The first thing people do when they shift to a new house is to clean the appliances and ensure the kitchen hood system is working in good condition. But what about after that? Everyone knows that kitchen hood cleaning plays a vital role to prevent fire hazards and ensuring healthy indoor air quality. Still, many of them take it for granted. Why? Because they do not want to struggle with stubborn grease and grime. Are you also one of them and avoiding your kitchen hood cleaning for a long time?
No doubt it’s a time-consuming and nerve-wracking task. Still, half of the cleaning process is pretty easy. As the kitchen hood is made of stainless steel which does not collect grease, you can do the surface cleaning by yourself. However, the other half is a bit complex and stressful. Here, you have to clean the interior parts where grease forms in a huge amount due to oil and fatty acids.
Fortunately, professional kitchen exhaust cleaning services are available to save you from the hassle and worries of achieving deep cleanliness in your residential and commercial kitchen exhaust systems. Along with providing cleaning services, they also repair, replace and maintain your kitchen exhaust and ventilation system.
In this article, you will be provided with the step to step guide on how to clean a kitchen hood system. But, before deep diving into the cleaning process, let’s learn briefly about the kitchen exhaust system.
The Brief Explanation Of Kitchen Exhaust System
To understand the cleaning process of a kitchen exhaust system, you need to know about the structure of your kitchen exhaust system. Basically, it’s made of five components which are described below.
1. Stove Hood
Your stove hood (kitchen hood, cooker hood, vent hood, canopy, etc.) is positioned above the stovetop. Here, the exhaust fans extract the smoke, steam, and odor fumes that rise from stoves due to cooking.
2. Grease Filters
As steam and food particles rise from the stoves and go into the chimneys, it passes through the filter. Here, grease is collected on the filters and the rest smoke and fumes are transmitted further.
3. Access Panels
The term access panel tells itself that it provides the access point to clean the exhaust system. These panels are installed by the service providers of kitchen ventilation systems. Besides, in case you are feeling difficulty accessing the cleaning areas, you can contact your kitchen hood system provider to customize these access panels.
4. Exhaust Duct
The pipe system that connects your stove hood with the exhaust fans is known as the exhaust duct. Initially, the smoke and oil fumes rise due to cooking and go to the grease filters. Here, filters collect the grease particles and send the polluted air to the kitchen hood. The hood absorbs the polluted air and transfers it to the exhaust fans via the exact duct. Finally, the exhaust fans sent out polluted air from the kitchen.
5. Exhaust Fans
Now you know that exhaust fans are responsible for the removal of polluted air which contains oil fumes, smoke, steam, and food particles. So, the role of fans here is to remove the polluted air from the kitchen ventilation system.
Tips To Deeply Clean The Each Component Of the Kitchen Hood System
Read down the step-by-step methods to clean your kitchen ventilation system.
Prepare The Kitchen For Cleanliness
The first step is to turn off the gas valves and cover them with a waterproof wrap such as tarps. Covering will save your kitchen equipment from cleaning chemicals and grease spills. To prevent your floor from greasy water spills, make sure to funnel your plastic wraps into containers so that all the greasy water goes into the receptacles.
Clean The Grease Baffle Filters
Firstly, remove the filters and soak them in the chemicals. The use of chemicals will help the accumulated grease to loosen, and leave the filter surface. Besides, the professional cleaners also provide power wash services that ensure there is no grease particle residing on the filters after cleaning.
Make Your Duct Pipe Line Grease-Free
Spray the chemical solution inside the exhaust duct and leave it for at least an hour. It will help the grease to break down and leave the duct walls. Afterward, scrub the easygoing grease from the walls and wash out all the grime and residue from the duct.
Remove And Clean Exhaust Fans
Now, remove the exhaust fan. Then spray the chemicals on the top, bottom, and blades of the fan. These effective chemicals will help to break down the hardened and sticky grease from the fan surface. Afterward, scrape the grease from the fan and its blades and wash it out using the pressure washer method. Besides, the professional kitchen hood system cleaners also change your fan belt. So, it’s better to reap benefits from the hood cleaning services providers who ensure you deep hood cleaning.
Clean The Stove Hood
The hood system is made of stainless steel. So, you do not need to do much work to remove all the debris from it. Simply scrub the accumulated grime from the surface of the hood. Afterward, spray the chemical on the surface and leave it for at least thirty minutes. This process will help to scrub away the grease from the surface effortlessly.
Pressure Wash The System From Top To Bottom
After cleaning each component of the ventilation system, make sure to pressure wash your system thoroughly using hot water. It will help all the chemicals and the grime particles to leave the system. Here is a pro tip from skilled professionals- while pressure washing, start the process from top to bottom. It will allow the grime to fall straight into the plastic funnel placed underneath.
Wrapping Up
Now, you know deeply about the kitchen hood system and how to clean each component separately and properly with chemicals and hot pressure washing techniques. Even though you can do all the hood cleaning by yourself, you need the certification that tells the insurance agent, fire inspector, and health department about the last time you have done your cleaning. Also, tell them about your next scheduled date for kitchen hood system cleaning.
Moreover, commercial ventilation system cleaning is essential at least twice a year as per the laws. So, no matter if it’s a residential or a commercial ventilation system, it’s better to regularly clean the risky exhaust systems. The hood cleaning will ensure the health and safety of house members or restaurant customers.
Professional cleaners not only wash the kitchen hood system but also provide more services. In addition to washing, they assemble each component accurately and inspect that all the parts are working well. After ensuring the system is working well, they polish the kitchen exhaust system, mop the floors, re-light your pilots, and turn back your gas.
