Healthy Kitchen Cabinets, Part 2: Seven Healthy Maintenance Tips
By Jim MalleryRefacingCabinet.com Columnist
Part 2, Final in a two-part series, Healthy Kitchen Cabinets
The first article of this two-part series looked at some basics to keep your cabinets clean as new. This second and final part of the series offers seven kitchen cabinet maintenance tips for your own well-being and the health of your cabinets.
7 Tips for Kitchen Cabinet Maintenance
These are some tips to look after both your cabinets' and your health.
- Insect food. Spilled sugar, flour, cereal and other foodstuffs are buffets for insect pests such as roaches, beetles, moths, mites, silverfish and weevils. Don't sweep that last bit of sugar on the cabinet shelf into your coffee when it should have been cleaned up long ago. Wipe up spilled foodstuffs as soon as you see them.
- Moisture. Insect pests need moisture, so any lingering dampness is another infestation invitation. And of course, dampness also becomes a maintenance and health issue. Many kitchen appliances, both large and small, can be sources of moisture. If you are a latte lover, you may have a built-in espresso machine plumbed for that wake-up jolt of Joe. But even the slightest seepage from any appliances can lead to mold and rot. Periodically inspect for dampness. If you find any evidence of mold, clean it with a bleach solution immediately. Always repair the source of any dampness and dry the area.
- Hangers on. This definitely is a health issue--the health of your cabinets. Don't hang on kitchen cabinet doors. No, not chin-ups, but just resting your weight on the door handle while trying to decide which kind of cereal to have, or pulling down on the door handle while reaching up for a bowl. Cabinet-door hinges are not meant to hold the extra 10 or 20 pounds a person might exert on them; even a doorknob can work loose from the extra pressure.
- Tighten up. Repeated use, and repeated pressure on hinges, can cause them to loosen. If you feel any looseness in a hinge, tighten the screws. While you are tightening that hinge, snug up the screws on the other hinges, in case they also are loosening. Sloppy screws wear faster, eventually getting to a point where the wood will no longer hold the threads.
- Go big. If the wood has worn so much that the screw threads won't hold, you have some options. You can get a screw the next size larger, though you might have to drill out the screw hole in the hinge to make it fit.
- Go glue. Rather than try a larger screw, you can put an adhesive in the threads. If you know that you will never want to remove the screw, like for new doors or new hinges, you can put a dab of epoxy into the hole. But you'll never again get the screw out. A less drastic adhesive approach? Try one meant for holding bolts in car engines.
- Plug. As a last resort, you can drill out the hole in the cabinet, glue a dowel into the hole, and then set the screw into the dowel.
The well-being of your kitchen cabinets is important--and so is yours.
About The Author
Jim Mallery, a semi-retired journalist and onetime registered contractor, has extensive experience remodeling, repairing and rebuilding homes.
