Can You Use Vinegar To Clean Wood Cabinets
Final updated on January 12th, 2022 at 10:06 am
What is the best mode to clean kitchen cabinets? At start glance, it seems like a bones question with a basic respond. I certainly idea so. Simply subsequently reading what the experts had to say, I was surprised that there a lot was more to information technology.
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Why Clean Wooden Kitchen Cabinets?
Sure, cleaning your kitchen cabinets is office of a having a clean dwelling house. But did you know that if cleaned and kept properly, kitchen cabinets can last for a long time – upwards to l years? Impressive, right? That'south a longer lifespan than most kitchen components, including appliances, countertops and kitchen sinks. Heck, l years is older than me, and I'one thousand pretty old! 😉
Simply if yous don't properly maintain your kitchen cabinets, they can evidence wear and tear but after 20-30 years. Then y'all will be looking at replacements…
And cabinet replacement tin can business relationship for threescore-lxx% of full kitchen renovation. Considering the boilerplate full kitchen remodel runs about $24,000, that ways almost $15,000 goes to kitchen cabinets.
That cost is nothing to sneeze at.
And then for me, that's motivation enough to ensure I'grand doing all I tin to keep my kitchen cabinets cleaned and maintained.
Backstory
My kitchen is what sold me on this firm. And I love my kitchen cabinets. They are beautiful, high-quality Thomasville kitchen cabinets. This kitchen is what sold me on this firm. The moment I walked into it, I know this was going to be my home.
But I'm difficult on my kitchen. Beginning, I'chiliad a really messy cooker. And I have iii precious little monsters (excuse me, I mean daughters 😉) who love to help their mom make an fifty-fifty bigger mess in her kitchen. Grease, grime and sticky toddler fingerprints quickly build upwards to embarrassing proportions on my kitchen cabinets. And with a busy lifestyle information technology'southward hard to go along them constantly clean.
stuff I don't even recognize….
I don't know exactly how old my cabinets are. They clearly aren't original our 1916 house. The family nosotros bought the house indicated that they did no major renovations, so nosotros know these are installed prior to 2003.
That means they are getting close (or have reached) the xx year mark where wear and tear outset to bear witness. I need to make certain I'thou taking care of them properly to make sure they reach 50! So I looked to the cleaning experts online to ensure I'thou cleaning my kitchen cabinets the best way possible.
Who are the Cleaning Experts?
The online sources I found were completely varied – from large major cable networks and national cabinet manufacturers to smaller scale bloggers. In alphabetical gild, they are (drum curlicue delight…..)
- HGTV – major cable network website.
- Everyday Cheapskate – blog past award winning, bestselling writer and syndicated columnist
- Grapes and Splendor – a blog with a myriad of tips and tricks to manage and maintain a dwelling
- The Bandbox – meridian 10 largest lifestyle online magazine
- Thomasville – largest cabinet manufacturer in North America established over 100 years ago
Subsequently reading through the expert'southward posts, I was surprised at the diverseness of ways recommended to best clean wooden kitchen cabinets.
Before nosotros start, I accept ii recommendations for you the reader:
- While I've cutting and pasted directly from these websites (with slight edits), I recommend visiyingt the original source.
- When cleaning your cabinets with a new method or product, first exam out on a small detached expanse of your cabinet. Wait at least a few hours to ensure no harm and avoid ruining your cabinet's finish.
How to Best Clean Wooden Kitchen Cabinets
one. HGTV
HGTV'southward mail "How to Make clean Forest Cabinets" had two different strategies to handle full general and deep cleaning kitchen cabinets.
General cleaning:
- Vinegar is the go-to natural cleaner when faced with how to make clean greasy cabinets. Mix a l/50 solution of vinegar and warm water and put into a spray bottle. Mist on cabinets, let sit for a minute or 2 and then wipe clean with a soft cloth.
- This stride is optional. Add together a few drops of liquid dishwashing detergent to the vinegar and h2o solution to make clean extremely grimy cabinets.
Deep cleaning:
- Make a paste of vinegar and salt. Dip a toothbrush into the paste and lightly scrub the stained area. Don't scrub besides hard or utilize steel wool, as it will scratch the woods. Rinse the paste off with clean water and dry with a clean towel.
- Y'all can besides put baking soda on a moisture sponge and scrub the stain. Use a soft toothbrush or nylon-bristle scrub brush so you won't scratch the cabinet surface
In one case cleaning is complete, HGTV also recommended protecting from hereafter stains:
- Mix vegetable oil and vinegar in equal portions and apply it lightly on the chiffonier surfaces. Rub it in with a clean, soft cloth. Buff till it shines.
two. Everyday Cheapskate
Mary Hunt, the columnist behind Everyday Cheapskate, addressed a reader's questions about what kind of cleaner to use on the wood kitchen cabinets with this respond:
- If you are looking for a commercial product to clean those cabinets, you'll never beat the effectiveness of real orangish oil smooth to cook away grease, grime, polish, and wax buildup, leaving a fresh scent and beauty in its place. It's going to cost a bit to do your unabridged kitchen, should you decide to become the commercial route.
