How to Clean the Inside of Your Range Hood
To clean the inside of your range hood, use a damp (not wet) cloth to remove grease and dirt. If the inside of your hood is extra grimy, spray the cloth with a multipurpose cleaner or other cleaning solution before wiping the inside clean.
Most of us think to clean the outside of our appliances that provide kitchen ventilation, but the outside of your range hood isn’t the only part that requires cleaning. To maximize the life and efficiency of your hood, the inside needs to be clean as well. Any excess accumulation of grease won’t allow your kitchen air to fully vent out of your home. The strategy below works well for a sticky range hood too.
For both the inside and outside of your hood, you can use similar cleaning strategies.
We have a video on cleaning your stainless steel range hood and appliances; check it out below.
Note: When cleaning the inside of your hood, don’t spray or apply any cleaning solution to the stainless steel directly because the inside of the hood includes the circuit board and exposed wiring. Instead, spray or apply your solution to a towel and then wipe.
Because the inside of your hood is not visible to your guests, or to you (unless you remove the filters), it’s easy to forget. But this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t clean it. Cleaning the inside of your hood will help keep your home free of contaminants and smoke.
Check out this article to clean the inside of your range hood in under five minutes!
What You Need
- A damp cloth or paper towels
- A cleaning solution: glass cleaner, acetone, or Soft Scrub (no grit - for the toughest stains)
1. Remove baffle filters.
Once you remove your baffle filters, you’ll see the inside of your hood. It will include one or two blowers, depending on your model and you’ll also see some wiring.
The blowers may also limit your ability to clean inside your range hood. You should be able to navigate around the blower or blowers to clean most of the inside of your hood.
But if you’d like, you can remove and clean the blowers separately. We have a video on maintaining your range hood blower as well to help you through this process; take a look below.
2. Wet cloth with a small amount of water.
You don’t want to get any water inside the hood unit, so be extra cautious when cleaning your range hood. Don’t apply much water to the towel.
3. Apply your cleaning solution to the towel (optional).
If your hood needs more than just a quick wipe, you have several options for tough stains. Glass cleaner will rid your hood of mild dirt buildup, acetone will be more effective at eliminating tougher grease, and soft scrub will attack the toughest of stains.
Soft Scrub is a last resort and we only recommend it if you have used your hood often in an outdoor barbecue setting and the grease is exceptionally tough.
If you decide to use soft scrub, make sure it has no grit. This will help maintain the stainless steel finish on your hood. Apply soft scrub to a soft white scotch brite pad which will give the stainless steel a smooth clean.
You can buy a white scotch brite pad from Amazon here.
4. Wipe the inside of the hood in the direction of the grain thoroughly.
If you use a cleaning solution, first wipe the hood with the towel that contains the solution, and then wipe it with another dry towel.
Every stainless steel has a grain; depending on how it is manufactured, the grain will run horizontally or vertically. For a smooth clean, always wipe with the grain.
If you don’t know the direction of the grain on your stainless steel, try wiping the appliance horizontally and vertically with a dry cloth. You should encounter a little resistance when wiping against the grain.
5. Place filters back in your hood.
Now that you’ve finished cleaning, set your filters back into your hood, sliding the back end in first. Make sure that everything is dry inside the unit before inserting the filters.
How do you clean range hoods?
The same strategies outlined in this article to clean the inside of your hood can be used to clean the outside. If you prepped all the materials for the inside of your hood, you may as well clean the outside too.
For a light clean, you'll need glass cleaner which you can purchase from Amazon here.
For a thorough clean, you can use acetone, available from Amazon here.
And finally, to tackle the toughest grease, check out the reviews on this no-grit Soft Scrub from Amazon.
Click here to watch our YouTube video on how to clean your range hood.
How to Clean Range Hood Baffle Filters
At Proline Range Hoods, our stainless steel baffle filters (and aluminum mesh filters) are dishwasher-safe. But sometimes the dishwasher isn’t enough to keep your filters in good condition.
We have several articles on how to clean range hood filters; they’ll walk you step-by-step through several different cleaning processes.
How to Clean Range Hood Filters
Range Hood Filter Guide
If you own a ductless or recirculating hood, your filters won’t need much cleaning; instead, the charcoal filters will require replacement. For more detailed information on this, click on the article below.
How often should I replace my range hood filters?
How to Clean a Range Hood Blower
Cleaning your blower is quick and easy. Just remove the side covers with a drill, unscrew a bolt in the center of the blade, and it’ll slide right out. You can soak these in warm soapy water or toss them in your dishwasher.
Click here to check out our YouTube video on how to remove and clean your fan blades and blower motor.
Best Degreaser for Range Hood
Sometimes water alone isn’t enough to degrease your range hood. You may even find that household cleaners just don’t get the job done. In that case, invest in a degreaser; many are designed specifically to cut grease from your range hood.
Using our 15+ years of kitchen experience, we reviewed the best kitchen degreasers on the market today. Between these eight products, you’ll have solutions that handle everything from cleaning little to no grease to breaking down exceptionally tough stains.
We hope you enjoyed this guide on how to clean the inside of your range hood. With these methods, you’ll enjoy clean kitchen air in no time. Good luck!
If you have found any of our blog content helpful in any way, please leave us a review on Yelp or Google. It only takes 10 seconds!
As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.