Kitchen Hood Cleaning Tips Make Cleaning Easy

Range hood fans remove the smoke, excess moisture and grease from cooking, so it is very important to follow a few kitchen hood cleaning tips to keep it in tiptop shape.

Keeping your kitchen range hood vent working efficiently requires cleaning regularly, especially if you cook often. People wipe the outside of the range hood but completely forget about the fan and filters.

Sometimes dirt cakes the blades on the fan, so they do not work efficiently and this can cause the motor to either overheat or quit working.

Be sure to turn the kitchen hood unit off before you start to clean it.

Here are some kitchen hood cleaning tips that turn a dirty job into one that is quick and easy.

* Clean the exterior of your range hood with a good grease-cutting, nonabrasive household cleaner. Use this on the inside of the range also, but avoid hitting the light bulb or the light socket. Rinse with warm, soapy water.

* Remove the metal grease trap/traps from your range hood and place them in a sink full of water containing a degreasing solution. Let the metal grease trap soak until all the built-up grease has dissolved or use a brush on both sides.

After the degreasing solution removes the grease, wash it in hot, soapy water, rinse and be sure it is dry before reinstalling. You can wash your filters in the dishwasher but it could leave a greasy film inside, which is difficult to remove.

If the filters are very dirty, it could also clog up the drain lines on your dishwasher. Washing the hood filters in ammonia and hot water also works well.

* The activated charcoal filters in a circulating vent hood need replacing, as you cannot wash these. Charcoal loses its effectiveness when it is dirty, so it is important to replace them annually or more often, if you cook a lot.

These activated charcoal filters are usually available in hardware stores or sometimes from the store where you bought your hood.

* Remove the dirt and grease from the fan blades using a grease-cutting cleaner on a wet cloth.

* These kitchen hood cleaning tips work great but you should also contact a vent-cleaning contractor to clean the vent leading from your hood to the outside. Do this annually, as grease builds up on the inside of the vent where you cannot reach it.

By following some of these kitchen hood cleaning tips your range hood will look as good as when it was new.