Simply she continued and recommended the following bootleg concoctions for cleaning those wooden kitchen cabinets. Once clean, nothing additional is required to smooth or protect.
General Cleaning:
- In a spray canteen (I employ these xvi-oz. bottles for homemade cleaners) mix 2 tablespoons olive oil, 4 tablespoons white vinegar and plenty warm water to fill the bottle (about 2 cups). Milkshake to mix then spray on 1 door or drawer front at a time. Scrub with a soft textile to remove whatsoever clay, and then buff to a beautiful polish. Before each spray, give the canteen a milk shake to keep the oil mixed in.
Deep cleaning:
- In a small bowl, measure i function vegetable oil and 2 parts baking soda (for case ii tablespoons oil and 4 tablespoons baking soda—or 1 cup oil to 2 cups baking soda depending on the size of your job).
- Using your fingers, mix this into a thick paste. Smoosh this a little bit at a time into the surface of that grimy cabinet, existence peculiarly mindful of the areas close to the handles that receive so much handling and man contact.
- Scrub with a soft cloth, sponge or your fingertips to get this paste into the grain. Utilise an former toothbrush to get it into all of the nooks and crannies. This paste is very thick, and as you begin to scrub and castor, it will fall off, along with a lot of grime.
- Buff well with a soft cloth then step dorsum to admire your cute work.
3. Grapes and Splendor
Blogger Grapes and Splendor had a different homemade recipe to All-time Way To Clean Your Kitchen Cabinets-Without Pain Them!
General cleaning:
- Combine a solution of 1 cup of water, 1 teaspoon toothpaste and 2 tablespoons blistering soda. Employ a sponge or cloth to dip into the solution and use it to scrub the dirty areas of the cabinet.
Deep cleaning:
- Place about 1/ii teaspoon of dish lather or oil soap forest cleaner on the scouring sponge. Wet the sponge slightly and gently scrub the cabinet allowing information technology to grade a lather. Wipe with a slightly wet cloth with fresh water in it. And so dry it with a microfiber cloth.
- Brand a paste with baking soda and h2o, apply information technology to the greasy areas by rubbing it on in a circular movement, slightly press it into the grease to use the abrasiveness of the baking soda to elevator the grease and exit information technology to soak for ten 10 minutes. Using a damped piece of clean textile, remove the baking soda paste past wiping it off.
four. The Spruce
In Tips for Cleaning Nutrient Grease from Kitchen Cabinets, The Spruce handled it differently from other sites in that they looked more towards products than homemade solutions with ane exception (which I listed first).
- Hot water and dish soap: Dish soap is an alkaline metal-based product that finer cuts through grease, especially when mixed in hot h2o. Mix a squirt or ii of grease-cutting dish lather into a saucepan of very hot water (equally hot as you can stand), and apply a nylon scouring pad to attack cabinet grease. Continue the water hot, and employ low-cal pressure on the nylon pad to avert scratching the surface. Rinse and dry the cabinets when done
- Goo Gone: Brand sure to wear rubber gloves, then apply commercial Goo Gone cleaner over the grease and let information technology sit down for a minute or 2. Heat a clammy micro cloth in a microwave for 35 seconds, so use it to rapidly wipe away the grease layer. Finally, make clean the expanse with a balmy wood lather and water, then dry out completely.
- All-purpose orange oil cleaner: If your cabinets are actually grimy, allow the cleaner sit for upwardly to 10 minutes later spraying. Afterward, wipe the cleaner off using a warm, damp micro-cloth.
- A wood cleaner containing Brazilian carnauba wax: Carnauba wax is an ingredient that's typically found in high-quality woods cleaners and polishes. One excellent product, called Magic Cabinet and Wood Cleaner, is a spray pump application.
5. Thomasville
This nationwide manufacturer and distributor of kitchen cabinets provides the post-obit cleaning tips on their parent company'south website from The Homeowner'southward Guide to Care and Cleaning.
- Unremarkably, a clean, soft cotton textile —or microfiber fabric for laminate and high gloss cabinetry — dampened with warm water will do the trick!
- For extra grime fighting, a mild solution of dishwashing liquid (not dishwasher products) mixed with fresh, clean, warm water will take intendance of clay and grease. 5% dishwashing liquid to 95% water is a good ratio.
- After cleaning your stained or painted cabinets, wipe them down with a clean, clammy cloth and be sure to dry out moisture/damp surfaces with another clean soft material.
- Your cabinets don't crave waxing and nosotros don't recommend information technology. Over fourth dimension, waxing and polishing compounds may build upwards on chiffonier surfaces forming a hazy, streaked or yellowed appearance. Wax build up is really hard to remove — no one has time for that!
Vinegar and Olive Oil: Proficient or Bad?
Y'all'll notice that some of the homemade solutions to clean wooden kitchen cabinets contain vinegar and/or olive oil. Before I started this blog, I bought all my cleaning products from the store. Merely as I inquiry and learn more almost cleaning my house, vinegar seems to exist an astonishing option for bootleg cleaning products. Information technology'due south usually already in the firm, inexpensive, natural, and tough on leaner, mildew, and clay.
