A non-toxic, eco-friendly way to clean a greasy range hood filter without harsh chemicals. Best of all, there’s no scrubbing!
If you’ve read my blog before you know how I remove set-in oil stains and grease stains from clothes. Baking soda is excellent to have around the house. Today I’m sharing with you how to clean a greasy range hood filter with something I recently learned about: super washing soda. If you’ve never heard of this before, you’re not alone.
ARM & HAMMER™ Super Washing Soda™ is a natural detergent booster and freshener and can be used all around the home. It increases your detergent’s cleaning power to get out dirt and stains and it also cuts through grease!
Washing soda, sodium carbonate, is not the same as baking soda, sodium bicarbonate, although the two are related. You can find it in the laundry aisle next to all the laundry boosters. Best of all, a 55 oz box will run you under $6 and last you months!
Ever since purchasing Super Washing Soda over a month ago, I’ve been adding it to my “secret” method for fresh-smelling towels (which removes the mildew smell that accumulates from time to time due to fabric softener) with great success. However, I realized there has to be other uses for super washing soda. Over dinner the other night, I found my next cleaning project: the range hood filters.
Earlier this year, our range oven gave out. We took that opportunity to also replace our range hood + microwave combo. Brian’s enjoyed using our new kitchen appliances, and I’ve enjoyed reminding him to turn on the range hood to make sure all cooking smells leave the house. (Fried eggs can seriously stink up a house!).
We cook a lot at home. Unfortunately, all that cooking under the range hood takes its toll on the filters and we’re left with a greasy mess.
I remember my mother using hazardous grease removers my dad brought home from his restaurant job, and how they could burn your nose hairs off.
I then wondered, if baking soda does such a great job at removing set-in oil stains and removing the mildew smell from towels, would super washing soda work faster on the range hood filters?
Spoiler–it does! Here’s how I used it to clean my greasy range hood filters.
How to Clean a Greasy Range Hood Filter
What You’ll Need
- large bowl or bucket
- 1/2 gallon hot water
- 1/4 cup ARM & HAMMER™ Super Washing Soda™ Detergent Booster
- 2 TBSP ARM & HAMMER™ baking soda
- 2 TBSP borax powder
- degreasing dish soap (one squirt)
- paper towels
Instructions
Prepare work area
Caution: You should wear gloves while using Super Washing Soda.
I gathered all of my materials by the kitchen sink. My range hood filters are on the small side. If yours are larger, feel free to tweak the amounts of detergents. In case you were wondering, borax is also found in the laundry detergent aisle, and for the degreasing dish soap I just used my favorite blue dishwashing soap!
Add detergents to bowl
Add the dry ingredients first, then the liquid dishwashing soap.
Fill with hot water
See that steam rising? The boiling hot water will activate the detergents for maximum cleaning power. Because you add detergents first, there’s no manual mixing involved!
Soak greasy filters in bowl
Fully submerge the filters in the detergent water. Add warm tap water if you didn’t have enough boiling water to cover them completely.
Let the filters soak for 10 to 15 minutes. Check on their progress in a few minutes. But, I didn’t have to wait long!
Truth be told, the Super Washing Soda solution cleaned one of my filters in under 10 minutes WITHOUT SCRUBBING. The second one had a little bit of grease left, so I let that one soak for another five minutes.
Again, there was NO SCRUBBING involved.
I didn’t have enough time to take a picture of them in the “clean” water because the solution started working immediately. You can see the grime suspended in the water above. I used tongs to remove them because I didn’t have gloves on hand.
Rinse and dry
Immediately rinse the filters under cold, running water. Pat dry with paper towels.
There you have it! Squeaky clean range hood filters cleaned in under 15 minutes with NO SCRUBBING required! Now you can replace your clean, shiny filters into the range hood. It’s a shame you can’t see them when cooking because mine are glittering like diamonds!
Now, don’t make your greasy range hood filters jealous! Go and wash them the EASY way with NO scrubbing!
What’s your favorite way to use ARM & HAMMER™ Super Washing Soda?
