My kitchen is old :( My cabinets are pine and need a good deep cleaning on the outside, especially the ones over the stove which can get greasy. What products have you tried that really work? I have use many all purpose cleaners and things like orange oil and Murphy's Oil soap. I have used a magic eraser with pretty good results, but it takes so much elbow grease abd time. Is there a magical solution that any of you know of? thanks a bunch!
I have started using vinegar water lately for everything...especially dusting. It's very gentle and doesn't have that aerosol smell that some of the other cleaners have. I'd try that before anything.
Growing up we has custom wood cabinets.
We wiped them down with water, dried them then used Murpheys Oil Soap.
They looked wonderful.
Be careful of scrubbing them overly much as it may take the finish off. A good soaking should work.
Vinegar and lemon juice works wonderfully. It won't hurt the finish and no heavy duty scrubbing is required. I put mine in a spray bottle, squirt it on and then wipe with a damp cloth. For really heavy build up, like grease on cabinets over the stove, it may take several times of spraying and wiping off, but I've never had to put much elbow grease into it.
If they are greasy make sure you are using very warm to hot water. Most all purpose cleaners will work. You could try hot water and vinegar, vinegar will help to cut the grease.
I don't think the orange oil really cleans, but have always sworn by a nice big bucket of hot water with Murphy's wood oil soap. Water and vinegar helps cut grease too though. If they are really old, you can't really hurt them...that Goo gone stuff works for anything that is built up or particularly "gummy" I recommend wearing gloves to avoid splinters. Good luck!
My old house had 20 yr old cabinets and I took one day to really clean them with Murphy's Oil soap and then once dried I went back over them with Lemon Oil and never had to do it again. I would only wipe clean every so often with a wet sponge. They looked amazing and it even changed the color, made them darker which looked more updated.
Hello L., I use Shaklee's Basic H2 mixed up for the degreasing dilution on my cabinets over the stove, and it works wonderfully. It takes away all the grease, "cooked in steam dust", etc. You purchase Basic H2 and mix it up in spray bottles for 3 general cleaning categories: 1. 16 oz. of water and 2 drops of Basic H2 for windows & mirrors 2. 16 oz. of water and 1/4 teaspoon of Basic H2 for general purpose cleaning (walls, woodwork, appliances, countertops, etc. 3. 16 oz. of water and 1 1/2 teaspoons of Basic H2 for degreasing You can also mix 1 tsp. of Basic H2 to 1 gallon of water in a bucket for floors (wood, tile, linoleum, etc.). Contact me for any questions. You can also purchase this on my website as I happen to be a distributor www.GreenHomeBusiness.net Hope this is helpful for you. E. Taft ____@____.com
Lestoil is stinky but will get the job done.
For greasy areas, "TSP" works well. It is now sold as a phosphate-free product at hardware stores (still called TSP, but no longer really a trisodium phosphate). You need to follow the directions carefully. If you do not dilute enough, it can de-gloss your cabinets.
Vinegar with a little steel wool is also good and if it is really stubborn, you can use a small amount of mineral spirits on a cotton rag.
Unfortuantely it will all require some labor - there is no magic solution.
C.
Warm water and vinegar.
Works great. Dries completely.
No streaks. Grease comes right off.
LBC
