Cooker Hood & Extractor Fan Cleaning: The UK
Homeowner's Guide

The extractor is the most ignored appliance in a British kitchen and the one with the clearest safety case for cleaning. Grease-loaded filters are the main fuel source in kitchen fires, and a saturated filter stops extracting long before it looks dirty. This guide explains the two system types, how to tell which one you have, and what good cooker hood cleaning involves.

Ducted or recirculating: find out first

Everything else follows from this.

• Ducted hoods push air outside through a rigid or flexible duct. They have metal grease filters only, and they need the duct run checked as well as the filters.
• Recirculating hoods pull air through a grease filter, then a carbon cartridge, and blow it back into the room. Carbon is a consumable: it cannot be washed, and once it is spent the hood moves air without removing smell.

The quick test: run the hood on full and hold a sheet of kitchen paper to the outlet grille above the unit. If air is coming back at you, it recirculates. Most flats, most island hoods and almost every kitchen fitted into an internal wall recirculate.

Filter types and how they are cleaned

Washing a carbon cartridge is the single most common mistake. Water collapses the granule structure; the cartridge comes out looking clean and no longer adsorbs anything.

What a professional visit covers

1. Filters out and tanked — degreased properly rather than run through a dishwasher, which dulls aluminium and rarely clears baffle slots.
2. Canopy and plenum — the chamber above the filter, where grease actually accumulates, hand-cleaned.
3. Impeller and motor housing — degreased where accessible; a greased impeller loses a surprising amount of airflow.
4. Duct run inspected — first accessible metre cleaned, damaged or crushed flexible ducting flagged.
5. Carbon replaced — if recirculating and due, with the model noted for next time.
6. Airflow check — before and after, so the improvement is demonstrable rather than asserted.

Expect £30–£70 as an add-on to another appliance job, or £60–£120 as a standalone visit depending on hood type and access. Booking it alongside an oven clean is materially cheaper — see the oven cleaning cost guide for combined pricing.

The fire and compliance case

Grease deposits are the fuel in the overwhelming majority of kitchen extraction fires. In a domestic kitchen this is a housekeeping matter; in a let property or a commercial kitchen it is an insurance one. Landlords and HMO operators are routinely asked to evidence extraction maintenance, and a dated invoice with before-and-after photographs is what satisfies that request. If you run a commercial kitchen, extraction cleaning falls under a different standard entirely and should be scheduled with commercial cleaning.

Keeping it clean between visits

• Run the hood for three to five minutes after you finish cooking — extraction is about clearing the residual plume, not the peak.
• Start it before you heat the pan, on the lowest useful speed.
• Wipe the canopy underside weekly while it is still warm; cold grease is a different job.
• Diarise carbon replacement. Six months is realistic for a household that cooks most nights.

Five signs yours is overdue

Smells lingering into the next morning. Condensation on the wall cupboards beside the hob. A filter that no longer springs back or drips when tilted. Rising noise at the same speed setting. A visible grease line on the ceiling above the hood. Any two of those together and the filters are past saturation.

Book extraction cleaning as part of appliance cleaning, or add it to a deep clean if the whole kitchen needs resetting. Not sure which you need? Our deep clean vs regular clean guide covers the difference.

Frequently asked questions

Can I put my hood filters in the dishwasher?

Mesh filters survive it, but a domestic dishwasher rarely reaches the temperature needed to release baked grease, and repeated cycles oxidise aluminium to a dull grey. Baffle filters need brushing between the slats, which no dishwasher does.

How often should a carbon filter be replaced?

Every four to six months in a household that cooks most days, or every three months if you fry or wok-cook frequently. There is no way to test a cartridge at home — treat it as a scheduled consumable, like a vacuum filter.

My hood is loud but barely extracting. Is the motor failing?

Usually not. A loaded filter or a grease-coated impeller makes a motor work harder and move less air, which sounds exactly like a failing motor. Clean first; if airflow does not recover, then investigate the fan.

Do you clean island and downdraft extractors?

Yes. Island hoods need working access from all sides and take longer; downdraft units require the cassette lifting and the sump underneath clearing, which is where water and grease collect. Both are quoted individually.

Is extractor cleaning included in an end of tenancy clean?

Filter cleaning normally is; carbon replacement is a part cost and is usually quoted separately. Check the itemised scope before booking — see our end of tenancy cost guide.