If you cleaned the entire house but left those small exhaust fans alone, then you missed a major part. The exhaust fan puts up with a lot of abuse over time. These little fans help get rid of odors, fumes, contaminants, and whatnot, and in return, they get exhausted too. With constant ventilation, moistures can form molds and mildew on the fan blades, and that can make you sick. But, that’s not all; with constant pressure, the carbon soot that accumulates at the blades can slow down your exhaust fan and reduce its efficiency.
Therefore you should give your exhaust fan a good cleaning twice every year. Here are some tips on how to clean your exhaust fans. Oh, and don’t forget the exhaust fan covers too!
Step-1
Turn off the fan and ensure the electric supply is disconnected. The next thing you will do is unscrew the fan’s parts, such as the casing and the mesh filters. If your exhaust fan has mesh filters, remove them and pour some hot water on them to clean the soot and dirt. Next, mix half a cup of ammonia to 1 gallon of warm water and soak the filter for an hour. After an hour, remove the mesh filter from the solution and gently scrub off the access dirt using a scrubber. If you don’t have a mesh filter, then proceed to clean the fan blades.
Step-2
Now remove the blades and prepare a solution with water and liquid soap or detergent. You can use ammonia or baking soda in the warm water if you don’t want to add soap. Add one-fourth cup of ammonia and 2 tablespoons of baking soda with 1 cup of lukewarm water. Put gloves on, pour the mixture onto the fan blades and gently scrub the blades. Scrub them till you clean out all the dirt and grime.
Step-3
If you are washing a kitchen exhaust fan, it’s logical that the fan will be subject to grease and grime. And removing grease isn’t that easy. You can use soap or caustic chemicals to remove the grease and then wash the filter parts, fan covers, and blades to remove the oil & grease.
Step-4
Sometimes the sticky buildups won’t go even with a wash or a good scrub. This happens when you don’t clean the fans frequently. For this, you need to try the hard way, scraping. Use good quality and sturdy scrapers to scrape away that tough dirt. Scrap with pressure but take care not to cause any damage to the fan. After you’ve scratched the surface, take a wet cloth and wipe the parts to make sure no residue is left.
Step-5
Now, let the parts dry. While the parts are drying, do a little clean-up of the entire area of exhaust fans and ensure that no dirt or grime is left behind. After you are satisfied with the cleaning and once the parts are dry, it’s time to assemble. If you removed the motor, now is the time to put it back in place and screw them together. Now, plug in the fan to restore the power by inserting the wires. Now, check the fan.
Conclusion
Good job done! This is how you should clean the exhaust fans. If your fan doesn’t work or has worn down, you can buy the best exhaust fan from Electric Supply Depot as well.
