How to clean the cooker hood from fat at home?

A cooker hood is a necessary technique that cleans the air from steam and foreign odors that appear during cooking. Over time, grease and other contaminants accumulate on the hood, which must be washed off. It is important to know how to do it correctly so that the technique will last as long as possible, performing its functions.

When you begin to notice that the hood in the kitchen has begun to work worse, and the grease trap has begun to become covered with yellow-brown sticky spots, then it's time to start cleaning. To do this, you will need to disassemble the structure in order to eliminate dirt from all parts: both outside and inside. Before disassembling the appliance, it is recommended to study the instructions. Thanks to it, it will be easier to deal with removable parts. Also, the instructions often indicate the means that are prohibited to use for this product, so as not to damage it.

Consider the main preparatory steps for cleaning the hood:

• it is necessary to disconnect the device from the mains. It is important to perform this item before starting all work in order to protect yourself and keep the device intact;
• remove the grease grates. As a rule, they are fastened with clamps and they are simply snapped off, but there are models in which it is necessary to remove the bar;
• inspect and, if necessary, change internal filters;

• if there is an air duct near the hood, you need to remember that grease and dirt also collect there, so it is recommended to clean the pipe from dirt;
• wash the body and accessible internal parts;
• clean the meshes using one of the selected methods described below;
• leave the device to dry completely.

Having prepared the elements of the hood for washing, they proceed to the choice of detergent solutions and the process of cleansing the device from fat. Initially, you need to determine what material the filter is made of. If it is made of polycarbonate or plastic, then the fat is very tightly eaten into the coating. These filters are not washed, but replaced once a quarter.

If the grill is made of aluminum or steel, then it can be washed from greasy dirt. This can be done with folk remedies, as well as with special chemicals that are sold in the departments of household chemicals.

Which of the means will be more effective is directly related to the degree of contamination of the device.

In order to clean the inside of the kitchen hood from fat at home, there are many methods that do not involve the purchase of expensive chemicals. Sometimes improvised substances in every home wash away traces of fat better and safer.

You can easily, quickly and without worries wash the mesh in the kitchen using the following products:

• acetic acid. It is applied to the grid with a napkin, carefully treating the stained areas. Leave for half an hour, then wipe off the dissolved traces with a hard sponge, and then rinse with clean water;

• soda... This will require roomy dishes. A small amount of liquid is poured into it, put on fire and brought to a boil. Baking soda is added to boiled water (about 250 g of soda to 10 liters of liquid). Then the grate and filter are lowered into the saucepan, the heat is slowed down and left on the fire for another 30-40 minutes. Thus, the fat will gradually dissolve. After a while, a grate with a filter is taken out and washed under water at room temperature. The remaining dirt in inaccessible places can be removed with a cotton swab.

• laundry soap. To remove greasy stains, add soap shavings to a pot of boiling water. Then the parts of the device are immersed in the resulting solution and left for about 50-60 minutes. After that, they are pulled out of the water and the remaining dirt is wiped off with a stiff brush;

• lemon. Lemon juice is squeezed onto a napkin and areas covered with a greasy bloom are treated with it. When the fat begins to dissolve, wipe the mesh and filter with a damp cloth, then rinse under clean water. If the dirt is not washed off the first time, the procedure should be repeated;
• ammonia. When the grease filters are too greasy and none of the above solutions have been able to deal with the dirt, you can try washing them using a mixture based on ammonia. To do this, boil water in a large enamel bowl. Ammonium is added to the boiling liquid, at the rate of 20 ml per 1 liter of water.

Then the nets are lowered there and left to boil over low heat for at least an hour. If the stains are old, then the time spent by the nets in the solution is increased to two hours. When the filters are clean, they are rinsed with warm water. Then wipe off with a dry towel.

When the fat in the cooker hood acquires a rich brown color, it means that it has already frozen very strongly. In such a situation, another proven method can help - digestion. This is done as follows: the contaminated parts of the hood are placed in a large pan filled with running water. The water must completely cover the parts.Then this container is put on the fire, half a bar of laundry soap (preferably with a fatty acid content of at least 72%) and a couple of tablespoons of soda are added there. The resulting composition is brought to a boil and kept on fire for about 30-40 minutes. If the water begins to evaporate, then it must be topped up so that the parts of the hood do not appear above the surface.

If, after cleaning the grill and filters, you leave them to dry on their own, then in the future the stains will be removed faster.

Cleaning agents (for example, Domestos, Cilit Beng, Shumanit other). But the chemical method is not the best. After all, the aggressive components that make up the composition do an excellent job with greasy dirt, but they do not have the best effect on the human body. It is not recommended to use them without rubber gloves and a protective mask, and after washing the hood, you will need to thoroughly ventilate the room.

