pot that’s large enough to accommodate at least half of your cooker hood filter, and fill it with water.
Bring the water to a boil, and slowly add a cup of baking soda. Slowly is the main word here, as the baking soda will fizz up as you add it to the water and boil over the pan.
Once all the baking soda has been added to the pot, place your greasy cooker hood filters into the boiling water. You might have to do one half of the filter at a time, depending on the size of your filter.
Let the filter boil in the baking soda water for 15 to 20 minutes, and watch as the grease and grime start to rise to the surface.
Once you’ve boiled the whole thing for at least a few minutes, rinse the filter under hot water from your tap. Once the water starts running clean, you’re done.
If there’s still some grease and grime trapped in the filter, refill your pan with clean water and repeat the steps.
To make the deep clean easier in the future and ensure the fan is working well, you should put measures in place to prevent a build-up of grease.
Every time you use the hob, wipe the cooker hood grease filter with a cloth or paper towel. Make sure the fan and hood are completely cooled before cleaning.
The filter should be regularly cleaned between each deep clean of the extractor hood to reduce the clogging of grease.
