Table of Contents
The short answer
Kitchen grease comes off with three things used together: a degreasing product, warmth and time. Apply the product to a surface that is warm, not hot, leave it for the minutes the label gives, wipe, then rinse with clean water. Work from the top of the kitchen down, because everything you loosen runs onto what is below, and put the hood filters and the pan supports to soak first, since they need the longest.
What goes wrong is nearly always the surface, not the grease. A degreaser strong enough for a steel hood can strip the lacquer from a painted cabinet door, darken an aluminium filter and lift the paint from a wall. Fresh grease needs nothing stronger than washing-up liquid. Keep the strong product for bare steel, glazed tiles and glass, and never mix it with anything else.
If the film has hardened and you would rather not give a Saturday to it, IHR Dream Cleaning's kitchen cleaning service is a visit for this one room, worked from the hood down to the floor. It is priced by the length of the visit, and our page puts a typical apartment kitchen at three hours, which is AED 105 with our materials.
Why old grease is so much harder than new
When oil is heated, some of it leaves the pan as vapour and fine droplets. They cool on the nearest surfaces: the hood, the wall behind the cooker, the cabinet doors on either side, the tops of the wall cabinets, the light fitting and, in an open-plan flat, well beyond the kitchen. On the first day that film is still liquid oil, and a soapy cloth removes it.
Left alone, it changes. Warmth and air turn cooking oil thick, then sticky, then into a yellow-brown layer like varnish that soapy water no longer dissolves. Dust lands on the sticky stage and binds into it, which is why the top of a cabinet feels furry. An alkaline degreaser works by breaking that layer down into something close to soap, which then rinses away, but it needs contact time to do it.
| Stage | How it looks and feels | What removes it |
|---|---|---|
| Fresh: up to a few days | Shiny and slippery; wipes off with a finger | Hot water and washing-up liquid |
| Sticky: weeks to months | Tacky and dull; holds dust and fingerprints | A kitchen degreaser left for a few minutes, then a rinse |
| Hardened: many months | Yellow-brown, like varnish, rough with dust | Degreaser applied two or three times, and a plastic scraper on hard surfaces |
| Burnt on: round burners and inside the hood | Black and crusted | Long soaking for parts that lift off; repeated applications for the rest |
What to use, and what to leave in the cupboard
Grease is removed by detergents and alkalis. Acids and bleach, the two products people reach for by habit, do almost nothing to it.
| Product | Good for | Not for |
|---|---|---|
| Washing-up liquid in hot water | Fresh grease on every surface, including painted and wooden doors | Hardened film, which it will not shift |
| Alkaline kitchen degreaser | Sticky and hardened grease on steel, glazed tiles, glass and laminate | Aluminium, painted or lacquered doors, bare wood and stone, unless the label names them |
| Bicarbonate of soda as a paste | Light film and burnt rings where a gentle scrub is safe | High-gloss and acrylic doors, which it can dull |
| Oven cleaner | The inside of an oven, as its label directs | Hob surrounds, aluminium, paint, cabinets and skin |
| Vinegar and other acids | Limescale round the sink and tap | Grease; and marble, which they etch |
| Bleach | Nothing in this job | Grease; and it must never be mixed with a degreaser or an acid |
Tools
You need a bucket of hot water that you change often, plenty of microfibre cloths, a non-scratch pad, a soft brush or an old toothbrush for grout, handles and hinges, a plastic scraper, rubber gloves and a step ladder tall enough to let you see the cabinet tops. The cloths matter most. Grease fills a cloth quickly, and a loaded cloth only moves the film along the surface.
Safety before you start
- Turn the hob off and let it cool until it is just warm. Never spray a degreaser near a flame or onto a hot burner.
- Switch the hood off at the wall before you clean inside it. Spray onto the cloth, not up into the hood, so that liquid stays out of the lamps, the switches and the motor.
- Wear gloves, and open a window or the kitchen door. Do not rely on the hood you are cleaning for ventilation.