Any air cleaner consists of a grease filter. It is needed to clean the air flow that enters through the device. If such a filter had not been installed in exhaust devices, then an oily spot would instantly form on the inner coating of equipment, including the electric motor.

Filters are disposable and reusable. The second option is certainly more convenient in practice. Disposable ones are made from padding polyester and are often mounted in more budgetary devices. They are thrown away after the appearance of dirt, since they cannot be washed.

The metal filter is able to work exactly as long as your equipment will last. Such a filter is a high-quality, reliable and durable part. These reusable items are convenient and require no replacement, just regular cleaning.

This type of filter is made of aluminum, steel or stainless steel. In expensive technology, aluminum elements are additionally processed, thus saving them from oxidation. They have several modules. A grease filter made of stainless steel is of higher quality than an aluminum one, because such a product has a longer service life. In addition, filters made from this material cope with air purification more efficiently.

If a recirculation system is installed that cleans the air in the kitchen and sends it back to the room, then a charcoal filter must be used. In these models of devices, it is necessary not only to eliminate fat, but also to rid the air of unpleasant odors.

Install a charcoal filter behind the grease trap. It consists of an adsorbent.

It is important to consider that during recirculation, the throughput functions of the hood are reduced by about 25%, and the installation of a coal trap will further reduce them. When the charcoal filter is filled with a greasy residue, air will flow through it even worse.

Before you clean the aluminum filter, you need to wash the hood body directly.

One should always keep in mind both the inside and the outside of the hull. It is important to select a cleaning solution depending on the material of the case - for metal, plastic and others. The substances in the composition of the product must be gentle, so as not to leave scratches on the outside of the device.

It is not recommended to use metal brushes, as there is a risk of scratching the case. Therefore, it is better to use a viscose cloth or microfiber cloth for this.

A generous amount of dishwashing liquid or anti-grease gel, such as Sanita, is poured onto it. Then wipe the body and visible internal elements of the device with this napkin and leave for 10-15 minutes. After the lapse of time, you can safely begin to wipe off the stains, they will dissolve easily.At the end of the procedure, wipe the body over the stove with a dry cloth.

There is another interesting way to clean the appliance - use a steam cleaner. Water is poured into it, plugged into an outlet and after that they just drive it around the hood. On sale you can find types of steam cleaners, which are equipped with napkins and various nozzles. It is more convenient to clean the hood with them.

Cleaning the hood in the bathroom is a little more difficult. To do this, remove the grate and wash it with soapy water. Then the accumulated debris is swept away with a broom.

In order to independently clean the highly contaminated housing of the equipment in the apartment, you can use lemon, soda and vinegar. A few drops of lemon juice are added to the soda, slaked with vinegar, and the contaminated area of ​​the surface is treated with this mixture.

It is recommended to wash the outer casing of the hood once a month... Then the kitchen space will be neat, and you can forget about the greasy traces.

Accurate and high-quality cleaning of equipment is the key to its long-term operation. The metal grate should be washed at least once a quarter, always focusing on the degree of contamination. If you do not allow the formation of abundant greasy stains, then it will not be difficult to cope with washing the hood.

Hoods that have an air duct, as mentioned earlier, should also not be overlooked when cleaning the pipes. Plastic pipes can be easily cleaned with suitable detergents. Corrugated aluminum models, on the other hand, are difficult to wash, so owners often replace them with new ones every six months.

For recirculating models, in addition to cleaning the outer mesh, it is necessary to replace the inner carbon filter. Since it accumulates dust, moisture and foreign odors after cooking.

When cleaning the hood from fat, you should observe some tips and tricks:

• when washing and drying the hood, it is imperative to make sure that the device is disconnected from the mains. In this case, both the hostess and the device will be protected from electric shock;
• the appliance does not need to be heated. If boiling is present in the selected cleaning method, then it is necessary to check the elements for the presence of plastic inserts, because there is a risk of their melting;

• it is necessary to remove greasy dirt at a time while they are not yet frozen. Then you just need to remove them with soapy water. For this reason, it is undesirable to delay cleaning, and when free time appears, wipe the equipment slightly;
• regular maintenance of the kitchen hood will save the budget, because then there will be no problems with washing the appliance and, accordingly, you will not have to additionally buy expensive professional products;
• another useful tip - before proceeding with the procedure using folk methods, you need to prepare the surface. Carefully remove the top layer of fat using a sharp knife. In this case, you should be extremely careful not to damage the details. After such mechanical cleaning, it will be much easier to remove the residual dirt with the chosen agent.

For information on how to clean the hood from fat, see the next video.