If you’re anything like I was before this morning, you probably looked at that picture and thought, “Oh, THAT thingamabob. I have one of those . . . but mine’s brown.”
Yep, this morning that’s what I would have said.
Turns out, it was actually silver?!?!
It’s the thing that goes above the stove, a sort of filter for the vent. You know, the one with the little warning sign that says to clean it regularly with a mild detergent? I’ve seen that sign so many times and thought, “Mmmm. Good idea. I need to do that.”
In my younger days, when I was still living with the delusion that my slob-ness was circumstantial, meaning I thought it would go away once I stayed home full time, I watched a lot of HGTV. (Probably should have been a clue that I was watching tv instead of cleaning, but whatever.) I watched decorating, organizing, and home maintenance shows with total fascination. It never occurred to me that I wouldn’t just naturally do those things once we had kids and I was a stay-at-home-mom.
But honestly, I can’t remember when I last cleaned that thing, or if I ever have. Even though I know it’s important. Even though I know it’s probably a safety issue. It honestly just never occurs to me, at least not at a moment when I think I have the time to do something about it.
But this morning, while completing my daily checklist, I let register what I had been pretending not to see for a few weeks. There were actually drips coming down from it. Not dripping, but drips. Meaning . . . grease starting to form a few little hangy-downy nubs.
Disgusting, I know.
So I pulled that thing down, dropped it in the still-warm-and-soapy dishwater, and let it soak. After I finished sweeping the kitchen, I took it out, scrubbed it, and then let it soak some more.
And now, it’s mostly silver!
Who’d a thunk it?
I cleaned mine this spring when we put our house up for sale. The last time it was cleaned? (hangs head in shame) Probably when we bought the house TWELVE YEARS AGO. I took mine out on the back deck and sprayed it down with oven cleaner and left it in the sun for a few hours. It GLEAMS now…..as I make sure to dunk it in the dishwater at least once a week while we are living in this hell known as "My house is for sale so I can't leave a #$%@$ thing out of place." Not a fun place for a recovering slob to be!
Oh Marcia, I feel your pain. Keeping a house perfect to sell it is miserable! Hope it sells soon!
I was over 40 and living in my 2nd house as the homeowner before I learned about cleaning that thing. My husband pointed it out to me. My mother had never taught me about cleaning it, so I guess I'll blame her. 🙂 Now I try to remember every couple of weeks.
Yucky. Now I feel the need to go soak mine.
Yucky.
I've cleaned that thing before, I just put it in the dishwasher. Came out gleaming 🙂
I just ignore mine!
You're supposed to CLEAN that? Now wonder I didn't get the deposit back on my last rented house.
About 12 monthly for me….in the dishwasher on hottest setting…when it’s free to do a load… Hence why it takes me about 12 months… As I next to never have a time when all dishes done…put away…none lined up for next load…
Laughing my face off. I’ve been reading your blog from the beginning for the last week and I couldn’t resist this one. I’ve been cleaning along with your almost 5-years-ago self and when I read this post I got myself off the couch to LOOK. We have been in this house for close to 9 years and I hadn’t even NOTICED that we had one of those. Well, I’ll be darned, WE DO!! Because we have a microwave above the stove, our silver thingamabob is really 2 small thingamabobs. I popped those puppies out and soaked them in some hot soapy water, gave them a scrub and now they are in the dishwasher! Thanks for the blog. I’m actually glad that I arrived on the scene 4 years late, this way I read several posts in one day. (I’m not very patient.) I found you when I was researching steam mops and found your Oreck Steam Wand you tube video. I knew I wanted to visit your blog when you talked about what your slob brain thought would happen and how those thoughts were totally irrational. I look forward to sitting and nursing the baby several times a day and reading your posts while I do it. Thank you again! I love the honesty in your writing and your voice is so authentic. You encourage others without being pretentious; you give hope without being an overly saccharine cheerleader. I love your style.
Oh thank you for this comment, Natalie! And welcome. Now to go check my silver thing-a-ma-bob, since I haven’t even though of it since I wrote this post!
We recently sold our house, and while getting it “show ready,” I ran across a tip…
You can clean that grease-thingy much easier if you boil a large pot of water and baking soda. As the water comes to a boil, stick one end into the pot. Once that end is clean, flip it over (if you’re like me, and don’t have a large enough pot to do it all at once). It doesn’t take too terribly long, and there’s no scrubbing involved. So, you could let it boil while you did the rest of the kitchen.
The best part — it comes SO VERY clean without any real effort. (The pot will need a good run through the dishwasher or scrubbing, though, as the top of the water gets very scummy.)
Read this, went and cleaned mine. It was gross to touch! Not anymore, its mostly silver like yours.
I’ve found that if you put some Calgon water softener in about 2 inches of hot water in your sink and let the filter soak for like 10 minutes- it wipes right off. Sometimes I use a brush instead of a washcloth just to make sure I got it all.
It’s not really a chore anymore now that I know that trick. 🙂
I don’t have one of those things. My stove is just in the corner. No hood, no vent. We had to take out the smoke detector in the kitchen.
Oh, crap! I never even thought of cleaning that! Guess I know what my morning will involve.
I just now realize that I’ve never cleaned mine, and we’ve been in our current house for over 2 years…yikes!
I’ve looked at and WANTED to clean mine forever now but I can’t get mine out. The design of the hood fan and the way they put the cabinets in block them from being removable. So we won’t even think about how long they have gone un-cleaned. Blech!
At the home center, they sell squares of gauze that are specifically made to go above your stove. I cut to fit and attach with magnets. When it gets yukky I replace with a new one. The magnets get greasy too though so this is best for Jen who can’t remove hers. I live in Japan though so I don’t know if you can buy these Stateside.