- Use one product at a time and rinse it off before another goes on. Never mix bleach with anything.
- Follow the label for the contact time and for the surfaces it names, and test on a hidden spot first.
- Near sockets, switches and the hob's ignition, use a cloth wrung almost dry and never a spray.
- Reach the cabinet tops from a step ladder, not from a chair or the counter.
Know the surface before you choose the product
Ten minutes spent finding out what the doors, the wall and the counter are made of saves the cost of replacing them.
| Surface | Use | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Stainless-steel hood, hob or splashback | Degreaser, then a clean damp cloth, wiped along the grain and dried | Steel wool, scouring powder, bleach |
| Aluminium mesh filters | Hot water and washing-up liquid; a degreaser only if its label allows aluminium | Oven cleaner, which darkens and pits the metal |
| Glazed wall tiles | Degreaser, a non-scratch pad, a rinse | Metal scourers |
| Tile grout | Degreaser, a soft brush, a thorough rinse | Wire brushes |
| Glass splashback; ceramic or induction hob | Degreaser or hob cleaner on a soft cloth | Scouring pads and abrasive powders |
| Laminate and melamine doors | A mild degreaser on a cloth, rinsed and dried | Wet edges, where the board swells |
| Painted, lacquered, high-gloss or wood doors | Washing-up liquid in warm water, a soft cloth, dried at once | Strong degreasers and abrasives |
| Painted wall | A soft sponge and soapy water, used lightly | Degreaser and scrubbing, which lift matt paint |
| Marble or other stone counter | A neutral stone cleaner | Acids always; degreasers unless the label names stone |
The order of work
The order is the one on our own kitchen cleaning page: hood and upper cabinets first, then counters, appliances and tiles, and the floor last. Two soaks are started at the beginning because they take the longest.
- Clear the counters and the hob. Move small appliances, jars and the dish rack out of the room or to one end.
- Fill the sink or a tub with very hot water and washing-up liquid. Put in the hood's metal filters, and the pan supports and burner caps of a gas hob. Leave them.
- Do the dry work up high. Brush or vacuum the loose dust from the cabinet tops and the top of the hood before any liquid touches it.
- Degrease the cabinet tops, then the hood: top, sides, underside and the lip the filters sit in.
- Wipe the wall cabinets, their doors and handles, by the method for their finish.
- Clean the wall behind the cooker and the splashback.
- Clean the hob.
- Scrub, rinse and dry the soaked filters and hob parts, and refit them only when they are completely dry.
- Clean the counters, then the base cabinets, drawer fronts, handles and appliance fronts.
- Clean the sink and tap last of the surfaces, since you have been rinsing cloths in it.
- Wash the floor: the strip in front of the cooker and the kickboards first, then the rest.
Apply, wait, wipe, rinse
Every surface gets the same four moves. Apply the product to a section about as wide as your reach, not to the whole kitchen, so that it does not dry before you come back to it. Wait for the label time. Wipe with a cloth, folding to a clean face as it loads. Then rinse with a second cloth wrung out in clean water, and dry. The rinse is the step most often skipped, and it matters: degreaser left on a surface stays slightly sticky and catches next week's dust, and on paint and lacquer it goes on working.
The hood and its filters
The hood is where the grease is meant to go, so it holds more of it than anything else in the room. Grease in a filter is also fuel: a clogged filter above a pan fire is how a small flame travels upwards. That is the practical reason to wash filters every month and not once a year.
Metal filters: wash them
Metal filters, whether layered aluminium mesh or steel baffles, are made to be washed. Unclip them, soak them in very hot water with washing-up liquid for twenty minutes or more, brush both faces with a soft brush, rinse under the hot tap and stand them on end until they are completely dry. Heavy build-up needs a second soak. Many are marked as dishwasher-safe, but check the hood's manual first: dishwasher detergent can darken aluminium, which is harmless but permanent. A filter with a torn mesh, or one that still looks blocked when you hold it to the light after washing, should be replaced.
