How to clean and maintain your cooker hood to keep it working to its best

Cooker Hood With Light In Kitchen

From batch cooking meals from scratch to the Saturday morning fry-up, our kitchens can become overrun by a multitude of aromas when we’re cooking. The key to keeping these odours at bay and filtering them out of your home is to keep your cooker hood working to its full potential.

To achieve this, you need to actively clean the cooker hood on a regular basis, as this will remove the accumulation of grease and other dirt, which if left, has the potential to lead to overheating and increases the fire risk of your cooker hood.

Cleaning the appliance will also help it remain at its peak performance for longer, and we recommend you split the cleaning of your cooker hood into the following two sections.

Cleaning The Cooker Hood Exterior

Washing Kitchen Cooker Hood

The stainless steel surface of your cooker hood can become very sticky over time and will require a fair bit of elbow grease to get it clean. But, if you take the time to incorporate cleaning the exterior of the cooker hood on a weekly basis you can make the task a lot easier (and quicker).

To clean the exterior of your cooker hood, use a stainless steel cleaner and a clean cloth to scrub the surface clean. Whilst cleaning the surface, it’s important to take care not to press too hard, as doing so could damage the surface.

During the cleaning of your cooker hood’s exterior, you should also take the time to clean the bulb cover. This can be removed, and left to soak in a sink of hot soapy water, before being thoroughly dried and fitted back onto the cooker hood.

Cleaning Your Cooker Hood Filters

Removing Dirty Cooker Hood Filter

The cooker hood filters you have will depend on the make and model of cooker hood. That said, you’re likely to have one of the following – and these will need to be cleaned or replaced at least every six months, if you want yours to continue working to their peak performance.

  • Paper Filter – once this has become saturated in fat, a red tint will appear around the pattern. This means the filter will need to be replaced if you’re going to keep your cooker hood fresh and working to its full potential.When it comes to replacing the paper filter in your cooker hood, it is possible to use a universal cooker hood filter, and we explain how to do this in our post “Replace Your Cooker Hood Grease Filter is Easy and Essential”.
  • Metal Wire Filter – to clean the metal wire filter on your cooker you’ll need to lift it out. It can then be placed in a sink of hot, soapy water and left to soak. We would recommend adding a cup of vinegar to the water, as this will cut through the grease which has built up on your filter. Ideally, where possible, the filter should be left to soak overnight. Then, you will need to scrub away any remaining grease residue and other debris which is remaining and rinse it under a hot tap.
  • Sponge Filter – every six months the sponge filter should be removed from your cooker hood and cleaned. This can be done by washing it in a sink of warm soapy water. However, it’s worth noting that after five washes the filter will need to be replaced.
  • Carbon Filter – as with the paper filters, carbon filters within your cooker hood cannot be washed. Instead, they will need to be replaced every six months. Watch our video below for a guide on how to do this:

By getting into the habit of cleaning the exterior of your cooker hood on a weekly basis, and your filters every six months, will make the task of cleaning the appliance easier and quicker.

Regular cleaning of your cooker hood and its filter will also reduce the risk of it developing faults and overheating, whilst cleaning it can also help it work at its peak performance for longer, ensuring condensation and cooker odours are removed from your kitchen with ease.

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