How to Clean Your Kitchen Hood

Our kitchen’s range hood filter can often be forgotten during regular cleaning schedules. It happens to the best of us, don’t worry. With regular cleaning and just a few minutes out of your schedule, your range hood filter will not only look better but also be able to work properly and efficiently.

Did you know that without running your rangehood properly, food debris, grease, and oils can build up on your counters, cabinets, and floors? Gross! Who wants all that around their food and family? Here is a helpful cleaning guide you can use the next time your range hood needs a good scrub.

Do Range Hoods Need to Be Cleaned?

You may not glance at your range hood on a daily basis. When you do, though, its filth is hard to overlook. Just as other areas of your kitchen need to be cleaned frequently, the same holds true for the range hood.

Each time you cook, even if the air vent hood is not running, grease, odors and other elements work their way upward and coat the hood and vent.

The mess will build in thicker quantities until it is cleaned off. When you clean the hood regularly, you prevent a thick buildup that’s hard to remove. How do you clean a kitchen hood?

Why Is It Necessary to Clean Range Hoods on a Regular Basis?

As the grease and other food remnants build up on the range hood, you may notice that your house increasingly has a funky odor. This odor permeates from the kitchen to the rest of the home and can seemingly get stronger over time until the range hood is cleaned.

More than that, the built-up grease and food remnants pose a fire hazard. Grease is highly flammable, so a dirty hood over heat and flames is a dangerous situation.

In addition, a dirty hood and ventilation system can impact indoor air quality, decrease the life of the ventilation system and even impact your HVAC system.

Signs Your Range Hood Needs Cleaning

If you can see visible grease or other signs of filth, there is no doubt that your range hood needs cleaning soon. You should also test the air flow. With the vent on, place a sheet of paper underneath it. If the vent is clean, the paper will rise up to the vent and stay there due to strong suction.

You may notice that the hood’s motor runs loudly if it is dirty. In some cases, the filter is so dirty that the smoke and other fumes aren’t removed while you are cooking. In a kitchen that is used daily for meal prep, the range hood and filter need to be cleaned on a monthly basis.

How to Clean a Kitchen Range Hood

Cleaning your range hood should take roughly 30 minutes. However, it may take longer if you haven’t cleaned it as regularly as you should. Both the range hood filter and the hood surfaces require your attention. How do you clean the hood?

How Do You Clean a Kitchen Hood Surface

• To clean the other surfaces of the kitchen hood, apply your homemade vinegar cleaner or a store-bought degreaser to all surfaces. For the vinegar solution, let the liquid sit on the surface for at least 15 minutes. If you use a store-bought degreaser, follow the instructions provided by the manufacturer.
• Scrub the hood’s surfaces with the nylon brush. Wipe away any remnants with a paper towel or clean rag.
• Use a clean, damp cloth to clean off the residue.

What’s the Best Way to Clean Range Hood Filters?

• Gather a large pot or bowl, a nylon brush, paper towels or rags, a homemade vinegar solution or degreaser, a degreasing soap and baking soda.
• Pull off the filter.
• Boil a pot of water, and add a half cup of baking soda and a few tablespoons of a degreasing soap.
• Plug the sink, and pour the soapy water into the sink.
• Slide the filter in the water, and let it soak undisturbed for at least 15 minutes. However, do not leave it in the sink for so long that the water cools.
• Using the nylon brush, scrub the filter until all remnants are removed.
• Drain the sink, and rinse the filter with hot water.
• After drying the filter, return it to its place.

Tips for Keeping a Clean Kitchen Hood and Filter

Cleaning a kitchen hood is a messy job, so you understandably want to keep it clean for as long as possible. Use these tips to reduce the buildup.

• Polish the exterior of a stainless-steel hood with olive oil and a microfiber cloth.
• Dust your hood weekly.
• Choose a degreasing product that is safe for your hood’s material. Refer to the manufacturer’s cleaning instructions.

How Often Should Kitchen Hoods Be Cleaned?

Each time you use your range, the grease, splatters and other remnants from your cooking activities will rise up and collect on the hood. If you cook daily, the kitchen hood should be cleaned on a monthly basis.

You may go longer between cleaning sessions if you cook less frequently. However, the grime will become increasingly difficult to remove over time, so it’s still smart to clean it periodically before you notice obvious signs that the hood and filter are dirty.

Your kitchen hood is just one of several areas of the home that can be downright filthy and that are easy to overlook on cleaning day. Between finding time and energy to clean your house and keeping up with all of the required chores, keeping a tidy house is easier said than done.

Boston maid service is available to tackle the grime and give you the safe, healthy home you need. Call Cleanzen or contact us online to schedule your home’s first maid service.