Discover Elica’s guide to properly cleaning cooker hood filters, in order to ensure efficiency and higher durability.
Proper operation of the hood extraction system is essential for air quality in the kitchen. Healthy air in this room allows for kitchens to be experienced as a new ‘social place’, a modern living room concept, which combines both function and comfort.
In order for cooker hoods to meet required air quality parameters, their filters must operate at maximum efficiency and functionality: in fact, factors like extraction power, filtering capacity, and noise level strictly depend on filter performance. A proper filter cleaning and degreasing routine will result in the best performance of hoods: these are the key aspects to consider when cleaning cooker hood filters.
Before starting to cleaning or degrease your cooker hood first check: What kind of hood do I have? There are two types available on the market:
Depending on the type of hood, the filters they are equipped with are divided into two broad categories:
Disposable filters are available for both types: grease filters can be made of porous acrylic sheets with lipid molecule high filtering capacity; activated charcoal filters have single or multilayer structures that retain the odours present in the air captured by the hood. As we can logically guess, this type of filter cannot be washed or maintained, but must be replaced when its life cycle is over (filter capacity saturation).
Reusable grease and odour filters represent a longer-lasting and more sustainable solution , as they have a much longer life provided they are properly washed and degreased when they reach saturation.
Grease filters are generally long-lasting. These filters are made of aluminium or stainless steel metal mesh grids that covers the extractor fan right where the air is captured over the hob. Over time, the grids begin to accumulate grease on the mesh that may partially obstruct the extraction area, thus lowering the quality and placing the extraction fan under stress.
The cleaning and degreasing of the metal grid may include:
The best way to degrease and regenerate filters is to use specific products developed for grease filter cleaning: Elica offers a set of cleaning products and microfiber cloths especially created for this type of cleaning.
There are various types of odour filters available on the market:
Proper filter cleaning is essential to ensure high air filtering efficiency levels and proper hood operation.
Before starting to clean and replace filters, it is best to check the instructions in the filter box to avoid the risk of damaging the appliance.