Hitches & Glitches launches campaign to make its UAE residential customers aware of potential health hazards ahead of seasonal festivities

Leading UAE-based home maintenance specialist Hitches & Glitches (H&G), a part of the Farnek Group, has launched an awareness campaign for its residential customers, highlighting the importance of keeping kitchens spotlessly clean, especially during the festive season.

“At this time of year, it is not uncommon for families and friends to celebrate Christmas and New Year together at each other’s homes, which often means regularly cooking meals for large groups.

“It is essential that household kitchens are cleaned thoroughly, but many people neglect cleaning inside cooker hoods, exhausts and air ducts, which if left unattended can lead to a build-up of airborne grease, oil, dust, steam and carbon,” commented Zohaib Azhar, Head of Operations at Hitches & Glitches.

“These deposits can easily block ventilation systems and cause unpleasant odours and poor air circulation throughout the house, as well as smoke and even fire,” he added.

According to H&G, it is best to call in a specialist to conduct periodic kitchen cleaning. Qualified technical cleaners understand the layout of the ventilation ducts in homes and have the specialised cleaning equipment necessary to reach and safely clean the inside of air ducts, exhausts, cooker hoods, fans and filters, mitigating any potential health risk.

Putting this into perspective, commercial kitchens in Dubai for example are mandated by the Dubai Municipality’s Technical Guidelines to clean all surfaces daily, as well as check exhaust filters every two weeks. Other fire regulations call for exhaust system components to be cleaned to the bare metal at frequent intervals.

“When we are called out to address home ventilation issues, we often find that residents have never cleaned the inside of their cooker hoods or ventilation ducts, unaware of the potential hazard.

“Preventative kitchen maintenance and cleaning is always advisable with an annual contract; it would be extremely inconvenient if a tenant or homeowner had any sort of ventilation or electrical problem whilst preparing a family dinner on New Year’s Day.

“Although this will be an ongoing campaign, that’s the reason why we decided to launch this campaign and particularly at this time of the year.

“There are also other potential hazards to consider when it comes to kitchens, such as gas and electricity supply for cookers and ovens and blocked sinks and drains, which can be conveniently attended to during the same call out,” added Azhar.

With more than 100 technicians, H&G is one of the largest home maintenance specialists in the UAE, boasting over 1,000 customers from Abu Dhabi to the Northern Emirates. Customers can take advantage of their Uber-style app, which allows homeowners and tenants to track their service request, from the initial contact to live tracking of the technician on google maps, through to job completion and payment.

H&G also offers an array of smart home products, to maximise energy efficiency and water consumption, as well as Ring security solutions including the Ring Doorbell, indoor cameras and outdoor floodlights, to provide peace of mind to homeowners and tenants while they are away from home.