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I Cleaned My Range Hood Filters for the First Time in 14 Years — Here’s How It Went

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Credit: Cat Meschia

Confession: I had never, in my entire life, cleaned a range hood filter … until a few weeks ago when I had one of those pressing urges to actually perform a cleaning task I’ve read about so many times. I’ve had my oven for 14 years, and it’s a chore I’ve never done. So, if you haven’t cleaned yours either, I hope it makes you feel better to know that you are most certainly not alone.

I followed these steps (with a few modifications) and thought, because it had been so long, I should document how it went. Here goes!

Read more : How To Clean a Greasy Range Hood Filter

Credit: Cat Meschia

First, I realized just how easy it is to pull out the filters. (All I had to do was slide the filter a bit in one direction; the end on the opposite side slipped out of its groove, and I was able to get out the whole filter. So far, so good!) Next step: Promptly get grossed out by the griminess.

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Rather than submerge my filter in a bath of hot water and soap, as Kitchn’s main article instructed, I took a shortcut: I used Dawn Powerwash instead. (This stuff didn’t exist when the Kitchn article was first written and I figured it’d be a step up from regular dish soap.) I sprayed it over the filter on both sides and set it down in the sink to let the spray do its grease-cutting magic.

Credit: Cat Meschia

Next, I turned on the water as hot as it would go and used a soft-bristled brush. I scrubbed the filter under the hot water and watched a decade of grease and grime melt away. And guess what? My hood filter returned to its shiny-silver, sparkling-clean self right before my very eyes! It really was that simple. I then set it out to dry for several hours.

Credit: Cat Meschia

But I learned a really valuable tip along the way. When I went to put the dry hood filter back, I ran into a bit of trouble. Around the outside of the filter’s mesh portion there is a frame made of thin, malleable metal folded over the edge of the raw mesh. Somehow, when trying to put the filter back, I accidentally bent the frame, causing it to lift away from the mesh it was concealing. I did my best to fix it, but the frame kept popping off in other places. I decided to leave well enough alone and put back the slightly warped hood filter.

So, when you clean your hood filter, it’ll be a satisfying, visibly rewarding task — just be sure to handle it extra carefully!

Have you ever cleaned your hood filter? How did it turn out? Tell us in the comments below.

Shifrah Combiths

Contributor

With five children, Shifrah is learning a thing or two about how to keep a fairly organized and pretty clean house with a grateful heart in a way that leaves plenty of time for the people who matter most. Shifrah grew up in San Francisco, but has come to appreciate smaller town life in Tallahassee, Florida, which she now calls home. She's been writing professionally for twenty years and she loves lifestyle photography, memory keeping, gardening, reading, and going to the beach with her husband and children.

Source : food