Does my IKEA rangehood have 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. It sits behind the metal grease filters, handles odour, and is replaced every six to twelve months rather than washed. A great many still carry the original one fitted when the kitchen went in.

Can IKEA rangehood filters go in the dishwasher?

Not aluminium mesh ones. 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.

IKEASweden (manufactured by Whirlpool)

How to Clean an IKEA Rangehood

An IKEA hood in an apartment is usually recirculating, which means a charcoal filter is doing all the odour control and has probably never been changed.

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

Check for a charcoal filter behind the metal ones, because IKEA hoods in apartments are frequently recirculating and that filter is replaced rather than washed. Soak the metal filters flat and never put aluminium mesh through a dishwasher.

An IKEA hood arrives with an IKEA kitchen, built by Whirlpool and badged for the retailer, and it is the appliance in that package most likely to have been left alone entirely.

Recirculating is the common case

IKEA kitchens go into apartments in large numbers, and ducting to the outside of a multi-storey building is frequently impossible. So a great many IKEA hoods are recirculating: they filter the air and return it to the kitchen, using a charcoal filter behind the metal grease filters to deal with odour.

Charcoal is a consumable, replaced every six to twelve months, never washed. Washing one produces a wet obstruction that restricts airflow and does nothing for smell.

In practice a very large share of these still carry the charcoal filter that was fitted when the kitchen went in. If that is yours, the hood is doing nothing about odour and has not been for years, and no amount of cleaning the metal filters changes that.

Whirlpool parts, IKEA names

The hood is Whirlpool-built, so filters and components frequently cross-reference under that name. Since IKEA retires its Swedish product names every few years, measuring the filter and searching by dimension is usually faster than searching the name on the box it came in.

Flat-pack installation

An IKEA hood is fixed into particleboard cabinetry rather than into timber. It holds perfectly well, and it is worth being deliberate about anything that involves unfixing and refixing it, because board does not always take a screw as well the second time.

The general method is on our rangehood cleaning guide.

What actually goes wrong

An original charcoal filter, years past replacement.

Grey mesh from a dishwasher cycle.

A parts search under a retired Swedish name.

Should you do it yourself?

Do it yourself for the filters, and check today whether there is a charcoal one behind them.

Get someone in for the impeller housing, or alongside the IKEA oven and IKEA cooktop, which arrived on the same day.

IKEA rangehood questions

Does my IKEA rangehood have 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. It sits behind the metal grease filters, handles odour, and is replaced every six to twelve months rather than washed. A great many still carry the original one fitted when the kitchen went in.
Where do I get IKEA rangehood filters?: IKEA stocks its own, but since the hood is Whirlpool-built the filters frequently cross-reference under that name too. Because IKEA retires its Swedish product names every few years, measuring the filter and searching by dimension is usually faster and gives more options than searching the name on the original packaging.
Can IKEA rangehood filters go in the dishwasher?: Not aluminium mesh ones. 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.

How Oven Valets cleans a IKEA 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.

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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.