How to Clean the Kitchen Hood Screen

If you cook a lot, chances are your kitchen hood is always in use. Repeated use can cause the kitchen hood to get dirty, especially the mesh screen that is directly above the stove. Oil and food deposits often clog up the pores of the mesh causing the hood or vent to weaken in suctioning the smoke and odor coming from the food. Here are some tips to keep your kitchen hood or vent functioning properly at all times.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Running water
• Kitchen detergent
• Steel sponge or brush
• Stove top or oven cleaner (Easy Off)
• Rags

1. Inspect the kitchen hood for any gunk, grime or dirt. Often you would see sticky residue from oil that evaporated while cooking and deposited on the screen mesh. If you do a lot of frying when you cook you would see this sooner than not, especially if you do not cover the frying pan. Check the screen at least once a week if you cook daily or once every two weeks if you do not cook often. If you see the oil deposits with dust and grime, it is really time to clean it.

2. Remove the screen mesh that you see located right under the hood, which is directly situated above the cooking area. You can remove it using a flat head screw driver or use your index finger to push it in then slide it out. Make sure when you do this to cover any pots or pans that are on the stove's top to prevent any dirt from dropping into them.

3. Soak the screen mesh in a basin with hot water. Hot water can help melt away the oil deposits. You can use your kitchen sink if it is wide enough, just plug in the drain and let the hot water run until the screen is fully covered with hot water.

4. Add 1/2 a cup of liquid kitchen detergent, and then mix the detergent with water and allow lathering. Soak the kitchen hood's screen mesh for about half an hour, longer if it is too gunky.

5. Wear rubber gloves and start lifting the screen mesh from the water and detergent mixture. Some of the dirt should start to wash away. Use a steel brush or sponge and start brushing on the screen. Be careful not to put too much force in order not to dislodge the screen from the frame. Do this step on both sides of the screen mesh.

6. 
    
   Rinse with hot water.

   Rinse the screen mesh with hot water. Use the brush to remove any particles that may still be sticking to the mesh.

7. Inspect the screen mesh. If there are still oil deposits, especially in cases wherein you let the screen to stay dirty for a long time, the oil gets too sticky and hard, which can be difficult to remove by soaking and brushing alone. In this case, you need another cleanser to remove the gunk.

8. 
    
   Easy-Off

   Use a stove or oven cleaner that you can purchase at a department store that carries such product. One example is a product that comes in a spray bottle called "Easy Off". Buy the fume-free product, which does not have the irritating odor that comes with other products that are not fume-free. If by any chance you end up buying the one with fumes, use it outside or open all the windows and turn on the fan in order to disperse the fumes. Wear protective respiratory mask as well, so that you will not inhale the fumes.

9. Spray the stove or oven cleaner directly on the gunk, moving the spray from left to right in even motion so as not to miss any hole. Do this on both sides of the mesh. Let it sit for about an hour.

10. Use a steel brush or sponge to remove the dirt. You will see a lot of dirt disappear.

11. Rinse the dirt away with hot water and allow to drain completely.

12. Dry it with old rags or kitchen towels and put it back in the hood.

Tips & Warnings

• If you have a dishwasher, you can set it to "pots and pans" settings. This can help remove soils that are not too sticky or gunky, otherwise, you need the stove or oven cleaner to remove the remaining oils and dirt.
• Keep your work area well ventilated when using products with fumes.

[Kallicat]

on 3/4/2009 Awesome tips. I am a neat freak and always looking for more ideas on how to get things clean.

[JMKnudson]

on 2/21/2009 The oven hood screen gets neglected a lot. Great info here.