Hood with glass canopy... how dirty does it get?

16 years ago

Do you have one of those contemporary hoods with a glass canopy? Do you have to clean the glass every time you use it? Are you happy with it? Please post a picture.

Featured Answer

Nancy in Mich

16 years ago

Vodka.

It not only helps you forget the greasy, dusty mess, but is an excellent cleaner for old grease! I learned this because of my basically lazy nature and my bad knees. I was standing on a stepladder trying to clean off the greasy mess left behind by the previous owner of my new-to-me house. The grease was in the cabinet above the stove and was made by placing a drippy cooking oil bottle back after using it at the stove. Year after year. I don't know about the rest of you, but around here, cooks of my mother's generation did not refrigerate cooking oil. Some (mother included) were messy pigs in the kitchen (Mom never washed the bottoms of her cookware. Every few years Dad took them out to the barn and used a wire brush on his grinding wheel on them to find the copper again.)

So, there I was, on the stool, facing a cruddy mess. Besides having bad knees, I have bad lungs. They do not like any ammonia or other hard-core cleaning products. So even if I had decided to climb down off my ladder to find something to clean with, I was not going to find anything that could do the job, not in my house! LOL! But, wait! There, around the corner of the face frame, I found a little bottle. A little airline-sized bottle of vodka. Now, my ex-NotSoDearH was a chemical engineer and I had quite a few science classes in my time, too. I knew that alcohol was an excellent solvent for grease. So I dripped that vodka on my scrubbie and went to work. Dried-on, baked-on, oxidized grease mess was gone in no time.

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Comments (11)

cawaps
16 years ago
I'm bumping this because I want to know, too!
transitional
16 years ago
i have one but it's not up yet. I was wondering if I could put rainex on the glass so that the grease wouldn't stick in the 1st place? I heard of someone putting rainex on their shower doors and they said it worked awesome...
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shanghaimom
16 years ago
I had a glass hood for five years and I am sorry to say it was ALWAYS dirty. The dust would stick to an invisible layer of grease and when I would wipe it it would just smear, smear, smear. Impossible to keep clean! I do saute with olive oil regularly, but would consider the oil use light--so it wasn't that.

My current stainless hood is easy to keep clean....
cindyandmocha
16 years ago
I have to ask why olive oil and where did you get that idea?

I kind of like the idea of rainex which I use on my shower door.

I have a glass shrouded hood installing next week over a 42" island range. So I have no idea of keeping it clean yet, but I can't help but think that oil and glass would just mean more dirt, oil, grease, and glass mixed.

Some cooking items won't require a hood use at all, and some will. My thought is keep windex handy. At 42" how bad could it be? It can't be that bad to wipe off if you have paper towels nearby and windex.
breezygirl
16 years ago
Cindy...I think Shanghaimom meant she uses the olive oil for cooking, not cleaning the hood. ;) Even if you don't always use your hood when you cook, somehow grease and oily residue will build up and be VERY difficult to clean especially when mixed with any bit of dust. It's not just a matter of wiping it down after you use it. And do you really want to crawl up there constantly to clean it? I currently have this weird microwave/hood/range all-in-one-unit monstrosity in my kitchen. Various parts of the microwave hood and its trim are always grimy with some oily stuff I CANNOT get off no matter how hard I try. I find smear marks all over. This is precisely why I will not get a glass hood over my new island cooktop! Maybe the rainex will work, but I'm very dubious....
wizardnm
16 years ago
I've thought about the cleaning on a glass hood but I'm still going to take the plunge. I like the look for my new kitchen.

Why RainX over Jet Dry? For years I have mixed a little Jet Dry, a little all purpose cleaner and water together for my glass shower doors. I keep it in a spray bottle and spray the glass after every shower. No water spotting and the glass looks as good as new. The doors are 18 years old.
emily_mb
Original Author
16 years ago
Thank you for your feedback. I've decided that I am too compulsive and too busy to live with a glass hood The one that looks like a lamp was out of the running first (glass plus probably not enough capture area). Check out my thread on the appliance forum. I'm now trying to decide if I should get one that is flat-- over an island it will keep from blocking the view too much.
emilynewhome
16 years ago
I have am electrolux, glass hood and love it! It is over an island which gives it an airy look.

I do notice the dust on the top of it more than I would on a SS model. It DOES NOT attract more dust or grease!

When I'm boiling something, with the fan on low I do notice condensation on the underside, but this evaporates within minutes of turning off the burner w/pot.

I do fry, and have not noticed grease build up on the underside. I do wash the filter about once a month if I remember (more frequently if lots of frying), and wipe down the top and underside of glass hood with Mr Clean or Windex every 4-5 days.

Just like any glass product that gathers dust, you'll notice that it will look a little cloudy if left too long.

I occasionally swish over the top of it with my wool duster when dusting the rest of the room.
mapleview
4 years ago
Thank you all for your informative feed back. I will get the stainless steel chimney stack hood! :-)
mkregoski
last year
I Hate! my glass hood. It catches every speck of dust, and has a haze of oily dust on it all the time no matter how often i clean it. i would get rid of my gas stove too if i could. You have to clean the grates, the stainless steel top, the rings around the burners, under the burners. i’m almost 80 and those grates are heavy! my best stove was a jenn-aire with a downdraft exhaust and glass top. easy peasy.