Why Kitchen Canopy Cleaning is so Important

Kitchen canopy cleaning is essential to remove all carbon, grease, fatty deposits and other contaminants that can build up in your kitchen over time. Carrying out thorough kitchen canopy cleaning can reduce the risk of fires, and it can also improve the air flow and ventilation in a kitchen.

How Often Should the Canopy be Cleaned?

The TR19 is a standard that was defined by BESA, the Building Engineering Services Association, as a way to standardise duct and kitchen extraction cleaning. The TR19 was developed in 1988 and since then it has become the standard to which most insurers and building engineering sectors measure against, when performing ductwork cleaning operations. 

According to BESA’s TR19, the recommended frequency of kitchen canopy cleaning depends upon how often the duct is used:

• Light use (2-6 hours a day): clean every 12 months
• Moderate use (6-12 hours a day): clean every 6 months
• Light use (2-6 hours a day): clean every 12 months

What is Involved in Kitchen Canopy Cleaning?

The TR19 also specifies processes that should be used when conducting kitchen canopy cleaning, this is what you should expect to see a cleaning company conduct:

• Manual hand wiping of the surface of the ductwork system.
• Manually hand scraping heavy deposits off of the ductwork surfaces.
• Chemically softening or dissolving heavy deposits, to make them easier to scrape off. 
• Using a high pressure water washer to dissolve or dislodge deposits.
• Blasting contaminants off of duct and component surfaces, to be then vacuumed up afterward.

Once the kitchen canopy cleaning is complete, you should be able to visually assess how thoroughly the job has been completed. The surfaces must be visibly clean and capable of meeting cleanliness standards when inspected. 

If you want to further assess the job, you can look into the Wet Film Thickness test (WFTT) or the Deposit Thickness Test DTT. These tests can also be conducted sporadically, to see if it is time to clean your kitchen canopy.