It is often one of the dirtier things in the kitchen – the exhaust hood. Not only can the exhaust pipe be full of all kinds of grease and filth from cooking, cobwebs, dust and even pests can migrate in from outside. Sometimes you can smell a foul odor in the kitchen and not know where it’s coming from for weeks. Now you know – it’s the cooker hood. So it’s a good idea to regularly open and clean the exhaust duct and the hood itself.
A step-by-step plan for cleaning the extractor
It is much cheaper to do a major cleaning yourself than to call someone to do it. Some people are already worried about having to come up with a new extractor. Don’t worry. I will explain to you in this blog how you can easily and inexpensively do this process all by yourself in a few steps.
Step 1 – carefully remove the grilles
Most modern extractor hoods have a click system where you can easily remove the grates. In theory, it should be very easy and therefore do not try to force something with force. Just then you can accidentally break something. It is usually these grates that contain the most dirt, grease and grime, so put some newspapers on the stove first to avoid a dirty kitchen. Some grates can go in the dishwasher, others you can just clean with baking soda, vinegar or even cola.
Step 2 – wash the filters
Some extractors have filters that can get quite dirty over time. It is a good idea to unclick these filters as well and clean them. You do this by soaking them for half an hour in warm water with degreaser. You can also get a special hood filter degreaser. I don’t recommend scrubbing heavily on these filters to avoid damaging them, but just rinsing them with lukewarm water is sufficient.
Step 3 – clean the inside
Now that the grilles are removed, you can easily clean your extractor inside. To do this, use soapy water and a microfiber cloth. Sometimes it’s a little hard to see where you’re washing and I recommend you be careful with the motor work. It is better not to get the engine work wet. You may just scrub the rest of the inside clean and when you are done, make sure you dry it off completely.
Step 4 – clean the drain pipe
The drain, as I mentioned above, is one of the places where you can encounter the most dirt, filth, dust and even pests. Cockroaches, ants and spiders can make a nice home here. Of course, if you are very handy, you can disassemble the drainpipe and wash it off, but there is another way. Put on a pan with 2 liters of water to which you add vinegar or lemon juice. Then put the extractor on its strongest setting and leave it like that for ten to fifteen minutes.
Step 5 – do the outside immediately as well
If you have cleaned the grates, the inside of the cooker hood and also the exhaust pipe as best you can, you better do the outside of the hood right away too. Now is the right time because your stove (with the newspapers on it) is dirty anyway. Note that a stainless steel (SS) hood has a different way of cleaning than simple plastic.
Step 6 – cook it up!
Once you’re done with the cleaning process, it’s time to put everything back together. Clean the stove thoroughly before you continue cooking.