CABINET UPKEEP
How to clean, keep them looking gorgeous
Kitchen cabinets are for storing dishes, not grease. Unfortunately, wood cabinets — painted or natural with a clear finish — are prone to all sorts of grease, grime and gunk from simply being in the kitchen.
Depending on just how much grease and grime you’re looking at and the supplies you have available, here are four options for your consideration. At least one will help to get the job done. And there’s one final tip on how to keep your clean cabinets looking gorgeous.
1. Blue Dawn. Drop a few drops of Blue Dawn into a bowl of warm water. Dip the soft side of a sponge in the soap. Squeeze the sponge until suds form. The cleaning agents in Dawn absorb grease on kitchen surfaces just as well as they do on dishes. Apply to the dirty cabinet, wiping the grease with the soft sponge until it is removed. Immediately dry the surface with a clean cloth. This will prevent streaking.
2. Kitchen gunk remover. Bust through hardened, dingy layers of old, sticky, dust-grabbing grease with vegetable oil and baking soda. Mix 1 part any vegetable oil to 2 parts baking soda. Apply this oily paste to dirty areas using a soft cloth or paper towel. That ugly, greasy, dirty buildup on cabinets will begin to soften and disappear.
Wipe clean and buff with a soft cloth.
3. White vinegar. Vinegar is not just for making pickles and salad dressing. It has amazing grease-busting, cleaning ability, too. Dampen a clean, dry cloth with undiluted white vinegar, and wipe down greasy cabinets. Rinse your cloth with warm water; wring out most of the moisture; and use it to rinse the cabinetry. Dry the damp surfaces with a paper towel, noting any still-sticky spots that need a second attempt. Repeated applications of vinegar may begin to dull the finish over time. However, an occasional use, as suggested here, will not be a problem.
4. Soap and paint thinner. This is a heavy-duty, industrial-strength solution. Use it on the toughest, most stubborn grease and grime knowing that it could remove a layer of the finish. Mix equal parts paint thinner and Murphy oil soap. Apply with a sponge or paintbrush. Wipe the solution away with a rag to clear the dirt; you’ll likely remove a thin layer of varnish or shellac because the grime may have melded with it. But considering the alternative of living with the dirty cabinets, I’d go with clean and slightly less finish. As always, test first in an inconspicuous place.
Tip: Wood polish and conditioner. After a rigorous cleaning, wood cabinets are thirsty for moisture and protection. But you want to be careful to not make matters worse by using something that will create a new kind of buildup that becomes a magnet to kitchen grease and grime. Look for products that contain beeswax, carnauba wax and orange oil to keep the wood from drying out while simultaneously repelling kitchen grease.
Mary Hunt invites questions and comments at www.everydaycheapskate.com/ contact/, “Ask Mary.” This column will answer questions of general interest, but letters cannot be answered individually. Mary Hunt is the founder of EverydayCheapskate.com, a frugal living blog, and the author of the book “Debt-Proof Living.”