Chimneys are an integral part of a kitchen in most Indian households. Not only do they enhance the look of the kitchen, but they are one of the best ways to keep your kitchen clean. Indian cooking involves the use of a lot of spices and oil, things that result in smoke and grease. A kitchen chimney helps in directing the smoke out, keeping your kitchen feeling fresh. However, it’s important to clean your chimney occasionally as it will accumulate dirt, grease, smoke, and odor.
What is Chimney cleaning?
Chimney cleaning is the process of removing grease, dirt, soot, creosote (which is highly inflammable) and other substances accumulated on the inner walls of the chimney. Kitchen chimney cleaning is not particularly easy, which is why most people prefer to hire professional cleaning services. It’s a promising idea to do so, because most of us may not be able to do as good a job as professionals.
Companies like CleanPro have professional, certified staff who understand what goes into cleaning a chimney well and carry out the process in a methodical manner so as to give you the best results.
Chimney Cleaning tips
The kitchen is one of the most important parts of a household. It’s where the food you consume is cooked and stored. You need to make sure you pay extra attention to maintaining the cleanliness of your kitchen than any other area in your house. We understand that chimney cleaning is a complicated process, and as a commoner you wouldn’t know how to do it perfectly by yourself, but here are some useful tips and tricks for kitchen chimney cleaning that you could follow-
1. Dishwashing liquid
Your regular dishwashing liquid works perfectly well for cleaning your kitchen chimney, but you need to use it the right way.
- Remove the filters from the chimney and apply dishwashing liquid on it.
- Take a bucket of boiling water and place the filters in it and let it sit for about 1-2 hours/ take a huge vessel, place the filters inside them, fill the vessel with water and boil for 30 mins.
- Remove it and use a scrubber to remove the loosened dirt, grease, and creosote from the surface of the filters.
2. Baking soda
Baking soda is the magic ingredient that is most commonly used in all kitchen households for cleaning purposes. Its mild abrasive nature also serves as an excellent ingredient to remove the chimney stains.
- In a big tub of boiling hot water, you must add 2-3 spoons of baking soda, 2 cups of vinegar and 2-3 tablespoons of salt/ Boil the solution with the filter in it for 30 mins
- Place the filter inside this solution and let it sit for 1-2 hours
- Once the dirt is loosened use a scrubber to scrub it away
3. Vinegar
You may have heard about mixing baking soda and vinegar to form a cleaning solution. But you may use just vinegar as well as it is also known to be one of the effective all-purpose cleaning agents. Additionally, it is also an exceptionally good disinfectant, so you get rid of the germs as well. The method of using vinegar is the same as what we have mentioned under baking soda.
4. Salt and lemon
Lemon is a natural cleanser, and the acidic nature of lemon, combined with salt can act as a useful cleaning agent when mixed in the right quantity.
- In a bowl, take two tablespoons of salt, squeeze a whole lemon, and make a mixture.
- Apply this mixture all over the chimney filter plates and let it sit for an hour
- Brush away the loosened dirt using a scrubber
It gives the metal shine.
5. Nail Polish remover
Nail polish remover can be used on stains that are not too stubborn or greasy. The alcoholic nature of the remover helps remove the stains easily with a good wipe. But since it contains alcohol its combustible. So, make sure after you wipe away the stains with the remover, you apply soap and water thoroughly to the filter and clean the chimney plates thoroughly and wipe them dry afterwards.
6. Caustic Soda
If you haven’t attended kitchen chimney cleaning in a long time, chances are the chimney walls would be embedded with stubborn stains, that may not be easily removable with baking soda or vinegar. Caustic soda is highly acidic in nature, so this could be a better option for you. To clean a chimney using caustic soda
- Take a wide tray, place the filters on it, sprinkle caustic soda on the filters
- Pour boiling water on them, and you can see fumes coming out.
- Let it stay for 2-3 hours and later scrub them away.
Note that you must be careful with the use of caustic soda as they have powerful fumes that may burn your skin. So, make sure you wear gloves and a mask while you are using it to clean your filters.
Keeping your kitchen chimney clean is an absolute necessity, especially in Indian cooking households due to the amount of smoke they produce. The smoke, germs, and excessive dirt accumulated on the chimney walls can adversely affect our health.
We know that cleaning a chimney regularly could be difficult as it is time-consuming and requires a detailed, thorough approach.
Hiring professional chimney cleaning services is a good option if you do not have the time or possess the expertise to clean it perfectly. CleanPro is one of the most experienced professional cleaning services in Bangalore providing you with a wide range of cleaning services that suit your preferences. Our trained and certified staff make sure that the chimney cleaning process is carried out carefully, in a methodical manner, meeting the client’s needs and expectations.
