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The Right Way to Clean Your Bathroom Air Extractor

2021-09-27 hqt

Ways to Clean Your Bathroom Air Extractor

A bathroom air extractor is an integral part of every bathroom to keep the indoor air fresh and mold-free. You and your family members use the bathroom several times a day. Therefore, it is obvious that the extractor fan has to work many times a day for removing air moisture. Regular cleaning of the bathroom extractor is essential because it can also accumulate dust and mold over time. Regular cleaning of the fan also improves its lifespan. In today’s article, we will tell you how to clean a bathroom extractor fan for improved lifespan and better performance.

Keeping an Air Extractor Fan Clean

Before you begin cleaning your bathroom air extractor fan, lay down a sheet or newspapers on the ground. You need to do this to catch falling dirt from the extractor fan.

Also, cover your hair and face. Remember that protecting your mouth from the falling dirt of the extractor fan is very important. Once you are ready to clean your extractor fan, follow the below-mentioned steps.

1. Shut down The Power

In the first step, you need to turn the power off before you start cleaning the extractor fan. To do this, you can either use your circuit breaker or the switch.

2. Soak Fan Cover in the Soapy Water

Next, remove the fan cover by unscrewing it and sliding or lifting it off. If your extractor fan has spring clips, you should also undo these. After removing the fan cover, use soapy water to fill up a container. Put the fan cover into the soapy water and leave it there for some minutes. 

3. The Inside Dust

After the removal of the fan cover, you will find a lot of dust inside the air extractor fan. Take a look at it and see how much dust is present there. There are a couple of methods available that you can choose from to remove the dust present inside the unit. Vacuuming inside the unit will clean the dust, but it will not clean the sticky grime. We recommend that you use a duster for thorough cleaning. Use a duster to start cleaning from the backside of the fan blades. After that, you can clean the remaining parts of the fan. Do not forget to use a face mask during this step.

4. Use a Soapy Water Scrub

In this step, you should scrub the inside parts of the fan with soapy water and a cloth. Before performing this action, you must ensure that you have shut down the power. Make sure that you wash the cloth repeatedly when scrubbing because using a dirty cloth will not produce the desired cleaning results. You may have to scrub a little hard at some areas where the grease or dirt is so rigid.

5. Let Everything Dry Completely

After scrubbing the inside part of the fan, you must let the unit dry completely before moving to the next step. You can use a towel to wipe the fan. Also, remove the fan cover from the soapy water and let it dry for a few minutes until it gets dry completely.

6. Fix the Fan Cover Back

Now you have cleaned everything and you are ready to fix the fan cover back. Just fix the fan cover on the main unit and screw it. After fixing the air extractor fan perfectly back to its position, turn on the power and ensure that it is working appropriately.

If you believe that the fan is still not looking great, you can replace it with a new one. You can find several types of extractor fans in various designs on the market. Click here for an array of high-quality bathroom extractor fans.

Why Regular Cleaning of an Extractor Fan is Essential?

Just imagine you leave a vacuum/hoover to keep filling without clearing it. Consequently, the suction will become weak and it will not suck up the dust. It will just be moving the dirt around. You might think that the extractor fan does not have the bag for which you can ignore it. However, this is not true. A blocked or dirty extractor fan will result in:

  • A bathroom full of dust
  • Unwanted smells in the bathroom
  • Electricity waste because the fan isn’t doing anything
  • A lot of noise from the extractor fan

The biggest disadvantage will be the growth of mold. At some point in time, you will find mold everywhere in your bathroom. Once the mold grows, it will be almost impossible to deal with it. It will lead to some serious health issues, such as respiratory conditions.

The Sticky Grime

If we talk about the dirtiest part of a bathroom, it will be the extractor fan. The main job of this fan is air circulation to suck the moisture out of the room. Therefore, the filth and moisture will create sticky grime on different parts of the fan, especially the blades. If you don’t clean your fan regularly, this grime will be harmful to the fan and reduce its lifespan.

Choosing a Bathroom Extractor Fan

No matter how much care you consider for your air extractor fan, it will still deteriorate a day. Regardless of the high quality, all extractor fans come with a specific lifespan. Therefore, you will have to buy a new fan once it has lived its life. Not all extractor fans are suitable for all types of bathrooms and spaces. For great performance, you need to buy a perfect extractor fan according to your bathroom. Here are the different factors to consider when buying a bathroom extractor fan:

  • Fan size: Choose according to your bathroom space
  • Fan type: Choose between a wall-mounted or a ceiling extractor fan
  • Energy-efficiency
  • Build quality
  • Design: It must compliment your interior design
  • Warranty

Keeping the above factors in mind while looking for a bathroom extractor fan will help you make an informed decision. You can also read online reviews on different forums to identify the most reliable extractor fan models on the market.

air extractor

Summary

Regular and timely cleaning of bathroom extractor fans is essential for the prolonged lifespan of the fan. It takes just 20-30 minutes to clean an air extractor to get it ready for the most optimal performance. Doing this will help you improve the lifespan of the fan while avoiding possible concerns, such as mold growth, weird fan noise, and bathroom smell. The steps we have discussed above should help you clean your extractor fan without any hassle.