Kitchen exhaust cleaning (often referred to as “hood cleaning”) is the process of removing grease that has formed on the walls of ducts, hood, fans and vents in restaurant kitchen exhaust systems.

Several processes are used to clean kitchen exhaust systems. The most common is the use of chemicals to break down the grease, and hot water to rinse away the residue. Chemicals are generally applied with either a garden type sprayer, downstream injection through a pressure washer or with chemical foamer.

Once the chemicals are applied, they are allowed to dwell on the surface of the grease for a period of time before being washed off of the surface with hot water. In extreme situations, where the grease build-up is too heavy for a chemical application and rinse, scrapers may be used to remove excess build-up from the contaminated surfaces, before chemicals are applied.