When and how to clean your rangehood

January 11th, 2012

Ovens & Cooking Rangehoods Small Appliances

Rangehoods are the quiet achievers of the kitchen, powering through the thankless job of extracting smoke, steam, grease and all manner of cooking gases and odours from the home. Knowing when and how to clean your rangehood from Appliances Online will extend the life of your appliance, help it achieve better results, and create a cleaner, safer kitchen environment.

How often you should clean your rangehood

The grease that gets extracted by your rangehood isn’t vented outside, nor is it magically transported away to a faraway land.  It remains trapped in the body of your aluminium or stainless steel grease filter, building up over time. This will not only impair the performance of the rangehood as gases become unable to get through the grease, but it will create a fire hazard – something that you do not want directly above your cooktop!

Some modern rangehoods include an automatic alert that signals when your rangehood and its filters need cleaning, and if it uses carbon filters, when these need replacing.  For other models, most manufacturers agree that a good clean about once a month should keep rangehoods running smoothly.  Clean the rangehood more often if your regular cooking tends to be heavy on the oil and grease.

Cleaning rangehood filters

As the filter is the part of the rangehood that takes the most punishment, it is the part that needs the most attention when cleaning the appliance.  Follow the manufacturer’s instructions to remove it from the rangehood.  Make sure you’re wearing gloves, as it can get a bit gross.

Give the filter a rubdown with a household degreaser.  If you have an appropriately-sized dishwasher handy, then stick the filter in for a cycle.  If not, get soapy in the sink and give it a good scrubbing.  Keep in mind that some detergents can be bad for aluminium filters and cause some corrosion – always check first.

Recirculating rangehoods and some vented rangehoods also include carbon filters to extract gases and odours from the air.  Once these have extracted all the material they can and have reached the end of their useful lifespan, they need to be replaced, rather than cleaned.  Contact the manufacturer (Appliances Online can help you get their details if you don’t have them handy) and purchase new ones every few months to keep the rangehood running at peak performance.

Cleaning the rangehood body

The filter isn’t the only part of the rangehood where grease and grots gather.  The main body of the rangehood can also get pretty gross after extended use, both inside and out.

Before getting stuck into cleaning your rangehood’s body, disconnect it from the power supply to prevent any shocking surprises when water gets involved.  Give greasy surfaces a clean with a degreaser and water – it’s better to use a cloth soaked in this solution than to spray degreaser directly onto the rangehood surfaces, as you could end up with water or chemicals in the electrical parts.  A Quick Star Micro Cloth can be handy here.

Cleaning a ducted rangehood

Rangehoods that vent cooking gases outside are usually cleaner to run than recirculating rangehoods, but still need regular maintenance to keep them running well and to prevent nasty surprises down the track.

If you’ve already cleaned the filters and body of your rangehood but are still experiencing poor performance, check inside the flue.  While the inside surfaces of most rangehood ducts are designed and treated to minimise grease buildup, it’s still possible for a greasy fire hazard to be created in the flue over time.  As cleaning inside ducting takes special skills and equipment, your best bet in this case to to call in a professional.

Appliances Online has many different types of rangehoods from different brands available, providing you with enough options to suit any kitchen setup.  When you order a new rangehood, remember to keep it well-maintained and sparkling clean for a well-functioning kitchen that looks its best.