MaintainlyHow often should you clean or replace your range hood filter?
Clean / replace range hood filter every 2 months. The commonly recommended range is every 1-3 months. Grease-soaked filters cut extraction and are a fire risk.
The metal mesh or baffle filters above a hob capture airborne grease before it reaches the fan and the ducting. They load up steadily with use, and a clogged filter lets less air through.
Why does cleaning your range hood filter matter?
Grease-soaked filters cut extraction and are a fire risk.
What happens if you skip cleaning your range hood filter?
Grease-soaked filters cut extraction, so steam and cooking odours stay in the kitchen and a greasy film settles on nearby surfaces. More seriously, CHOICE warns that grease and oil build-up on rangehood filters is a fire hazard.
How do you do it?
- Let everything cool first. Do not do this straight after cooking.
- Release and remove the filters. Usually a spring catch or a small tab. Note the orientation before removing.
- Soak in hot soapy water. CHOICE suggests about ten minutes in hot soapy water. Stubborn grease may need a longer soak or some bicarbonate of soda.
- Scrub with a sponge or soft brush. Work along the mesh rather than across it, and go gently so the mesh keeps its shape.
- Rinse and dry completely. Mesh filters hold water, so let them dry thoroughly before refitting.
- Wipe the hood housing. Hot water and mild detergent on a soft cloth. On stainless steel, wipe in the direction of the grain.
- Replace carbon filters rather than washing them. Recirculating hoods have a separate carbon filter that generally cannot be washed and must be replaced. Broan-NuTone says every three to six months depending on cooking, and Bosch says every three to four.
What does it take?
How do you know cleaning your range hood filter is overdue?
- Grease visible on the filter surface, or a sticky feel to it
- Steam and smoke lingering in the kitchen rather than being drawn away
- Cooking smells persisting long after cooking
- A greasy film building on nearby walls and cabinets
What do people get wrong?
- Putting a filter in the dishwasher without checking the manual. Many metal filters are dishwasher safe, and Broan-NuTone recommends it for its aluminium mesh filters, but dishwasher detergent can discolour aluminium. The discolouration does not affect performance
- Using caustic cleaners on aluminium filters, which CHOICE warns against
- Washing a standard carbon filter: carbon filters are replaced, not cleaned, unless the manual says yours is a long-life type that can be regenerated
- Cleaning the filter but never the rest of the hood
What changes how often you need to do it?
- Frequent frying and wok cooking loads filters faster. Broan-NuTone suggests washing aluminium mesh filters about monthly, more often with that kind of cooking
- Recirculating hoods need carbon filter replacement on top of metal filter cleaning
- Households cooking mostly by boiling and baking can stretch the interval
When should you stop and call someone?
If the ducting itself has accumulated grease, particularly on a long run, a professional clean is worthwhile.
Does this differ in the US, UK, Australia or Canada?
United States
Broan-NuTone advises washing aluminium mesh grease filters about every month depending on use. Over-the-range microwaves that recirculate also have a charcoal filter, which is replaced rather than washed, so check the manual for where it sits and how often to change it.
United Kingdom
Recirculating hoods are a common choice where venting outside is impractical, such as in flats and on internal walls. For those, replacing the carbon filter on schedule matters as much as cleaning the metal filter, because the carbon filter is the part that deals with odour.
Australia
CHOICE recommends cleaning the rangehood and its grease filters around every one to two months, depending on how much greasy or fatty food you cook, and says carbon filters in recirculating models are often replaced every three to four months. A lingering smell or greasy walls means you have left it too long.
Canada
Similar to the US. If your hood vents through an exterior wall, check from outside that the flap on the vent opens freely and is not blocked.
Frequently asked questions
Why does cleaning your range hood filter matter?
Grease-soaked filters cut extraction and are a fire risk.
What happens if you skip cleaning your range hood filter?
Grease-soaked filters cut extraction, so steam and cooking odours stay in the kitchen and a greasy film settles on nearby surfaces. More seriously, CHOICE warns that grease and oil build-up on rangehood filters is a fire hazard.
Does cleaning your range hood filter differ by country?
US 'range hood'; UK 'cooker hood / extractor'. Grease filters universal.
How we put this together
The figures, intervals and legal points on this page were checked against the sources listed below. The default interval and accepted range are the ones Maintainly uses in its task library. Costs and times are typical ranges and vary by region and by home. Your own manufacturer's instructions come first, and gas, electrical and structural work belongs with a qualified professional. How we research and write.
Sources
- How to clean your rangehood and filters, CHOICE. Checked 11 October 2026.
- How often should I clean my filters?, Broan-NuTone. Checked 11 October 2026.
- How often should the non-ducted range hood filters be replaced?, Broan-NuTone. Checked 11 October 2026.
- How often do you change the carbon filter?, Bosch Home Appliances US. Checked 11 October 2026.
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