Grease cutter advice, please
 

We just bought a house and I discovered the underside of the exhaust fan is virtually crusted with grease. UGH!

What can I use to cut that old, multi-layered grease?

It is so gross, I almost want to just remove the thing and replace it, but my thrifty side won't let me. Battling with that side is the side that just wants to throw up thinking about that gross thing. I am conflicted.

Advice on the best grease cutters would help my mental health.

Blue Dawn dish soap. But have you priced the replacement? It might be worth it. How much would you pay to do someone else's gross exhaust fan job? Compare that and make your decision.

I have the same problem as Grandma Nancy. The house had been professionally cleaned, paid by the seller, and that was the only place that had nasty grimy grease. I was thinking the same thing - Blue Dawn dish soap and a brush. Hopefully, I can get it off the top of the microwave. Hmmmm.

The grate on the underside of my microwave/fan comes off and I can soak it in dawn or put it in the dishwasher -- is there a chance yours is removable?

I use a product called "It's Awesome." I buy it a 99c stores.

I took the grates off as well as the glass over the light bulbs and put them through the dishwasher. It worked great, but the super-greasy non-removable bottom of the unit isn't removable.

Ammonia or bathroom alcohol - not together though.

My son was 20 years in the Navy on a Submarine. He swears by "Simple Green" for any kind of grease.
Would be worth the try.

Krud Kutter is also very good for most anything.

The grease was so thick in the kitchen of a house my folks bought many decades ago that my mother ended up needing to use kerosene to cut the grease on the cabinets and fixtures! Not sure I'd go that route. I find Softscrub does a good job with grease generally. Use a rag vs a sponge though. Rinsing that stuff is painful from a sponge. Rag is much better.