The stove hood & fan are critical components for proper ventilation and kitchen safety, yet they’re rarely something we add to our list of house cleaning responsibilities. If it’s been a while since you last gave these items a good and thorough washing, now is a great time to take advantage. The process is simple, and doesn’t require many supplies.

Items Needed to Clean Your Stove Hood & Fan

• Baking Soda
• Sponge
• Paper Towels
• Micro Fiber Cloth
• Grease Cutting Dish Soap
• Non-toxic house cleaning solution (i.e. vinegar and water)

Remove the Fan for Soaking

Before you do any cleaning of your stove hood & fan, you’ll want to remove the vent or hood filter. This looks similar to a regular air vent. Generally sits right in the middle of the stove hood in order to capture excess smoke and steam. Once the screen is removed, you want to fill a bucket or your kitchen sink with steaming hot water. The hotter you can get the water, the better.

Now, add a half cup of baking soda into the mix, and stir it slowly with a spoon. Take your grease cutting dish soap and squirt a stream of solution into the mix. Stir that around until you start seeing some bubbles on the surface. Now, plop your hood filter into the water, and let it soak for at least half an hour.

Prepare Stove Hood & Fan for Grease Removal

While the hood filter is soaking, you’ll now want to focus on getting all of the grease, gunk, and food residue out of the way. If it’s been a while since you last cleaned your stove hood & fan, then this can seem like a nearly impossible task. In reality, all you’ll need is a little elbow grease and a non-toxic cleaning solution composed of baking soda, vinegar, and water.

Fill a spray bottle with a solution made of one-part water and one-part white vinegar, now spray down the entire stove hood, making sure to pay special attentions to areas that are thick with grease and crust. If that isn’t working as well as you would like, add some baking soda on top of the mixture. It will start to bubble and provide some extra cleaning power. Take a paper towel or no-scratch sponge and start slowly working the grease and muck off.

Wash and Scrub the Hood Filter

After it’s soaked for at least half-an-hour, put a few drops of grease cutting dish soap onto a non-abrasive sponge and slowly but surely work off all of the additional food and grease build-up that hasn’t broken down while soaking.

Depending on how dirty your stove hood & fan were, the job may require some extra muscle, but ideally the process shouldn’t take too much time. Once it’s looking nice and shiny, you can either let it air dry or towel it off, it’s your choice.

Re-Install the Hood Filter

Now that everything has been de-greased and washed down, it’s time to re-install your hood filter. Take a non-toxic house cleaning solution and spray down the top of the oven, stove hood & fan. With paper towels or a cleaning cloth, do one last thorough wipe down. Once you’re finished with that, your stove hood & fan should be good to go.

This isn’t a house cleaning project that needs to be performed regularly, maybe once every three months or so, but if you keep up with it your stove hood & fan are sure to function more efficiently for years to come.