During the general cleaning before Diwali, cleaning the kitchen often becomes the most difficult task, especially when it comes to cleaning the kitchen hood. Over months of cooking, oil, grease, and smoke settle on the filter and the body of the hood, making them very stubborn, sticky, and black.
Many people, facing this problem, start thinking about buying a new hood for Diwali or calling specialists, spending significant amounts of money. However, this is not a mandatory condition! A simple set of ingredients found in the kitchen—baking soda costing about 10 rupees, hot water, a little vinegar or lemon juice—can tidy up an old dirty hood in 10 minutes, making it look like new, and this can be done without intensive scrubbing.
First, you need to turn off the power to the hood and carefully remove the metal or baffle filter, placing it in a large container. On the filter in the basin, evenly sprinkle 3-4 tablespoons of baking soda and add dish soap.
Next, pour boiling water into the basin so that the filter is completely submerged in the water. After that, pour half a cup of vinegar over the mixture. The mixing of vinegar and soda causes foaming, which helps loosen and dissolve the ingrained grease and oil accumulated in the hood.
Leave the filter in this mixture for a period of 15 to 20 minutes. After this time, the filter is removed, and the remaining dirt is removed by lightly rubbing with an old toothbrush or scraper. The stickiness disappears without extra effort. Then, the filter is rinsed with clean water and dried with a dry cotton cloth.
To clean the external steel surface of the hood, it is enough to wet a cotton cloth with a mixture of vinegar and dish soap and wipe the body. As a result, the hood will look brand new.