How to Clean a Kitchen Exhaust Fan

Regular stovetop cooking dirties the exhaust fan

Cooking on a stovetop produces steam and grease, both of which can be drawn up through an exhaust fan above. Exhaust fans can be housed in large (often stainless steel) hoods or in smaller compartments that come with gas and electric ranges. Years of regular use mean greasy, dirty, less effective exhaust fans. Replacing the fan is an option, but so is cleaning the existing fan. Professionals can steam clean the unit; you can rent a steamer to clean it yourself; or, for those less adventurous do-it-yourselfers, you can use common household materials, cleaning solutions and good old-fashioned elbow grease to get the job done.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Trisodium phosphate cleaner (TSP is a harsh chemical)
• Ammonia
• Boiling water
• Baking soda
• Rubber gloves
• Buckets
• Rags (lots of them)
• Brushes
• Paper towels

1. Cut the source of power going to the fan.

2. Open windows or turn on a fan nearby to ventilate the area in which you're working.

3. If the exhaust fan includes mesh filters, remove them and pour boiling water through them. Soak them in a mixture of hot water and ammonia (1/2 cup ammonia to 1 gallon of water) for an hour.

4. Remove the mesh from the soaking solution and scrub the solution around the mesh to finish the job.

5. Prepare either a mixture of TSP and water or less chemically intense mixture of ¼ ammonia, 2 tbsp. baking soda and 1 qt. warm water.

6. Put on the rubber gloves and, using the above mixture and rags or brushes, scrub the exhaust fan blades and then the fan housing. Work toward you to reduce the likelihood of dirty water settling on clean areas.

7. Wipe cleaned areas frequently with a damp rag. Repeat the cleaning-and-wiping process multiple times.

8. Using paper towels, wipe down the motor housing unit.

9. When everything is clean and dry, reattach the filters.

Tips & Warnings

• Hire a local handyman/woman to do this not-so-pleasant job if you're not up for it yourself. It will still be cheaper than paying a professional to steam clean it for you.

• Wear goggles if you have sensitive eyes and are working with TSP.

Resources

• Read this Article in Portuguese
• Service-Tech Corp cleaning services
• Diamond Degreasing cleaning services
• TSP cleaning solution