Caring for Copper Hoods

Caring for copper range hoods

The general answer that I recommend is to do as little as possible to care for your hood on a regular basis. After all, once your new kitchen is in place, you want to sit back and enjoy the beauty and functionality and not worry about cleaning every surface.

That being said, the goal is to buy the copper hood that you want to live with and that includes the cleaning techniques. In every type of hood, the cleaning – real cleaning of dust or residue – will involve a mild dish soap and a soft cloth or sponge followed by a soft dry towel. The soap will cut the grease or dirt on the surface and if it is dried soon after, the copper will not react.

The main differentiation that is critical to keep in mind is that clean – meaning free of dirt or residue – does not mean polished – shiny, orange copper color. So the everyday care (actually more like quarterly to semi-annual) is to primarily clean the hood and not affect the color of it.

Regular care:

1. Use soft cloth or sponge with mild dish soap.

2. Rub the entire hood, rinsing and re-soaping the sponge or cloth as needed.

3. Once clean, follow with a dry cloth towel to dry any water. Do not rub hard if your hood has a patina that you like.

When we sell copper hoods to our customers, we generally help them decide on the finish that works best for their design including how the finish will change over time. Some of our clients want to see the aging process over many years and prefer to start with a highly polished hood and let it gather spots and a natural patina. Others want the polished, light brown, or dark brown patina look all the time.

Expected maintenance

Polished hood, want it to stay polished – This will be somewhat worry free if you can live with a few spots along the bottom rail of the hood over the course of 6 to 12 months which is about how often you may find yourself polishing it. Fingerprints may appear, but if you use a copper polish, you will be able to remove fingerprints as well as most other common marks. The key to this is to try to go as long as possible between polishings and this is why many people choose to use a wax or furniture polish to help resist any reactive agents. Regular cleaning with soft cloth and soap as described above.

Polished hood, want it to get spots and age naturally – This is the organic beauty of copper. Letting it show its use can be a lot of fun for the right design environment. A hand print might be the only thing you see for months until some hot, humid day when you had your windows open and everything went a little red. Regular maintenance will be cleaning with a soft cloth as above and enjoying the aging.

Patinaed hood (light brown or dark brown), want it to stay the way it is – Copper can have a very deep range in the shades of brown. Our patinas are hand applied and our brush marks often produce a varying range of colors. Regular cleaning with a mild dish soap as described above. It should be said that our hoods are all uncoated (unless ordered otherwise) and any reactive agents may produce a spot, light browns will get darker over time – it may be ten years before it strikes you as lighter than before.