Making Your Bathroom Vents Sparkle Like New
It’s spring cleaning time once again. I’ve been itching to do this cleaning project for some time now, but have successfully put it off until now. How do you thoroughly clean your bathroom vents?
It’s amazing just how disgusting they can become. You can brush and vacuum but nothing takes the place of a good soap scrubbing! 
If you have a portable electric screwdriver or drill it will make this job much easier. Begin by removing the small plastic retaining ring on the power switch. 
You should be able to remove this with your fingers. If you can’t then you need to eat your spinach or use a pair of pliers. 
Next you remove the hand crank by holding the crank with one hand and unscrewing the retaining bolt with your drill. 
Remove the cowling by extracting the screws that hold it in place.
(Note: If you want to realign the screw holes when replacing the cowling, make a pencil mark on the inside of the cowling and the housing so you can remember how to reinstall it.) 
Pull the screen down and take it to the sink full of bubbles. 
Use a soft brush to scrub the screen free of debris. 
While the screen is drying grab a rag and clean the fan blades and the inside of the fan cover. 
Find your can of WD-40, pop in that little red straw and lubricate the fan spindle at the bottom and top. This works well to quiet those noisy fans, especially the one in the shower. 
Now you are ready to reassemble the screen. Make sure you put the switch back on the screen the correct way. The “deep” side of the screen goes up against the cover housing and the switch protrudes on the flat side of the screen frame. 
Here is a secret, while holding the screen up against the cover housing, insert the crank and screw it back in place. This will hold up the screen while you reinsert the cowling. Screw the cowling back in place and admire your sparkling clean vents.
It’s amazing just how disgusting they can become. You can brush and vacuum but nothing takes the place of a good soap scrubbing! If you have a portable electric screwdriver or drill it will make this job much easier. Begin by removing the small plastic retaining ring on the power switch. You should be able to remove this with your fingers. If you can’t then you need to eat your spinach or use a pair of pliers. Next you remove the hand crank by holding the crank with one hand and unscrewing the retaining bolt with your drill. Remove the cowling by extracting the screws that hold it in place. (Note: If you want to realign the screw holes when replacing the cowling, make a pencil mark on the inside of the cowling and the housing so you can remember how to reinstall it.) Pull the screen down and take it to the sink full of bubbles. Use a soft brush to scrub the screen free of debris. While the screen is drying grab a rag and clean the fan blades and the inside of the fan cover. Find your can of WD-40, pop in that little red straw and lubricate the fan spindle at the bottom and top. This works well to quiet those noisy fans, especially the one in the shower. Now you are ready to reassemble the screen. Make sure you put the switch back on the screen the correct way. The “deep” side of the screen goes up against the cover housing and the switch protrudes on the flat side of the screen frame. Here is a secret, while holding the screen up against the cover housing, insert the crank and screw it back in place. This will hold up the screen while you reinsert the cowling. Screw the cowling back in place and admire your sparkling clean vents.
posted by Jim Twamley at
4/18/2007 05:02:00 PM
3 Comments:
I'm sure the entire screen removal method works just fine, but I really dislike "removing/unscrewing" things from my RV if not necessary. We have cleaned our vent and screen many times by simply climbing up on the roof with a bottle of 409, and old washcloth, and paper towels. (First put an old towel down on the floor inside the RV under the roof vent.)Climb up top, spray the washcloth heavily with 409 and gently scrub away on the screen till clean. While you're up there take the 409 and paper towels and clean inside and outside of the plastic vent cover, little fan blades, and all other reachable places. Dry the screen with the paper towels. Climb down. Go inside, get your little folding stool, 409, and clean the inside of the screen and plastic areas you can easily reach. Remove towel off floor. Call you husband, stand under vent and smile triumphantly. Whole thing takes about 10 minutes and no removing/unscrewing anything. If you're really motivated while you are up on the roof anyway... clean the top of the shower/bath skylight, air conditioner shroud, antenna, and any other misc. plastic stuff that looks dirty. Good time to also do a quick visual check of the rubber roof for little possible leak areas. We love our 28 ft. MS Sunnybrook travel trailer and keep her spiffy. 3 yrs fulltime'n now and oh the tales we could tell.
By
Anonymous, at April 28, 2007 12:09:00 PM PDT
I use Grab-it dust cloths,they have a electro-static charge and clean all screens(even window) easily
By
Anonymous, at April 29, 2007 8:05:00 PM PDT
you should not use anything but water on the vent cover itself if you do after time it becomes brital and cracks i know i just replaced two of them
By
Anonymous, at May 1, 2007 6:12:00 AM PDT
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