Bathroom fan
Steamy showers are nice and relaxing but can leave your bathroom looking less than fresh if your exhaust fan isn’t working properly. Your fan is a surprisingly important tool in keeping your home healthy. It not only removes humidity from the air, which can cause mold and damage to your paint, but it also can de-stink your bathroom and keep you safe without using harsh cleaning chemicals.
Luckily, all it takes is a few minutes and a bathroom necessity to check your fan for suction. Here’s how!
To complete this task, grab two squares of toilet paper. A stepstool may also be helpful.
CHECK IT OUT
Just because you can hear the whir of your exhaust fan’s motor doesn’t mean that it’s actually moving air from the bathroom. If your mirrors are foggy after your shower despite having the fan on, this might be a sign that things are amiss.
BE SQUARE
Turn on your exhaust fan and grab a square or two of toilet paper before climbing on a step stool if you need one. Hold the toilet paper up to the exhaust fan. If the fan pulls the toilet paper up and it sticks, you know that there is enough suction for your steamy showers. If you’re like most of us, you might also notice while you’re looking up that it’s time to clean that exhaust fan. Dust away!
If you do not have enough suction, it’s time to do a deep clean of your fan. Grab your vacuum and some dish soap.
DEEP CLEAN
To deep clean your fan, gently pull down on the cover to get to the fan. You will see mounting wires on either side of the fan, squeeze them and slide out of the slots. You might be horrified now to see the grime and dust that has built up!
To clean the cover, fill your bathtub with warm water and some dish soap. Soak the cover for a few minutes and then gently scrub to remove the dirt. Rinse and then allow to air dry.
Now it’s time to clean the exhaust fan itself. Before doing so, either unplug the two-prong plug that powers the fan or turn off the power to the bathroom by flipping off the circuit breaker. Once you’re sure that the fan no longer has power, you can clean it by removing dust with your vacuum extension wand and attachments. Be gentle as you clean the fan so that you don’t damage anything.
Once everything is clean and dry, plug back in your fan and reassemble everything. Now it’s time to do the TP test again. If you have good suction, celebrate! If not, it might be time to replace your fan.