March 8, 2010

Tips for Cleaning Kitchen Cupboards

Kitchen cabinets are beautiful when they're first installed, but the environment they exist in shortly can mar their beauty if you don't make it a practice of cleaning kitchen cabinets on a regular basis. It's not only the interiors that need cleaning, either. The exteriors of kitchen cupboards take a beating. They are assaulted with air laden with cooking grease, sticky fingers, moisture, smoke, and food spills. If this increase of grime is permitted to toughen and continue to build over time, it's going to be much tougher to get rid of, so you need to clean your cupboards frequently.

Often amild soap, such as a grease-cutting dish detergent, and warm water will do the trick as long as your cabinets are laminate, painted, plastic, metal, or wood-grained vinyl, but there are times when you need some kind of cleaner to help penetrate the grease and grime, especially with wood cabinet surfaces. All-purpose cleaners may do a good job of cleaning the outsides of your cupboards, but never use anything abrasive on the surfaces, such as Comet, because that will scratch them. You must also avoid using steel wool or scrub brushes for cleaning kitchen cupboards for the same reason.

For an old-time, natural approach, you can try a solution of half vinegar and half water. Grandmother knew that the combination was sure fire when it came to cleaning kitchen grease, and it will still do a good job for you. If the build-up is too great for this solution to penetrate and wash away, try using straight vinegar. You can also make a paste out of some baking soda and water or a solution of lemon juice and club soda which will cut the grease naturally.

As a final resort to salvage cabinets that the greasy increase has been allowed to acquire and harden, you can try paint thinner. This is much more caustic than the other solutions you can use, so treat it with care. Never use it around an open flame or extreme heat, wear gloves while using it, and open windows to give yourself masses of ventilation. You might also want to wear a respirator to keep yourself from inhaling the fumes. Be certain to test the paint thinner on ahidden spot to be certain it isn't going to damage the finish on your cabinets before basically going to work.

Cleaning kitchen cabinets is a large amount of work, especially when dirt and grease have been permitted to increase over time. By wiping your cupboards down periodically, you can keep them from getting the thick build-up that takes so much time, elbow grease, and cleaning experience to get rid of.
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