Carbon filters: replace them
A hood that returns air to the kitchen, instead of sending it outside through a duct, has a second filter behind the metal one: a pad or cartridge of activated carbon that absorbs smells. It cannot be washed. Water ruins it, and once it is saturated it does nothing. It is replaced at the interval in the hood's manual, and sooner in a kitchen that fries every day. If your hood has one, note the model number and buy the replacement before the clean.
The casing, inside and out
With the filters out you can see the inside lip and the underside, which carry the thickest film in the kitchen. With the hood switched off at the wall, wipe what you can reach with degreaser on a cloth, keeping liquid away from the lamps, the switches and the fan. Do the outside the same way, and on stainless steel finish along the grain with a dry cloth.
Leave the fan, the motor housing and the duct alone. On our kitchen cleaning page, removable filters are degreased as part of the visit and built-in ducting is not. A hood that is clean but no longer draws, or that rattles, needs a technician and not a cleaner.
The hob
Gas hob
Make sure every burner is off and cold. Lift off the pan supports and the loose burner caps and put them to soak. Those are the only parts to remove. Do not unscrew the burner bases, the injectors, the ignition points or anything connected to the gas supply. Wipe the hob top with degreaser on a cloth, working round the burner bases without flooding them, because water in the gas openings or on the igniters stops a burner lighting properly. Brush dry crumbs away from the burner heads with a dry toothbrush.
Scrub the soaked parts with a non-scratch pad. Cast-iron supports rust if they are left wet, so dry them straight away. Refit everything only when it is completely dry, and make sure each cap sits flat and centred. Then light each burner in turn. A steady blue flame is right. If a flame is uneven or yellow, switch off, let the burner cool and reseat the cap. If it still burns badly, or you smell gas at any point, turn off the hob and the gas supply, open the windows, do not touch switches or light a flame, and call your gas supplier or a technician.
Ceramic and induction hobs
Let the glass cool until it is just warm, then wipe it with degreaser or a hob cleaner on a soft cloth. Burnt rings come off with the flat scraper the maker supplies or recommends, held at a low angle on a wet surface. Never use a scouring pad, which leaves fine scratches that hold the next spill. Rinse, and buff dry.
The wall behind the cooker
This wall takes the most spatter and gets the least attention, because the cooker is in the way. What works depends on what it is made of. Do not drag a gas cooker forward to reach behind it, because the hose and its connection are not made to be pulled. Clean what you can reach from the front and the sides.
Tiles and grout
Glazed tiles are the simplest case. Apply the degreaser from the bottom up, so that runs do not leave clean streaks through the dirt, wait, then wipe and rinse from the top down. The grout is the hard part. It is porous and it drinks hot oil, so the grout behind a hob is often several shades darker than the same grout a metre away. Scrub it with degreaser and a soft brush and rinse well. It will lighten.
Our kitchen cleaning page is plain about the limit: badly stained grout lightens but may not return to white. If the colour matters, the joints can be raked out and regrouted, as described in when grout and silicone need replacing, not scrubbing.
Glass, steel and painted walls
A glass or stainless-steel splashback needs only degreaser, a soft cloth, a rinse and a dry cloth. Wipe the silicone bead along the counter, which holds grease, and do not pick at it.
A painted wall is the difficult one. Washable kitchen paint tolerates a soft sponge and soapy water, used lightly. Matt emulsion does not: it absorbs oil, and scrubbing leaves a shiny or pale patch that looks worse than the stain. Test low down first. If the grease has soaked in, the wall needs sealing and repainting, which is a painter's job. Which finishes stand up to a kitchen is covered in choosing wall paint for an Abu Dhabi home.
Cabinets: tops, doors and handles
The tops
The tops of the wall cabinets hold the thickest layer in the kitchen: months of grease with dust set into it. Scrape the worst off dry with a plastic scraper into a dustpan, then apply the degreaser, wait and wipe. It usually takes two rounds. When the top is clean and dry, lay a sheet of baking paper or shelf liner on it. Next time you lift the paper and put down a new sheet.
