Clean your chimney effectively! Here’s how…

Modern kitchens would be incomplete without chimneys, which nowadays, is one of the most important kitchen appliances. It effectively removes all the smoke that accumulates in the kitchen, making it less dirty and odorous. It is inevitable that chimneys will get clogged, thus they need to be cleaned on a regular basis. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to have your  chimney cleaned and functioning with efficiency. Here’s how you may go about cleaning your chimney effectively.

 

Table of Contents:

•  Why Is It Important to Clean a Kitchen Chimney Regularly?
•  How Often Should a Kitchen Chimney Be Cleaned?
•  How to Clean a Kitchen Chimney?

1. 1. By using vinegar
   2. By using baking soda
   3. By using a dishwashing liquid

• Frequently Asked Questions

1. 1. Is vinegar harmful for a kitchen chimney?
   2. What is a wet Auto-Clean chimney?
   3. Is an auto-clean chimney effective?

  

Why is it Important to Clean Your Chimney Regularly?

A kitchen chimney removes smoke, airborne grease, vapours, odours, and steam from the gas stoves and vents it, outdoors. It has meshes, filters, and baffles that catch airborne contaminants such as grease, soot, and steam. These ultimately deposit as thick layers of filth that obstruct the passage of gases via the chimney; consequently, they must be cleaned on a regular basis to make sure that the chimney remains operational. Similar to other heavy kitchen appliances, like refrigerators, hobs, among others — kitchen chimneys require regular cleaning too.

 

How Often Should a Chimney Be Cleaned?

Chimneys should be cleaned every two months, depending on the workload and the type and the amount of food cooked. For fatty and spicy meals, it is important to clean the meshes and filters on a monthly basis. However, a charcoal-filtered chimney, requires a filter replacement every six months. 

 

How Does One Clean a Chimney?

The cleaning products and procedures utilized, depend on which part of the chimney is being cleaned. Also, not all cleaning tasks, need that your chimney be disassembled. Various stains necessitate different cleaning methods. The following are the three cleaning methods that you may utilize for your kitchen chimney:

 

1. Vinegar

Cleaning with white vinegar, is an effective method of removing filth and stains that accumulate on the chimney exterior, such as the hood and the panels. Clean the hood with a paper towel soaked in a vinegar solution and wash the surfaces off quickly. Make certain that you wipe through every nook and cranny, with a cloth that has adequate quantities of vinegar soaked into it. Allow it to rest for a few minutes, before wiping it off with a paper towel dipped in plain water, to eliminate any remaining residue.

 

2. Baking-Soda

Baking-soda is another typical kitchen ingredient that has been used for cleaning for ages. It comes in cleaning kits or you may have a pack in your fridge. Baking-soda is ‘Sodium Bicarbonate’, a salt. Its mild abrasive nature, makes it useful for cleaning difficult stains with a water paste. Baking-soda may be used in several ways to clean a chimney.

To remove grease from the chimney-hood, a thick paste of two teaspoons of baking soda and a little water is necessary. Apply the paste and let it remain as is, for five minutes. Remove the grease with a wet towel. To produce a stronger cleaning paste, use white vinegar instead of water. To clean filters and meshes, you will need a large tub, 2 cups of vinegar, 2 to 3 teaspoons of baking soda, and salt. Fill a hot- tub with water and soak the filters for 2 hours. Rinse and dry them well.

 

3. Dishwashing Liquid

You may also use dishwashing liquid to clean the chimney mesh filters. These chemicals are designed to clean oil and grease from the filters. Gently scrape the meshes and filters, with dishwashing liquid, to wet them. Boil the filters in a plastic bucket. Wait for two hours.

Remove the filters and carefully clean them. Wash and air dry them. Cleaning procedures for thicker or tougher grease deposits, may be stronger. Repeat the technique, using a steel-drum instead of a plastic bucket for about 30 minutes. Boiling effectively, cleans meshes or filters. It also eliminates grease rapidly and efficiently.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

1) Is vinegar harmful for a kitchen chimney?

Not at all! When it comes to cleaning, vinegar is a great all-purpose solution. Vinegar is a disinfectant in addition to being acidic and somewhat abrasive. The use of vinegar in the kitchen, might help to keep it clean and free of germs. 

Dip a paper-towel or tissue in the vinegar solution and wipe the surfaces clean, to quickly clean the kitchen. One to two cups of vinegar dissolved in hot, boiling water, will do the trick for completely cleaning filters. Put the chimney filters in the solution and let them sit for a couple of hours. The filters should be taken out and cleaned with a soft brush, to remove any gunk. Afterwards, use a moist-towel, to clean the filters off, before re-entering the chimney.

 

2) What is a wet Auto-Clean chimney?

Wet auto clean chimneys, are those that have a modest storage-capacity (200-300 ml) within which they may be filled automatically. A sprinkler-hose would surround the filters. When you clean the chimney, it will squirt hot-water on the filters, rinsing the grease/oil. The washed oil, is collected in a collection cup/tray, on the wall side, below the filter. 

While this procedure is common in auto-clean chimneys, you must still manually clean your filters periodically. Depending on the degree of use, you may need to clean the filters every week or two (by putting them under a running hot-water tap).

 

3) Is an Auto-Clean chimney effective?

Without any doubt, it can be stated that an auto-clean chimney is preferable than a manual one. They save time, are more dependable, and will last longer with less maintenance than the manual cleaning variants. However, compared to a manual kitchen chimney, an auto clean chimney, requires less care and is thus more efficient in the long term, if maintained well.