How to Clean a Bathroom Fan
My bathroom fan sounds like a dying goose desperately trying to come back to life, which means I should probably deep clean the bathroom fan. Yes, if your bathroom fan sounds like a dying animal, it’s time to clean it or replace it. I finally got the courage to clean mine —I’ve been certain that it had spiders in it due to recent spider sightings in my house.
Here’s what you need to clean the bathroom fan:
- Screwdriver with a flat head
- Vinegar
- Cleaning brush
- Warm soapy water
- (Vacuum the cover first, if necessary) Pull the cover down. The cover is held in place by 2 metal clips that need to be pinched to be released.
- Unplug the fan motor and remove the screw holding the metal plate. The screw I removed is next to the water mark on the photo.
- Remove the bolt holding the metal plate to the motor and clean as needed with warm, soapy water.
- Soak the fan in warm soapy water and use a cleaning brush to remove any stubborn goo.
- Once the fan is completely dry, put it back together.
My fan still unfortunately sounds like a dying goose, but now it still runs. If your fan still makes terrible noises, even after cleaning it, you might consider getting a new one. Cleaning the bathroom fan is something that should be done about once a year.
Happy Cleaning!
Great advice, Angela! I tried to clean a fan in place once; don’t think it had the ability to just be unplugged. Accidentally touched something I shouldn’t have–probably the magnet, and the shock almost knocked my arm off. Since then I’ve just tried to keep the fans vacuumed regularly. Maybe the ones in our current home are more up-to-date like yours.
I love your “just do it and get it done” approach to cleaning everything. You’re an inspiration!
Thanks Lillace! I also wore rubber gloves, mostly to protect from spiders, which also protects some form electricity.
I’ll give this a try on the two bathrooms. The fans have not been cleaned in years.
Great how-to there! It’s important to keep fans going strong during the summer. Thanks for sharing!
Spiders and dust are no fun! The more you deep clean your fan, the longer it will last. It may prevent your fan from making noises in the first place.
I was doing some search for our maids on cleaning the fans in our residential restrooms. Most of the time we take the easy way out and just buy and install new ones. But this is going to help us save time and money. Thanks for your blog. we will be back to read what else you got.
Thks for sharing! I love your ways in cleaning your bathroom! I might try this at home.
I honestly used to think it’s much more complex than that! Thanks for the breakdown, I love how easy you make it.
I am the kind of person who wants everything to be clean and tidy but as we are talking about bathrooms I must say that this in not my favorite place to clean. My bathroom is wet most of the time and I should clean it every time when I use it. Thanks for the useful advice.
Very nice stuff. Thanks for sharing this wonderful blog. Your post is so useful for learning cleaning tips. Suggest some more tips for cleaning home.
Angela,
If only every homeowner kept up with the minutia like this it would make for a lot more swift move-out cleanings which is what we do a lot of.
We see goopy fans on a regular but don’t have the luxury of soaking them and taking completely apart like you’re able to here.
Magic erasers do wonders when you have to make things look like new again and don’t have the time to take things fully apart!
Hum. This is a good tips for cleaning bathroom fan, but I never check my bathroom fan. It’s too high and difficult to remove from installing. Cleaning service is one of my solutions so far.
Thanks for sharing! I love your ways of cleaning your bathroom! I might try this at home and stairs.
Have you ever best vacuum for car detailing post?I got some post about cleaning from Idealchoo.com