Doors and handles
Doors are where kitchens are damaged by cleaning, so find out what yours are. Laminate and melamine take a mild degreaser on a cloth. Painted, lacquered, high-gloss and veneered doors take washing-up liquid in warm water, a soft cloth and immediate drying, and nothing stronger. A strong degreaser softens the finish, and a few weeks later the door beside the cooker is dull or tacky for good. Whatever the finish, the cloth should be damp and not wet, because water that runs into the edge of a door or under a handle swells the board inside.
Clean the doors nearest the cooker twice. Wipe behind each handle and along the top edge of each door and drawer front, where fingers and steam leave the darkest line. On a door with a groove or a frame, a soft toothbrush clears the corners.
Inside the cupboards
The inside of a cupboard usually holds dust and crumbs, not grease. The exception is the cupboard round the hood. On our service pages the insides of cupboards are not included unless you ask, since emptying and refilling them takes time. If you want them done, empty them first and say so when you book.
Appliances, switches, the sink and the floor
These finish the job. None is difficult, and each is easy to forget.
- The fridge: its top, and the side that faces the cooker. Both carry the same film as the cabinet tops.
- The microwave, kettle, toaster and other small appliances: unplug them, wipe the outsides with a soapy cloth wrung nearly dry, and dry them.
- The oven: the door, the handle and the control panel belong to this job. The inside is a different job with a different product. With us it is cleaned on request and confirmed separately when you book.
- Switches and sockets near the hob: a cloth that is barely damp, never a spray.
- The light fitting and the ceiling above the hob, with the light off and cool.
- The sink and tap: degrease first, then deal with the white marks. They are limescale, and they need a descaler, not a degreaser. Rinse between the two and never combine them.
- The floor: grease mist settles here too, which is why a kitchen floor can be slippery when it looks clean. Use a floor cleaner that cuts grease, and rinse with clean water.
- The bin, inside and out, and the wall behind it.
Grease and cockroaches
A film of grease with crumbs in it, behind the cooker, under the fridge and round the hood, is food and shelter for cockroaches. Degreasing does not treat an infestation, but it takes away what they feed on. If you are seeing them, book the pest control service and have the kitchen cleaned before the technician comes, not straight after, so that the treatment is not washed away. Why they keep returning to kitchens, and what a proper treatment involves, is in cockroaches in Abu Dhabi kitchens.
Keeping grease from building up again
Grease is only hard to remove when it is old. Everything here keeps it at the stage where a soapy cloth is enough.
- Wipe the hob and the wall behind it after cooking, while the grease is still soft.
- Run the extractor from the moment the pan goes on, and for a few minutes after it comes off.
- Use lids, and a splatter guard when you fry.
- Wash the hood's metal filters once a month, and more often if you fry most days.
- Wipe the cabinet doors beside the cooker, and their handles, every week with a soapy cloth.
- Give the kitchen a full degrease every one to three months. That is the interval in our published guidance, and heavy home cooking shows first on the extractor and the tiles.
Doing it yourself, or having it done
A kitchen at the sticky stage is a reasonable weekend job with the method above. At the hardened stage it is slow, and the risk of damaging a door with too strong a product rises with every tired hour. That is a sensible point at which to hand it over.
Our kitchen cleaning visit covers the counters and sink, the hob and splashback, cabinet exteriors, tiles and the floor, and removable hood filters are degreased as part of it. The price depends on the length of the visit: AED 55 for 1 hour, AED 65 for 2 hours, AED 30 an hour for 3–4 hours and AED 25 for each hour after that, per cleaner, VAT included, with AED 5 per cleaner-hour more when we bring the materials. Our page gives two to three hours for most apartment kitchens with one cleaner, and three to four hours for a villa kitchen, sometimes with two cleaners. Three hours with our materials is AED 105 and four hours is AED 140. Heavy grease, a second kitchen, or the insides of the oven, fridge or cupboards add time. Every visit length is on the price list.
