BlancoGermany (AU-distributed cooking range)

How to Clean a Blanco Rangehood

In a matched apartment kitchen this is the appliance nobody thinks about, which is exactly why it is the one holding a decade of grease.

3 min read · Written by Oven Valets, cleaning rangehoods across Sydney and greater NSW for 15+ years

Drop the aluminium mesh filters and soak them flat in hot water with a non-caustic degreaser. Never put mesh through a dishwasher. If the hood recirculates rather than ducting outside, which is common in apartments, replace the charcoal filter rather than washing it.

A Blanco hood arrives as the third item in a developer's matched package and is, with striking consistency, the appliance in that kitchen nobody has ever opened.

The general method, filters out, soaked flat, then the impeller housing behind them, is on our rangehood cleaning guide. Two things about this situation matter more than the appliance itself.

In an apartment it probably recirculates

Blanco hoods went overwhelmingly into apartment buildings, and ducting a hood to the outside of a multi-storey building is frequently impossible. So a large share of these are recirculating: they filter the air and return it to the kitchen, using a charcoal filter behind the metal grease filters to handle odour.

Charcoal filters are a consumable. They are not washable, they are replaced every six to twelve months, and washing one produces a wet obstruction that restricts airflow without helping smell at all.

In practice, a very large number of Blanco hoods in Sydney apartments still carry the charcoal filter the developer installed. If nobody has ever replaced yours, the hood is currently doing nothing for odour and has not been for years. That is the single most likely finding on this brand.

Ownership changes hide the neglect

An apartment typically changes hands every few years, and each owner reasonably assumes the previous one had the kitchen serviced. Nobody has. The hood accumulates quietly across three owners because it never fails outright, it simply extracts less each year.

If you have bought an apartment and inherited a Blanco kitchen, treat the hood as untouched rather than as maintained. See how to clean a Blanco cooktop and how to clean a Blanco oven, which will be in the same condition.

The impeller behind the filters

With the filters out, look up into the hood with a torch. The impeller sits in a housing above it, and on a hood that has run for a decade without attention that housing carries a hard brown lacquer of everything the filters missed.

That single deposit is behind all three complaints people actually have. The smell is warm grease in a warm housing. The noise is an impeller thrown out of balance by uneven build-up. The poor extraction is a loaded fan simply moving less air.

Isolate the power at the wall or the circuit breaker before anything goes near it, because hoods are frequently wired to a switch that is not obvious and an impeller starting with your hand inside causes serious injury.

What actually goes wrong

An original charcoal filter, years past replacement, in a recirculating install.

Grey mesh filters from a dishwasher cycle.

A hood that has never been opened across two or three owners.

Should you do it yourself?

Do it yourself for the filters every couple of months, and check whether there is a charcoal filter behind them.

Get someone in for the impeller housing, or if you have just moved in and want to know what you have actually inherited.

Blanco rangehood questions

Does my Blanco rangehood need a charcoal filter?
If it recirculates rather than ducting outside, yes, and in an apartment that is likely, because ducting to the outside of a multi-storey building is frequently impossible. The charcoal filter sits behind the metal grease filters, handles odour, and is replaced every six to twelve months rather than washed. A great many Blanco hoods still carry the one the developer installed.
Can Blanco rangehood filters go in the dishwasher?
Not the aluminium mesh ones, which most models use. Dishwasher detergent is strongly alkaline and oxidises aluminium, leaving the mesh a chalky grey that never recovers. Soak them flat in hot water with a non-caustic degreaser for an hour instead, working them with a soft brush along the mesh rather than across it.
I have just bought an apartment with a Blanco kitchen. What should I check?
Assume the rangehood has never been serviced, because apartments change hands every few years and each owner tends to assume the last one had it done. Check whether there is a charcoal filter behind the metal ones and how old it is, soak the metal filters, and expect the matched oven and cooktop to be in the same condition, since all three were installed together.
Why does my rangehood smell even after cleaning the filters?
Because the grease causing the smell sits behind them, thrown against the fan housing by the impeller and baked into a lacquer that warms every time the hood runs. On a recirculating hood an exhausted charcoal filter is the other likely cause. Isolate the power at the wall or the circuit breaker before reaching into the housing.

How Oven Valets cleans a Blanco rangehood

  • Our products are non-caustic and biodegradable, so coatings, trim and seals are not at risk and the appliance is safe to use as soon as we leave.
  • Removable parts come out and are cleaned separately rather than wiped in place, and every piece goes back where it belongs.
  • We tell you what we find, including when a part is past saving, rather than cleaning around it.
  • Fully insured, with fixed GST-inclusive pricing and no call-out fee.

Rather have someone else do it?

Fixed, GST-inclusive pricing with no call-out fee. Non-caustic and biodegradable products, so the appliance is safe to use as soon as we leave. Rated 4.9 from 88 Google reviews.

Other Blanco appliances

Other rangehoods we have written up

Oven Valets is an independent cleaning service. We are not affiliated with, authorised by, or endorsed by any appliance manufacturer named on this page. Brand names are used to identify the appliances we clean.