How to Clean a Rangehood Filter

To clean a rangehood filter, unclip the metal mesh or baffle filter from under the hood, lay it flat in a sink or tub of hot water with a good squirt of dishwashing liquid and a scoop of bicarb soda, leave it to soak for ten to fifteen minutes, then scrub the grease out with a soft brush, rinse under a hot tap, and let it dry fully before you clip it back in. The whole job takes about twenty minutes of hands-on time, needs no tools, and it is the single most useful piece of rangehood maintenance you can do. Cleaning the rangehood filter properly is what keeps your extraction strong, your kitchen free of cooking smells, and grease off the fan and motor behind it.

The filter sits in the underside of the hood and traps the grease and steam that rise off your cooktop before they reach the fan. Over weeks of cooking it clogs with a sticky film, and once it is coated the airflow drops away, the smells linger, and the trapped grease starts working its way into the motor. A clean rangehood filter is the difference between a hood that clears the air in seconds and one that barely pulls at all.

What kind of rangehood filter do you have?

Before you clean anything, check which filter your hood uses, because they are not all the same. The two you can wash are the aluminium mesh filter and the stainless baffle filter. A mesh filter is a thin metal frame packed with layers of fine aluminium mesh. A baffle filter is a heavier panel made of interlocking metal channels that fling grease out as air passes through. Both of these are designed to be washed and reused, and both are what this guide covers.

The one you do not wash is a charcoal or carbon filter. These are fitted to recirculating hoods that filter the air and push it back into the room rather than venting it outside. Charcoal filters absorb odours and cannot be cleaned. They are replaced with a new cartridge every few months. If your hood has one, washing it will not restore it, so check your model’s manual to confirm which type you have before you start.

How to clean a rangehood filter, step by step

You only need hot water, dishwashing liquid, bicarb soda and a soft brush or old toothbrush. Switch the rangehood off at the wall first so the fan cannot start while your hands are near it.

Step 1: Remove the filter

Reach under the hood and find the spring clip or latch on each filter. Push the clip, tilt the filter down and it drops straight out of its slot. Mesh filters usually have a small wire handle you pull. Take note of which way round it sits so refitting is easy. Most hoods have one or two filters side by side, so pull them all.

Step 2: Soak in hot soapy water

Lay the filter flat in a sink, laundry tub or a large basin of very hot water. Add a generous squirt of dishwashing liquid and a heaped tablespoon of bicarb soda, which cuts through baked-on grease. Let it soak for ten to fifteen minutes so the hot water and detergent can loosen the film. A heavily caked filter can sit for longer.

Step 3: Scrub and degrease

Work over the whole panel with a soft brush or an old toothbrush, pushing the bristles into the mesh or between the baffle channels where grease hides. The goal is to degrease rangehood filter mesh completely, so keep going until the metal looks clean and the water runs off it freely rather than beading on a greasy surface. Turn it over and do the other side too.

Step 4: Rinse and dry

Rinse the filter under a hot running tap until every trace of suds and grease is gone. Shake off the water and stand it up to air dry, or pat it with a clean towel. Refit it only once it is fully dry, then clip it firmly back into its slot until you feel it lock. A filter that is not seated properly rattles and lets grease bypass it.

Can you clean a rangehood filter in the dishwasher?

A metal mesh or baffle filter can go through a hot dishwasher cycle on its own, and for a lightly greased filter that is a fair shortcut. There are two things to watch. Aluminium mesh can discolour and go dull or chalky from dishwasher detergent over time, which is cosmetic rather than a problem with how it works. And a thick, sticky filter can shed grease that clogs your dishwasher’s own filter, so give a heavily caked one a hot soak and a scrub by hand first. If you do run it through, place it on its own with no dishes and use a normal hot wash.

How often to clean the filter

Once a month suits most households. Clean the rangehood filter more often, say every couple of weeks, if you fry a lot, cook with plenty of oil, or use the cooktop every day. A good sign it is overdue is when the hood gets noticeably louder or weaker at clearing steam, because a clogged filter forces the fan to work against the blockage. A quick monthly wash takes twenty minutes and stops grease reaching the parts you cannot clean yourself.

What a clogged filter leads to

Skipping this one job does more than leave a greasy panel over your stove. When the filter is blocked, the airflow drops and cooking smells and steam hang around the kitchen instead of being drawn away. Grease that the filter should have caught starts coating the fan blades and creeping toward the motor, which makes the hood louder and, in time, can seize or burn out the fan. Keeping the rangehood filter clean protects the whole unit. If your hood is already noisy, weak, or the light or fan has stopped, that points past a dirty filter to an electrical or motor fault, and that is where it becomes a job for a technician rather than a wash in the sink.

When it is not just a dirty filter

Cleaning or replacing the filter is completely safe and fixes most rangehood complaints. Where it stops being a DIY job is anything electrical or mechanical inside the hood. If you have cleaned the rangehood filter and the fan still will not run, runs slowly, hums without spinning, trips the power, or the light and controls have failed, the fault is in the wiring, switch, motor or capacitor. Those parts carry mains electricity, so they are never something to open up or poke at yourself. Leave them to a licensed technician.

That is where our team comes in. CAI Appliance Services repairs rangehoods across Perth, with fully qualified mobile technicians who come to you. We are an authorised service agent for Bosch and Electrolux and their affiliate brands, and we regularly repair LG, Fisher and Paykel, Samsung, Miele, Smeg and Westinghouse units too, so the work is done with the correct parts. Call CAI on 0415 343 413 to book a technician.

Frequently asked questions

Keeping the rest of your kitchen running well? Read our related guides on a cooktop that is not working and how to clean a dishwasher, or book a Perth technician with CAI.