Kick Range Hood Grease And Grime To The Curb With This Dishwasher Staple

Not just for aesthetics, the right range hood for your home will remove grease, smoke, and cooking odors from the air, vastly improving your kitchen's ventilation. Yet it's among the overlooked kitchen appliances you're likely forgetting to clean, like most of us. While not as in your face as the stovetop, the hood accumulates a ton of grease. It can also present a fire hazard, while attracting bacteria, mold, and even insects. Plus, you might simply be, uh, bugged by the grimy appearance. So, you should clean it, and do so with a dishwasher staple: dishwasher tablets.

Experts recommend giving a range hood a scrub at least every three months – keeping an eye out for signs like grime buildup and grease drips on the wall. Using dishwasher tablets can help because they're formulated to tackle the fats, oils, and food bits that get baked onto plates and bowls. And while you won't be able to put your range hood in the dishwasher, you can easily use the dishwasher tablets' detergent. It's just, in fact, one of the many ways to use dishwasher tablets around your home.

To transform a dishwasher tablet into a range hood-cleaning tour de force, just add water. Hot or warm water, as dishwashers use hot water to clean. Do so in a bucket, so you can soak the hood's filters, which will have the most grease and grime to remove. Before adding the filters, remove some of the water to keep it clean for the range hood's exterior.

Place the filters into the bucket and let them soak. For how long? It will depend on how dirty the filters are, but they should soak for at least half an hour. After that, you can determine if your filters need more time in the water.

Filters should be cleaned monthly, so that buildup is kept to a minimum. As for your range hood's exterior, as mentioned, you should tend to it every quarter or so, at least. And if you have disposable filters, the same monthly rule applies (but to replace them).

For the range hood's surface, use the clean detergent water you separated earlier, and apply the solution to your appliance, either on a cloth or with a spray bottle. To work the solution into the surface, use soft materials, like a microfiber cloth, a sponge, or even a paper towel.

Use elbow grease, but don't resort to using anything abrasive, such as steel wool. Doing so will only harm your range hood's surface, even if it looks like it's helping. Let the detergent do the work. If you need something a bit more fine, use a toothbrush.