The greasiest thing in the kitchen is above your head.
Look Up
How to clean a range hood and its filters, and why the grease above the stove matters.
Most of us clean what's in front of us. The counters, the stove top, the sink. The range hood hangs above all of it, just out of sight, and it's easy to forget it's there at all.
Yet every time you cook, a little grease rises with the steam, and the hood catches it. Weeks pass. The filters underneath turn sticky and dark. Often nobody notices until the fan gets louder, the kitchen stays smoky, or a drip of old grease lands on the stove.
Cleaning them is gentler work than it sounds. Hood filters don't ask for hard scrubbing, only hot water and a little time. Most of the work happens while they soak.
What the hood is doing up there
A range hood pulls smoke, steam and cooking smells up and away from you. Its filters catch the grease before it travels any farther.
Once those filters clog, the fan can't pull as much air. Smoke and smells linger. And grease keeps building up right above a hot stove, which is the last place you want it. A clean filter lets the hood get back to its job.
Start with everything off and cool
Turn off the stove, the hood fan and the hood light, then wait until the stovetop and the hood are cool to the touch. The light can stay hot for a while after it's switched off.
Need to reach higher? Use a sturdy step stool. Never a chair, and never lean over the stove while it's hot.
Take out the filters
The filters sit on the underside of the hood. Most slide out, or unclip with a small latch or tab. Hold each one with both hands as it comes loose, since they can be greasier and heavier than they look.
Before you carry them anywhere, check which kind you have:
A soak a month, a wipe a week
Most homes need to clean the metal filters about once a month, more often if you fry a lot. A quick wipe of the outside of the hood once a week keeps the grease from getting sticky.
It also helps to run the fan while you cook and for a few minutes after. That pulls the grease into the filter before it settles anywhere else.
Look up now and then
Some of the most important cleaning happens in places we don't look at. Take a moment to look up. Let the water do the soaking, and let the hood do its job.
Look up once in a while. The hood has been working for you.