Filters and Screens that Get Missed when Spring Cleaning in Your Home

Do your spring cleaning chores include cleaning out the filters and screens in your home? While most of us remember to clean out our furnace filters or the lint screens in our dryer on a regular basis, there are many other filters and screens in our homes that often get overlooked when spring cleaning. Including these on your spring cleaning check list will make your home smell fresher while boosting system performance too.

Dryer exhaust vent cover.
Most clothes dryers vent to an outside opening which is capped with some sort of decorative grille or bird guard. A clogged vent cover will slow down performance of a clothes dryer and must be cleared out regularly. The easiest way to spring clean these covers is to pop them off and brush them with a bristle brush before reinstalling.

Vacuum cleaner filter.
If your vacuum doesn’t seem to be performing well during your spring cleaning chores, the airflow filter might be clogged. These filters are usually made of foam and covered by a small door (which may be labeled)on the body of the vacuum cleaner. I usually clean my vacuum cleaner filters by rinsing them under warm tap water.

Range hood.
Range hoods removes smoke and smelly cooking odors out of the kitchen by drawing air through a mesh screen at the base of the hood. These screens must be washed periodically to keep the range hood working at peak efficiency. The screen can usually be pulled out by a tab and can be run through the top rack of your dishwasher, or allowed to soak in hot water mixed with some Dawn detergent.

Cold air returns.
Vent covers (also known as grilles) are a decorative way to cover up the duct work found in the ceilings of your home. A clogged grille not only lowers the efficiency of your furnace and air conditioning system, they look unsightly too. Grilles are best cleaned using a vacuum cleaner with a round brush attachment.

Dishwasher drain basket.
In the bottom back of your dishwasher is an inverted screen basket that seems to be a catchall for food particles, mold, and other gunk that can cause dishwasher odor. The drain basket can be removed with a screwdriver or a hex key, and then should be washed thoroughly with hot soapy water. Before reinstalling the basket, be sure to grab other small food particles that might be trapped beneath the basket.

Bathroom exhaust.
The bathroom exhaust fan works much like a range hood in that it draws moisture and odor out of a room and vents its to the outside. The grille covers to these units can get gunky as well and also benefit from a little spring cleaning. To clean the grilles, cut the power to the bathroom exhaust fan (at the fuse box) and then remove the cover using a screwdriver. Wash the cover with warm sudsy water, and dry thoroughly before reinstalling.

More by this contributor:
Why is my dryer not working well?
How to clean and organize your kitchen cupboards.
5 easy ways to boost vacuum cleaner performance.