Of all the surfaces in your home, your kitchen cabinets probably get the dirtiest, all things said and done. Yes, bathroom floors do take a lot of abuse, as do kitchen floors. But as you go about your day, preparing various meals and everything else in your kitchen, all kinds of grease, steam, and everything else finds its way onto your cabinets.
Unlike your countertops, you may be unsure how to clean your cabinets without doing them severe damage. After all, your cabinets are almost certainly not made of stone or Formica, things which withstand traditional soap and water pretty well. However, you may be surprised to find out that most common types of cabinets are very easy to clean with some pretty simple materials.
At the end of the day, it depends on what your cabinets are made out of, and how they’re finished. Using the wrong type of cleaning products and tools on the wrong types of finish can indeed do significant damage to a cabinet, but when you look at what works with what, it’s all mostly pretty much common sense.
Of course, the most common types of cabinets are made of wood, and also, fortunately, they’re one of the easier types to clean.
Cleaning Wooden Cabinets
Wooden cabinets are relatively easy to clean, as we said a moment ago. The best products to use for these would be an oil soap when cleaning. Many of these are pretty affordable, and they are formulated specifically to remove stains and to fortify the wind and replenish its natural oils.
However, it’s also possible to use oil and grease cutting detergents, which are surprisingly gentle on most types of wood. However, if you do so, it’s best to still apply some oil soap afterward as these detergents can dehydrate the wood in the long-term. Be sure to not over wet the wood, is water damage is still possible.
Vinegar can also work and is quite good at removing sticky films.
Lastly, baking soda works for the most difficult stains, when mixed with water and applied with a damp cloth.
Cleaning Painted Cabinets
Most paint on cabinets is oil-based, which can hold up to quite a bit of vigorous scrubbing. As a result, most standard surface cleaners work fine with painted cabinets, including things like countertop cleaners, window cleaners, and other similar products.
With painted cabinets, even more so if they just so happen to be latex paint, is to avoid abrasives. Unlike standard finished wood, baking soda can often be a bit too abrasive for painted cabinets.
Cleaning Metal Cabinets
Metal cabinets are the easiest of all to clean, as just about every type of product we’ve discussed above will work just fine. However, it is still a good idea to avoid particularly abrasive products whenever possible, as they can leave deep-lying scratches that can lead to rust.
It’s also a good idea to avoid wetting metal to vigorously, as many types can rust over time if overly exposed to moisture.
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