Only interestingly, there seems to be an statement against using vinegar and olive oil to make clean wooden kitchen cabinets. According to some cleaning experts, including Springtime Cottage, vinegar and oil is not a good option for cleaning wooden kitchen cabinets. Why?
- Vinegar is a paint stripper and varnish remover and can destroy the coatings on many other surfaces. Each time information technology is used, information technology creates a thinner surface by slowly melting abroad piece of furniture finishes.
- Olive oil is a non-drying oil so when it's applied to the forest, it stays liquid and spoils. Eventually it will create a stench and attract noxious leaner.
Are vinegar and olive oil proficient or bad for kitchen cabinets? Honestly, I'grand not certain what to think.
So I tried all v cleaning methods on my kitchen cabinets
These 5 options are completely unlike from my go-to cleaner for wooden kitchen cabinets. For years I've automatically gone to ane of my favorite products to make clean my wooden kitchen cabinets- Murphy Oil Soap. I use diluted Spud Oil Soap throughout my house – clean my wood floors, and clean the woods trim and baseboards in my firm.
And then I was intrigued past the fact that no of the experts were straight brought up Murphy's Oil Soap. I went direct to Colgate-Palmolive Visitor's website, the makers of Potato Oil Soap. And it appears that I've been using the product wrong. Well, kinda incorrect.
While I've been using Potato Oil Soap solely to make clean the grim and grease off my kitchen cabinet, I should have been using it in a two-stride process. Spud Oil Soap is meant to restore the wood's natural blink Afterwards the initial layer of dirt and crud is gone.
Whoops.
I decided to experiment with each cleaning method on one of my kitchen cabinets to go my thoughts and find the all-time way to clean my wooden kitchen cabinets.
HGTV and Everyday Cheapskate
I tried both HGTV's vinegar/ h2o mixture and Everyday Cheapskate'southward olive oil/ vinegar/ water mixture for General Cleaning. While both did an excellent chore cleaning my cabinets, I struggled with the lingering vinegar smell. It reminded me of Easter when we use vinegar to color eggs.
Grapes and Spendor
Next, I tried Grapes and Spendor baking soda/ toothpaste/ water mixture. While the odor was more palatable, the toothpaste smell reminded me that I needed to call my dentist for a cheque up. I call up some folks will really similar this method, just it just wasn't for me. And again, like HGTV and Everyday Cheapskate, it cleaned the grease and grime off my cabinets.
The Bandbox and Thomasville
Onto The Spruce. If you remember, The Spruce recommended a few commercial cleaning products, similar Goo Gone, orange oil cleaner, and canruaba wax. Goo Gone I've used several times in DIY projects, including removing stubborn gum to restore an old wooden rocking chair. Information technology'due south an constructive and powerful cleaner for spot cleaning.
But for general cleaning, I liked The Spruce's idea behind just good old dish washing soap and water. (Information technology's the same method recommended by Thomasville, who manufactured my kitchen cabinets). Why? After thinking well-nigh it, it makes sense. Dish washing liquid is an alkaline metal-based product that effectively cuts through grease. Most of the grime on my cabinets comes from grease or food. So if dish soap that can cut through those things on my pots and pans, it should as well work on your cabinets.
Await a minute….. Wasn't that Dawn's tagline at ane indicate? "Dawn takes grease out of your way" Insert cheezy 1990s Dawn dish washing soap commercial from YouTube here…..
(Side note for you folks who remember the 1980s and 1990s – It call up the actress in the blue belong besides played Andrea Zuckerman from Beverly Hills 90210…..concur?)
What's the Best Thing to Clean Kitchen Cabinets?
My favorite method to clean my kitchen cabinets was using a mixture of Dawn dish washing lather to cut through grease, followed past a final rinse with Murphy Oil Soap. I'd telephone call this the "Thomasville/Spruce Plus" method.
For general cleaning, I combined 1/two teaspoon of Dawn dish soap to viii cups of water into a saucepan of hot water. I washed the cabinets with my favorite sponge (Scotch-Brite Heavy Duty Scrub Sponge) dipped into the solution. For areas that needed extra attention due to grease or grime, or intricate cabinet details, I scrubbed with an old toothbrush.
If you try this and your cabinets are a fleck too soapy, wipe them down with a cloth dipped in just hot h2o.
Simply hither's the alter. I added a following quick footstep. I filled up a saucepan with around 1 gallon of water and 1/4 cup of Murphy Oil Soap (per the bottle's directions) and did a final rinse to brand the cabinets shine and have that oil soap smell that I'm and then nostalgic about.
What did I stop up with? These fantastic cabinets, all clean and with rich forest tones shining through!
What'south Adjacent? Tackling Other Parts of My Kitchen…
- 35+ Items to Declutter Kitchen Cabinets – Now that the outside of the kitchen cabinets are make clean, how nigh the inside?
- How to Clean Your Kitchen Cabinet Knobs and Pulls! (After experimenting, I plant a clandestine ingredient to revive kitchen hardware and make them shine again! Shhhh! 😉)
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Source: https://everydayoldhouse.com/5-ways-to-clean-wooden-kitchen-cabinets-from-the-experts/
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