Photo by ivoryblushroses
Greasy food smudges, fingerprints, and general dirty buildup can make your beautiful kitchen cabinets look dull, grimy, and even unsightly. And, the longer they remain dirty, the harder it will be to restore their original luster. Keep reading to discover the most efficient way to revive the natural beauty of your wood kitchen cabinets and keep them looking new for many years to come.
Follow these steps:
1. Dust your cabinets
Use a dry, soft cotton cloth to dust off mild debris accumulation and to lightly buff both the exterior and interior surfaces of the cabinets. It’s especially important to keep the exterior of your cabinets dusted on a regular basis in order to keep their sheen. The steam and grease that’s inevitably generated while cooking will adhere to any dust on cabinet surfaces, making them much more difficult to clean if the dust is never removed.
- Open all the cabinets and remove everything from inside.
- Thoroughly wipe off the contents from within the cabinets including all canned goods, spice containers, food boxes, etc. so they’re clean once they’re placed back inside.
- Starting at the top, wipe down all the inside shelves with a dry, soft cotton cloth.
- Wipe down the outside of the cabinet using the same cloth paying special attention to the face of the cabinet, molding, and knobs.
2. How to clean very dirty cabinet surfaces
Cleaning heavily soiled cabinets will require a bit of elbow grease and a mild soap to completely eliminate heavy residues and stubborn grease stains.
- Using a clean all-purpose bucket, combine lukewarm water and a few squirts of mild dishwashing liquid.
- Before you actually begin to clean, test the solution first on a hidden spot to determine how it will affect the varnish. If the varnish turns hazy or white, don’t use the solution and try something milder instead.
- Wash the soiled surface with a soft cotton cloth or sponge using the solution.
- After the area is completely clean, rinse and immediately dry it with a clean dry cotton cloth or paper towels.
3. Polish the exterior of the cabinets
Polished cabinets will ultimately give the whole kitchen a clean, radiant, warm glow by bringing out and emphasizing the true nature of the natural grain of the wood.
- Choose a quality furniture polish or special wax that corresponds to the unique degree of luster of your cabinets. Most furniture polishes will either leave a low luster or high shine.
- Spray the polish on a clean cotton cloth, not directly on the cabinets.
- Rub the polish in small circles over the exterior of the cabinet in small sections at a time.
- Gently buff each section you already polished with another clean dry cotton cloth.
Once your cabinets are clean both inside and out, return the contents back inside and admire your work. As stated, keep the exterior of your kitchen cabinets dusted on a regular basis so grease and grime won’t buildup on their surfaces. Your clean, polished wood kitchens cabinets will look showroom new.