How often should you clean cooker hood filters?
Reviewed
The short answer
every 2 months
Every two months. The metal mesh above the hob catches airborne grease, and once it is saturated the extraction drops long before anything looks wrong.
Cooking with oil most days brings that closer to monthly. A hob used twice a week stretches to three.
What greasy filters change
A loaded mesh restricts airflow, so steam and cooking smells stay in the room and settle on cupboard doors. The motor keeps running at the same speed for less air, and the kitchen takes longer to clear.
Dried grease sitting directly above the hob is also a fire load. That is the reason the interval is short.
Mesh filters and charcoal filters
Metal mesh is washable and lasts for years. Charcoal, fitted to recirculating hoods that have no outside duct, is not: it absorbs odours until it is full, then gets replaced, roughly every six months.
A hood that vents outside has mesh only. If there is no charcoal cartridge behind the mesh, yours is ducted.
The steps
Release the mesh filters
Most slide back and drop down on a spring catch, with no tools.
Soak in hot water with washing-up liquid
Fifteen to twenty minutes lifts most of the grease; a spoonful of bicarbonate of soda helps on older deposits.
Brush, rinse and dry flat
A soft brush reaches the layers of mesh. Refitting a damp filter traps grease again straight away.
Wipe the canopy and the lamp cover
Easiest while the filters are out. A lamp cover clouded with grease costs noticeable light over a hob.
Common questions
Can mesh filters go in the dishwasher?
Most can, on a hot cycle and on their own. Aluminium mesh may dull or darken over time, which is cosmetic; hand washing avoids it.
How do I know a charcoal filter is spent?
Odours linger after cooking even though the fan is running and the mesh is clean. Charcoal cannot be washed back to life.
The extraction is weak even after cleaning
Check the duct and its outside flap on a ducted hood, and the fan speed setting. A flap stuck shut by old grease is a common cause.
This reminder, in IAlwaysForget
« clean the cooker hood filters every 2 months »
- Understood as
- Recurring reminder
- Comes back
- every 2 months