If the rest of the home needs the same attention, a deep clean covers the kitchen in the same detail along with every other room. It starts at 2 cleaners for 3 hours each, which is AED 210 with our materials.
Kitchens that get greasy faster than the cooking explains
In Al Danah, where many apartment blocks stand over shops and restaurants, kitchen degreasing in flats above restaurants is among the jobs customers ask us for most. Whatever the source, the film is the same and so is the method. What changes is the interval. If a kitchen is tacky again within weeks of a full clean, shorten the gap between cleans, and do not reach for a stronger product.
What to tell us, and what to have ready
- Empty the sink and put food away before the visit.
- Say what the cabinet doors and the counters are made of, especially stone and painted or high-gloss finishes.
- Say whether you want the insides of the cupboards, the oven or the fridge done.
- Mention a second or outdoor kitchen, so that time is allowed for it.
- Hot water needs to be working, and the extractor if possible.
- If you chose to provide the materials, have a kitchen degreaser, cloths and a non-scratch pad ready.
Before the team leaves
Look at the hob, the splashback, the sink and the cabinet fronts with the team, and at the filters if they were part of the booking. Run a finger along the top edge of a door and behind a handle. If something on the agreed list was missed, say so then. If you notice it later, report it within 24 hours and it is re-cleaned without charge.
Common questions
Does vinegar or lemon cut kitchen grease?
Very little. Acids dissolve mineral scale, not fat. They leave a surface feeling cleaner because they remove the water marks on top of the film, and the film stays. They also etch marble counters. Vinegar's place in a kitchen clean is the tap, the sink and the kettle. For grease you need a detergent or an alkaline degreaser.
Can a kitchen be degreased during a regular cleaning visit?
Not properly. On our published checklist the regular kitchen routine is counters and splashback wiped, sink and taps cleaned, appliance fronts wiped and the floor mopped. Grease removed from surfaces and the hob, cabinet exteriors and limescale on the sink and taps are deep-clean extras, because they take the time this guide describes. Ask for a kitchen cleaning visit or a deep clean, and say that degreasing is the purpose.
The cabinet doors are still sticky after cleaning. Why?
There are two possible causes. The first is degreaser left on the surface: wipe again with a cloth wrung out in clean warm water and dry the door, and the tackiness goes. The second is the finish itself. Years of grease, or one clean with too strong a product, can soften lacquer and paint, and then the stickiness is the door and not what is on it. No cleaner fixes that. The door needs refinishing or replacing.
The hood is clean but the kitchen still smells of frying. Why?
If the hood recirculates, the carbon filter is probably saturated and needs replacing. If it is ducted and the smell lingers, look beyond the kitchen: in an open-plan flat the curtains, the sofa and the carpet absorb cooking smells, and they hold them long after the hard surfaces are clean. A ducted hood that has stopped pulling air out needs a technician.
Is it safe to degrease with children and pets at home?
Keep them out of the kitchen while products are in use and until the surfaces are rinsed and dry, and keep a window or door open. Rinse every surface that touches food, the counters and the hob above all, with clean water before you cook again. Our deep cleaning page asks customers to secure pets during a visit for the same reason.
Does this method apply to a restaurant kitchen?
No. A commercial kitchen has a ducted canopy, floor drains and a grease trap, runs for many more hours a day, and has its own schedule and rules. That is set out in a cleaning schedule for restaurant kitchens.
Booking a kitchen clean
Start with the hood filters tonight. They take twenty minutes in the sink, and what comes off them tells you what stage the rest of the kitchen has reached.
If the grease has already hardened, the kitchen cleaning page sets out what the visit covers. Choose the hours and whether we bring the materials, and the price is shown before you confirm. Payment is by card online once we confirm your booking. We work 8 AM – 8 PM every day, and you can book a visit in a couple of minutes.
