The exhaust fan in your bathroom is incredibly important. As water is so commonly used in your bathroom, through the use of the taps, shower, and bath, a lot of moisture builds up in the air.
This moisture can cause dampness problems if it is not removed from the bathroom, and that is where the exhaust fan comes in.
Your exhaust fan removes the moisture from the bathroom, and at the same time, it also removes odors from your bathroom too. So in general, the exhaust fan freshens up your bathroom, while making it safer at the same time.
The general purpose of the exhaust fan is to make your bathroom smell cleaner and be safer. But, if you do not clean your bathroom exhaust fan then it will become unable to do its job properly. So, how do you clean it? Read this guide to find out bathroom cleaning tips from our professional commercial cleaners.
Do Bathroom Exhaust Fans Need Maintenance?
Yes, bathroom exhaust fans do need maintenance. Your exhaust fan plays an incredibly important role in keeping your bathroom safe and clean, and when it does this, it extracts moisture and dirt from the air in your bathroom.
When doing this, the exhaust fan will become coated with dirt, and over time this will build up, preventing the exhaust fan from doing its job.
That is why regular maintenance is very significant when it comes to your bathroom exhaust fan. While cleaning it isn’t the easiest of tasks, it is essential for the sake of your bathroom and your health.
If you do not clean your exhaust fan regularly then it could end up breaking, and that will mean you have to replace it. This will not be cheaper, so it is easier to just upkeep the maintenance on your exhaust fan yourself.
But, how regularly should you clean your bathroom exhaust fan? Well, thankfully, this isn’t a job that you have to complete every single day. So, let’s take a look at how often you should clean your exhaust fan.
How Often Should You Clean Your Bathroom Exhaust Fan?
As we have said, your bathroom exhaust fan does not have to be cleaned daily. In fact, it doesn’t even have to be cleaned weekly either. Thankfully, this is a job that you can add to your monthly cleaning list. So, you do not have to worry about doing this fiddly job every week.
With a job like this, doing it every week would be pointless because it simply will not be dirty enough to require cleaning. But, if you do it once a month, then the moisture (and the dirt within it) will have built up in the fan, giving you something to clean.
As we have mentioned, cleaning your exhaust fan is actually quite a fiddly job, and because of this, it can be really difficult to know where to begin. So, if you haven’t cleaned your bathroom exhaust fan for a while (if ever), keep on reading to find out how to do this.
How to Clean Your Bathroom Exhaust Fan?
Cleaning the exhaust fan in your bathroom is a very fiddly job, and admittedly it isn’t one of the easiest of tasks. This is partly because your exhaust fan requires electricity in order to do its job.
As you know, water and electricity do not get along very well, so in order to clean your bathroom exhaust fan, you will need to switch off your electricity.
Due to this, you might have to carefully coordinate when you clean your bathroom exhaust fan with the rest of your household.
With the electricity switched off, the first thing that you need to do is remove the cover of the exhaust fan. The cover will usually look like any regular vent, and it will be removed in the same way too.
So, to take the cover off your exhaust fan simply squeeze the metal mounting clips on both sides of the cover. This will move them out of their slots, allowing you to simply move the cover out of the way, exposing all the dirt inside the exhaust fan.
Fill your sink with warm water and add a small amount of dish soap to it. Then put the vent cover in the water and leave it to soak while you carry on cleaning the fan itself.
As the electricity has to be switched off to clean your bathroom exhaust fan, a handheld battery-powered vacuum will be your best friend for this job.
With your vacuum in hand, you should use a bristle brush attachment to suck all the dirt and dust out of the fan. With this gone, you will be able to see all the stains inside the exhaust fan.
Next, you want to take a regular cleaning cloth and dip it in the water that is in your sink. Squeeze as much water out of the cloth as possible, so it is damp instead of dripping wet.
Inside the exhaust fan, you will be able to see areas where the grime has built up, leaving stains. So, these are the areas that you want to target with your damp cloth.
You should begin by wiping these stains lightly, as a lot of the time the stains will budge easily. But, with tougher stains, you may have to apply a little more pressure.
However, it is important to be careful when applying pressure as some areas of the fan are very fragile. You should only apply pressure when cleaning the box of the exhaust fan, not the fan itself.
When you are cleaning the fan blades, you should simply give them a light wipe with a damp cloth.
After you have finished cleaning the fan, it is time to reassemble it. Take your vent cover out of the sink, and wipe it dry with a towel. Then slot it back into place on the front of the exhaust fan. Your exhaust fan will look as good as new, and all that is left to do is to switch the electricity back on.
Summary
Cleaning your bathroom exhaust fan is a fiddly job, and it can be a bit of a pain. But, thankfully, it only needs to be done once a month. So, if you haven’t cleaned your bathroom exhaust fan for a while, it is time to add this to your monthly cleaning schedule if you want to avoid having to replace it in the future.
