Healthy Kitchen Cabinets, Part 1: Five Cleaning Tips
By Jim MalleryRefacingCabinet.com Columnist
Part 1 of a two-part series, Healthy Kitchen Cabinets
Kitchen cabinets cost a lot, even the cheap ones. But if you've dropped $10,000 to $12,000 (or $20,00 to $22,000) on some new cabinets--or you don't want to have to spend that for new cabinets--a little TLC is in order. Too keep them clean and looking new, here are some maintenance tips that will make your cabinets sparkle and your kitchen healthy.
5 Steps to Clean Kitchen Cabinets
- Fight grime. A kitchen can be the dirtiest room in the house, with lots grimy fingers grasping knobs and lots of grease floating in the air at frying time. The grime is easily cleaned when it's fresh, but not so easy to clean when it's aged. Keep a regular cleaning schedule to prevent the buildup of hardened grime.
- Wipe down. Almost any cabinet door can be easily cleaned with a damp cloth and wiped dry. If you have let some grime build up, you might try a little warm water and mild dish detergent, or 50/50 water-and-vinegar mix. You can subject really stubborn grease to straight vinegar. You shouldn't need a commercial cleaner, but if you want to try one, make sure you read and follow the directions. Also, try it in an out-of-sight spot, like inside the door, in case it dulls your cabinet finish.
- Don't scour. Scouring pads are a no-no on kitchen cabinets. Even "safe" plastic scrubbers can dull your finish.
- Pick your corners. If you have raised panels on your doors, a toothpick covered with a cloth will let you get into those dirty corners.
- Dust bunnies. Many cleanliness issues also are health issues. Take dust, for instance. You may have a tendency to forget about dusting upper shelves--out of sight, out of mind. And if the tops of your cabinets are exposed to the ceiling, you might really have a mess. After a few years, the debris up there could be deep enough to grow potatoes. All it takes is a little breeze to unsettle that dust and send it raining down on your lasagna and garlic bread. Keep on top of the dust problems with a kitchen ladder or a very tall spouse.
These are the basics for maintaining clean kitchen cabinets. In Part 2 we'll look at more issues regarding health--both the health of your cabinets and your physical health.
About The Author
Jim Mallery, a semi-retired journalist and onetime registered contractor, has extensive experience remodeling, repairing and rebuilding homes.
