Welcome to this blog. You have obviously clicked here because of one of two reasons. The first one being, it is some big occasion and you need to clean your whole house for it to look perfect. In that case, you have visited the perfect site because we offer you a wide range of blogs on how you can clean various rooms in your house. Not only that, but we also provide you with a detailed analysis of how you can clean each component of each room. The second reason why you are looking for ways to clean your chimney is that it is simply dirty. Either way, we have got you covered.
Benefits of a kitchen chimney
A kitchen is a place for experimentation and use of skill. When the cook is trying to make different dishes using the flame of gas, heat and smoke become an integral part of cooking. Whether it is the oil splashes of a tadka or the heavy smoke that erupts out of the pan when your drop chilli into oil, the kitchen is filled with grease and soot particles that need to be handled in a good way. Not only that, while cooking the kitchen gets full of certain specific odours as well.
Sometimes the odours are so strong that it gets difficult to even breathe because it itches our throats and makes us cough a lot. The thing we do not realize is that cooking releases certain microscopic particles into the atmosphere known as particulates.
When we breathe these particulates, they act into our respiratory systems and cause breathing problems. Hence it is important to note that a kitchen chimney not only clears out the atmosphere of your kitchen but also prevents you from having respiratory problems.
Another reason you should have a chimney is that all the soot and grease that is produced due to cooking settles in your kitchen. Generally, they include parts of the kitchen like shelves, window panels, or even walls.
When they settle on such places and keep on collecting over time, that place becomes black in color due to soot and then it becomes a hefty task to clean it out. It also results in those places getting sticky and attracting even more dust.
This results in a dirty-looking kitchen which also can be a breeding ground for germs. Now that is a particularly alarming situation because a kitchen is supposed to be very hygienic. Most of all, it includes an aesthetic appeal and makes your kitchen look modern.
Understanding the working
Before understanding how you should clean your chimney, it is important to know how it works. A kitchen chimney is basically a like a contraption or ventilation device. It traps all the particulates that are being produced into the kitchen because of cooking. The air that it traps is passed via various filters. These filters are the ones that trap the oil, grease and soot particulate. The filters also trap heat. So it is naturally understood that filers will be the dirtiest of all components in the chimney and will need regular cleaning. The filtered air is now expelled back into the kitchen. This happens via ducts or PVC pipes. The suction power of a chimney is supposed to be one of its selling points. Greater the suction power, greater its ability to trap air that needs filtering. The suction power of a chimney is affected by other factors as well as the quality and installation of the ducts, the number of bends the duct goes through and the length of the hose pipe. Before we dive into it, we want to let you know that it will be a difficult, time consuming and nasty task. So if you think you might not be able to do it, we suggest you call professionals.
Cleaning process
Before you dive into the cleaning process, understand that all models of chimneys are not the same and will require different techniques. We recommend that before you dive into buying or making a new cleaner, you first understand the material of your chimney and if it is erodible. The best thing you can do is look for the cleaning process that the manufacturer recommends.
Cleaning the detachable components
Kerosene method -
The first step is to look carefully at your chimney and study as to what parts you can remove from it. Many chimneys nowadays let you remove the cover by simply unlocking a latch. Collect a lot of newspapers, dusting cloths and some kerosene oil. Detach the fan cover oil bucket, fan guard net, fan head, light cover, lower cover, oil collector ring, etc. if your chimney contains any of these parts. You might need a screw set to open many of these components.
Place the newspapers over your working area so that the kitchen does not get dirty. Then place these dirty components on them. Get ready to get your hands dirty. Dip the dusting cloth into kerosene oil and scrub away the grease of the components.
Wherever you feel that just cloth will not be able to remove stains, use a brush or a ball of steel wool to do the task for you. You can easily find a good brush online. One such example is scotch Brite household scrubber brush.
Dip the steel wool or brush into the kerosene and start scrubbing the built-up grease nicely. Use as much kerosene as you want because it will loosen up the grease the most. After this first round, if you still feel that things are not looking good, you go for round two. Click here to buy on amazon.
Detergent method -
In round two, you take a bucket and put nice amounts of detergent into it. Mix this well and then soak the chimney components into it overnight. If the parts cannot fit into the bucket, then you need a much thicker paste to work with.
So simply dissolve some amount of water into a bowl full of dishwashing liquid and apply the paste to the parts thoroughly. Leave it overnight. After this therapy, wash them out once and work with the kerosene again. The last step is to wipe the components properly until they are dry to the core.
