Extractor hood
Two filters that look alike and have opposite answers: one is washed monthly, the other cannot be cleaned at all and is thrown away.
Precautions
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
- Rinse thoroughly afterwards
Start here
What this is, what tends to go wrong with it, and what to do about it.
Made from
Which part are you cleaning?
These parts take different answers. Cleaning one the way you clean another is a common way to damage this.
- Extractor grease filter
Washable, monthly, with mild soap and water — and the dishwasher permission its maker gives is deliberately not universal.
Aluminium
Things not to use here
- Extractor charcoal filter
The part that cannot be cleaned. It is replaced about every six months, and washing it does not help.
Things not to use here
What tends to go wrong
Fats and oils, which water alone cannot lift. Removed by surfactants, by heat, by solvents, or by alkalis that convert the fat into soap.
Why it is difficult: Why oil resists water, Emulsification
- Fingerprintsvia its material
Skin oils transferred by touch. A greasy soil rather than a dirty one, which is why water alone does not shift them and why they return immediately.
Why it is difficult: Surfactancy
- Water marksvia its material
What hard water leaves behind when it evaporates instead of being wiped away. A mineral film, not dirt, and the fix is at the drying stage.
Why it is difficult: Water hardness, Evaporative deposition
- Rustvia its material
Hydrated iron oxide from corroding iron or steel. Distinguish a surface deposit, which cleans off, from active corrosion of the item itself, which does not.
Why it is difficult: Corrosion and passivation, Why old stains are harder, Adhesion and cohesion
- Burnt-on food and carbon depositsvia its material
Food heated until it carbonised and bonded to the surface. Time and softening do the work; scouring powder does the damage.
Why it is difficult: Contact time, Carbonisation, Adhesion and cohesion, Why old stains are harder
- Heat tintvia its material
The rainbow or brown bloom on stainless steel that has been heated. Not a deposit and not dirt: the metal's own surface oxide, thickened by heat.
- Limescalevia its material
A hard, chalky calcium carbonate deposit left by hard water. Dissolved by acids, essentially untouched by detergents.
Why it is difficult: Water hardness, Crystallisation, Adhesion and cohesion
A sticky, yellow-brown tar film deposited everywhere at once. It is the reason a room smells after everything visible has been cleaned.
Why it is difficult: Adsorption of odour molecules, Solubility and polarity
The science behind this: Corrosion and passivation, Water hardness, Chloride attack, Cleanability is designed in
In detail
Most of what is published about extractor hoods has no manufacturer behind it. The manufacturer documentation says something the advice does not. A hood that RECIRCULATES rather than ducting outside has two filters in it. The metal mesh grease filter is washable — the maker's instruction is mild soap and water, monthly, and most (not all) may also go in the dishwasher, which is a permission the maker declines to give universally and directs the reader to their own model's manual for. The charcoal filter sitting behind it cannot be cleaned and is replaced about every six months. Both look dirty, and washing the charcoal one achieves nothing except delaying the replacement it needs. The hood BODY is a third answer again: on a porcelain finish the maker names soap and water with a soft cloth, or a liquid detergent or all-purpose cleaner rinsed and dried — and puts gritty washcloths and abrasive paper towels on the same prohibited list as steel wool, which says how little the finish tolerates. Acidic food spills are cleaned as soon as the appliance is cool rather than left.
What works
Detergent is safe on, in specific conditions, Extractor hood
Safe only in specific conditions
This is only appropriate within specific limits, and nothing is established outside them.
Only within these limits:
- Controls off and the appliance completely cool before starting
- Rinse with clean water afterwards
- Dry with a soft lint-free cloth
The state condition comes first in the manufacturer's own text: not a product instruction but an appliance one.
Precautions
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
- Rinse thoroughly afterwards
- Do not apply to a hot surface
Evidence
Supported
Sources
Whirlpool Corporation · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That liquid detergent or an all-purpose cleaner may be used, rinsed with clean water and dried, and that all controls must be off and the hood cool before cleaning. (states this directly)
Glass cleaner is safe on, in specific conditions, Extractor hood
Safe only in specific conditions
This is only appropriate within specific limits, and nothing is established outside them.
Only within these limits:
- Named for a porcelain hood surface specifically
- Not on stainless steel, fingerprint-resistant coatings or control panels, which the manufacturer files separately
An unusual permission: glass cleaner on an appliance body. The publisher states it for one finish and gives the other finishes their own separate articles.
Precautions
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
Evidence
Supported
Sources
Whirlpool Corporation · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That glass cleaner, a mild liquid cleaner or a non-abrasive scrubbing pad are named as alternatives for a porcelain hood surface. (states this directly)
Related
- Extractor hood has the component Extractor grease filter
- Extractor hood has the component Extractor charcoal filter
- Extractor hood is made from Vitreous enamel
- Extractor hood is made from Stainless steel
- Extractor hood is commonly affected by Grease
Sources for this page
Sources
Cleaning the Filters (Grease and Charcoal) — Over-the-Range Microwave
Whirlpool Corporation · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That the grease filter is cleaned with mild soap and water monthly, that most but not all may be placed in the dishwasher and the owner's manual must be checked, and that the charcoal filter cannot be cleaned and is replaced about every six months. (states this directly)
Whirlpool Corporation · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That a porcelain hood surface is cleaned with soap, water and a soft cloth or with liquid detergent or an all-purpose cleaner rinsed and dried, and that abrasive cleaners, steel wool, gritty cloths and abrasive paper towels are excluded. (states this directly)