Tips for Cleaning & Maintaining Your Kitchen Cabinets

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Cabinets are an integral part of every kitchen, used for storing food, dishes, plates, utensils, and more. They can take up a lot of space and serve as one of the main focal points of the room. So, if dirty marks and unsightly stains start to appear on your kitchen cabinets, the whole space can start to look far less attractive. This is why it helps to know how to clean kitchen cabinets correctly.

Fortunately, cleaning kitchen cabinets is simple, once you know how, but you need to take the correct approach for each situation. Cleaning grease marks from wooden kitchen cabinets usually requires a different method to getting rid of stains and spots from your cabinets, for example. This guide will go over how to clean kitchen cabinets in various ways, with tips, tricks, and techniques you can rely on.

How Often Should I Clean Kitchen Cabinets?

Before we look at the finer points of the best way to clean kitchen cabinets, you might be wondering about how often you need to clean them in the first place. Well, if you want the best results, we recommend a weekly light clean of your cabinets; each week, you should use a simple cleaning solution and cloth to wipe away surface marks, like fingerprint marks and sauce or oil splatters.

It’s also a good idea to do a deeper, more intensive cleaning of your kitchen cabinets on a seasonal basis, up to four times a year. For this kind of clean, you’ll need to set aside more time. You should empty the cabinets of all their contents and clean all the interior walls and shelves, as well as the interior and exterior of the door. Make sure to let everything dry before filling the cabinets back up.

 

how to clean your kitchen cabinets

How to Clean Wood Kitchen Cabinets?

If you have wooden cabinets, you need to treat them with care and techniques for wooden cabinets. Different types of wood and finishes can react differently to certain cleaning methods and products, so it’s best to start off with gentle cleaners to avoid causing any unwanted damage. Follow these tips for best results: 

  • Use a gentle oil-based soap to clean your cabinets and leave them with a beautiful, natural shine. 
  • Use damp cloths, but don’t soak them with too much water, as excess moisture can damage the wood. 
  • After cleaning, buff your wooden cabinet doors and surfaces with a dry cloth. Remember to wipe in the direction of the wood grain when buffing or polishing. 
  • Pay close attention to cabinets in high-risk areas, like those above the stove that are regularly exposed to oil and steam.

How to Remove Grease from Cabinets?

When it comes to how to clean sticky wood kitchen cabinets with grease stains and marks, the key is persistence. You may need to wipe them over a few times to really get rid of those greasy marks, but if you keep at it, you should succeed. For a simple and affordable solution, dilute some vinegar with water and use this as your cleaning solution.

How to Remove Stains from Cabinets?

You might be wondering about how to clean white kitchen cabinets with big stains or unsightly marks on them. Stains are never pleasant, and it’s always best to try and prevent them from appearing in the first place by wiping away any splatters or surface marks as soon as you notice them. But what do you do if the stain has already been set and you can see colorful marks or water stains on your kitchen cabinets? 

Well, for food stains, it’s best to try and use a damp cloth to wipe away as much of the stain as possible. Then, mix up some baking soda with water to form a paste and let it sit on the stain for five minutes, before wiping away. This should help to get rid of most household stains on your kitchen cabinets without too much effort required.

If you notice water stains on your cabinets, it’s a good idea to start using distilled water to clean them in the future, as your regular tap water could be too high in mineral content. And for other stains, like scuff marks, you may actually be able to use a regular school eraser to get rid of them. This works amazingly well on white cabinets, in particular.

How to Care for Painted Cabinets?

If you have painted kitchen cabinets in your home, you’ll need to clean them well and look after them properly. Otherwise, the paint may fade or crack over time, ruining the aesthetic and causing your kitchen to look quite messy. Here are some top tips to follow for how to clean kitchen cabinets that are painted:

  • Use gentle cleansers and home solutions, like water mixed with baking soda, for best results. 
  • Try using some diluted ammonia solution to get rid of any grease marks or fingerprints. 
  • Pay close attention to the painted cabinets above the stove or in areas that are exposed to lots of steam and moisture. 
  • If the paint starts to crack, kitchen cabinet refinishing or repainting may be needed.

Tips on Kitchen Cleaning Process

As well as knowing the right methods to clean different types of kitchen cabinets, it’s also helpful to follow some simple tips that can help you in your general kitchen cleaning. Here are a few useful tricks you can keep in mind to keep your kitchen looking its best and ensure that all of your kitchen surfaces remain clean, fresh, and beautiful, too.