We have got you covered if you want another option.
Caustic soda method -
Take a bucket or tub filled with hot water and immerse the components into it. When we say hot water, we mean, very hot water which was just boiling. Then add about 200ml of caustic soda which is undiluted. You may buy true heaven drain cleaner, chimney cleaner, caustic soda, iron cleaner 900 g from amazon also. Click here to check it out on Amazon.
Leave them there for about half an hour. Do not touch the caustic soda with bare hands as it might cause a reaction and harm your skin. Use some sort of glove or other plastic covering to work with the components. If you think that the grease has not been removed, you may increase the amount of caustic soda dissolved. The major advantage of this method is that it will be easy on your hands as you do not need to scrub the life out of it. When you remove them, they should be cleared of all the grim. Lastly, do a little scrubbing if needed and wash them thoroughly.
Cleaning the inside of the chimney
If you want to work with kerosene, then just dip a cloth into kerosene and wipe away the dirt from the inside wherever visible. Be careful to not get kerosene into weird parts. But this technique will work most of the time. The next trick you may use is to take a toothbrush.
Make a mixture containing hot water and caustic soda. Dip that toothbrush in the solution and spread the solution over the parts of the chimney that you find dirty. Let it sit for five minutes and then scrub while dipping that brush into the same solution.
Then just wipe it all off using an old dry cloth. After this round, you need to clean once using soapy water also. So dip a microfiber cloth into the soapy water and wipe it all away. Then using another dry microfiber cloth, wipe the chimney till it is dry enough.
Cleaning the filters
There are certain types of filters used in kitchen chimneys. Namely cassette filters baffle filters and carbon filters. Look into the instruction manual of the product to check how you can remove them. There are a number of methods to work with filters.
One of them is taking a bucket full of extremely hot water and pouring around 2 cups of dishwashing soap in it. Mix with a rod or some other utensil. Do not dip your hands directly into it as the hot water might give you burns. Put the filters into this bucket and let them soak for half an hour. Soak overnight if the condition is much worse. When you feel that the gunk has gotten loose, scrub the filters well and wash them thoroughly. You may scrub them with a tough brush, to reach narrow spots you may use a toothbrush. This method is milder, hence you might have to scrub more, check out the other methods to see what will suit you best.
The next thing you can do is, clean it all with kerosene oil. Dip a cloth in the oil and spread the oil over the filters. After the gunk loosens a bit, scrub it intensely. Then again with the help of kerosene oil, wipe all of it away. In the end, wipe it to get it dry. Another method that works especially well for mesh filters is the detergent method. Put an aluminum pot on the stove and fill it with water. Let the water come to a boil. Then while the water is boiling, add 2 cups of detergent powder into it. Let this mixture boil. Now add the mesh filters into the boiling solution and let them boil for 5 minutes. Now switch the stove off and let it sit for an hour. Take a good brush or steel wool to scrub away the impurities and you will find a good as a new filter.
Cleaning the body
Cleaning the rest of the chimney should be relatively easy as you can do it from either of the methods prescribed. You may use the caustic soda method and take a toothbrush or use the detergent method to scrub it all. You may also use a nice cleaning spray such as kaboom fantastic with OxiClean, citrus, 19 ounces. This spray can be used on multiple other platforms also. It is revolutionary because it changes its color after is it done cleaning. To check it on Amazon, click here.
One cautionary advice that we want to give you is that do not to get this inside the chimney as it may cause harm to the electric wiring. Another simple method would be to use kerosene oil. Take a dusting cloth and dip it in kerosene oil. Then scrub the outer parts including the glass top of the chimney to remove grease.
After all that is done, use a good microfiber cloth to clean it till it is dry. We have talked a lot about microfiber cloths in this blog, if you do not own one and want some suggestions, we suggest E-cloth (U. K.) microfiber kitchen cleaning cloth.
This microfiber cloth has very good quality as they guarantee 300 machine washes. They promise to remove 99% of bacteria also. It is a good product for the removal of dust and oil. Click here to check on amazon
Conclusion
The last step is to let every component dry properly. Then assemble the components back together. In the end, we would again like to state that before using any such harsh cleaning methods, check if the polish of your chimney is strong. Sometimes a cheap metal polish gets easily eroded even by strong detergent. It would be wise to check with the manufacturer before trying out any experiments.