Don’t Forget to Clean the Fan
Fans are a great way to combat the heat for folks without air conditioning. Even if you have air conditioning, fans provide white noise that makes falling asleep easier, while supplying a gentle breeze to keep you from overheating. The more you use your fan, the more dust and dirt builds up on it. It is necessary to clean your fan often for optimal use. Even though the blades may rotate with dust and dirt, the quality of air will be degraded and it won’t function as well. Fans perform significantly better when the blades and moving parts of free of dust and dirt. Fans are relatively simply machines and easy to clean, and the best part is you probably own everything you need to clean yours well.
How Routinely Do I Need to Clean My Fan?
Fan cleaning should be incorporated into your cleaning regimen. It all comes down to how often you use your fan and the air quality of your apartment. You might need to wash it once each week if you live in an older apartment building and use it every day. If you live in a newer apartment building and only use it while you sleep, you might be able to get away with cleaning it once every two weeks or once a month.
What Supplies Do I Need to Clean My Fan?
As previously stated, cleaning a fan is pretty simple, all you need is a multi-surface cleaner, a microfiber cloth, rag, paper towels, screwdrivers, and compressed air. A vacuum with a hose attachment while help tremendously, but if you don’t have one, you will be able to clean just fine without it.
How Do I Clean My Fan?
As with everything electrical, make sure you disconnect it from the electrical outlet. If you are cleaning a ceiling fan, you will have to locate your fuse box and shut off the power to the room the fan is in. A simple way to clean the fan blades is to use the compressed air and blow off the dust. If you have the vacuum with the hose attachment, be sure to plug the vacuum into an outlet in a different room so you can vacuum all the dust that gets blown off as it’s happening. All the dust might not make it off with the compressed air, so use the cloth to remove any leftover dust and fingerprint smudges from holding onto the blades. Try to clean your fan weekly to keep it working at its best.
How Do I Thoroughly Clean My Fan?
Once again, disconnect the fan from the power source by unplugging it from the wall or shutting off the power to the room via the fuse box. Use a screwdriver to take the blade guard off and any other parts that prevent you from cleaning the blades. You can rinse the blade guard in your shower, sink, or if it’s real dirty, outside. Use the compressed air to spray out the dust in the motor housing. Once you get the dust out of the motor housing, you can use the multi-surface cleaner to wipe the fan blades and motor housing with the microfiber cloth. Do not allow any cleaning solution to drip into the motor housing as you may end up ruining your fan, electronics don’t like water.