Use Gentle Cleaning Solutions

In general, when cleaning the kitchen, it’s best to opt for gentle cleaning solutions. This can include homemade cleaning solutions, like diluted vinegar or lemon juice, or professional products that don’t contain any abrasive chemicals or damaging ingredients. Gentle cleaners like these will help to preserve your kitchen cabinets and surfaces without doing any unnecessary damage.

Tackle Tight Spots with Toothbrush

There are plenty of hard-to-reach spots around the kitchen that can be tricky to clean. Little corners and crannies can be really hard to get to, and it’s common for dirt, dust, and even mold to accumulate in these areas if they aren’t cleaned regularly and properly. Try using a toothbrush to access these tricky spots. 

Dry the Cabinets After Cleaning

Don’t forget that drying your cabinets is just as important as cleaning them. If you use a damp cloth or cleaning solution, make sure to use a dry cloth to dry the surfaces off afterward. This can help to polish them and buff away any marks or stains. Plus, removing excess moisture helps to prevent any bacterial development or mold growth, too.

 

clean your kitchen cabinets

Conclusion

Overall, cleaning your kitchen cabinets is quite simple, but you need to put in the effort and make sure to clean the doors and surfaces on a regular basis. If you delay the process, your cabinets may wear down over time, and you might find yourself in need of a more serious fix, like cabinet refacing or refinishing, rather than simple cleaning. If you want to refresh and revitalize tired cabinets, contact us to learn more about resurfacing services. In the meantime, make sure to clean cabinets often to keep them in top condition.

How To Choose Bathroom Tile: Tips To Keep In Mind

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When you are trying to choose the right tile for your bathroom you might realize that a huge number of choices are actually available. Tiles come in so many different styles, shapes, sizes, textures and more, whether you want a backsplash tile or larger tiles to create the illusion of one, solid surface.

Tiling is not just something for the walls, either. The floor tiles should be considered, and not getting the right tiles can even mean a slip hazard.

Keep Size in Mind

Size is definitely one of the keys to making the right choice of tile. If you are looking to choose tiles it can be easy to simply assume that you should make the choice based on the size of the room. This isn’t always the same. A large design of tiles in a small bathroom might look fantastic, it can give the impression of a larger, smoother surface.

The bathroom tiles design may be deliberately smaller, for more of a ‘mosaic’ effect. Even in a large bathroom, smaller, compact tiles placed together can sometimes look fantastic, and give more flexibility about which areas are suitable for tiling. You might not be tiling the whole room, instead, one specific feature with smaller tiles might be suitable.

Though some sizes might not be appropriate for your bathroom, size is an opportunity to make a design your own. It is not always about what will be easiest to tile, but what will look best in your opinion!

Balance Different Tile Types

Many people simply choose one design of tile and decide this is the theme for the whole of their bathroom. They may be missing a trick!

Different styles and colors of tile can be a good way to accent your design and give something more interesting to look at. Multiple tiles can create a mosaic look, a geometric pattern or even just a random sense of texture and natural, less clinical feel. For instance, you may wish to use three different shades of blue when tiling the walls, this can give a very interesting look and feels a lot more rustic.

Different tile sizes can be harder to work with, but textures and colors are a good way to create some variety in your design and break up what would otherwise be a huge mass of color.

One of the best ways to ensure that you are creating a quality design which will actually work is to discuss what you need with an excellent local company who know about tiling and how to create long-lasting, well-thought-out designs. If you’re based in Vegas, check out the best Las Vegas Contractors to help you through design and the tiling process.

Don’t Neglect Texture

Texture is definitely something you should think about in terms of design. How smooth should the finish be? Can a little texture give an interesting finish to the look of your tiled walls?

The texture isn’t just a feature relating to the look and design, though. For instance, if you are looking to put floor tiles in place on your bathroom floor, really smooth tiles can create a slip hazard and a little texture gives more to grip. This is especially helpful as your bathroom floor is naturally going to get wet at times.

On the flip side of that coin, a textured wall tile might be harder to clean. Smooth tiles are designed to be easy to wipe down and clean.

It may well be the case that you look for a very different design of floor tile compared to the tiles you end up with on the walls.

Remember, Grout Is the Finishing Touch

Bathroom tiles design maybe your initial focus, and the main decision you make, but grouting is equally important. There is no point in finding the perfect combination of tiles to get installed in your bathroom if you are not going to get the grouting right. Work with professional tile installation contractors to make sure the grouting is carried out properly.

You can get grout in different colors and it can be another great way to break up a design and make your bathroom look that extra bit more interesting. Black grout on white tiles or vice versa can give an interesting contrast.