How to Clean Painted Kitchen Cabinets

Painting your kitchen, bathroom, or any built-in cabinets can completely transform a room! Painting existing cabinets (rather than tearing them out and replacing them) offers so many benefits: it’s less expensive, less disruptive, and offers more color choices.

At Martzall’s Custom Surfaces, we use highly durable paint that resists common kitchen stains, but if you want to keep your cabinets looking their best, you need to clean them properly. Furthermore, keeping your kitchen (and the rest of your home) clean is vital to your family’s health and well-being.

“A clean house will help reduce your family’s risk of exposure to many indoor pollutants such as bacteria, and allergens, like dust mites,” Clemson Cooperative Extension explains. “A clean house is also less inviting to mice, rats, and other pests.” The kitchen is where you store food and prepare meals, so you’ll want to keep all of the surfaces – including painted cabinets - clean to keep your family safe.

Avoid Harsh Cleaning Products

Unfortunately, harsh cleaning products can damage painted cabinets – both the paint and the wood beneath it. Fortunately, avoiding harsh cleaning products keeps your painted kitchen cabinets looking good and lasting longer while also keeping your family safe from volatile organic compounds (VOCs) most cleaning products emit.

You may be surprised how easy it is to clean your painted cabinets without the use of harsh cleaning products.

Cleaning up Messes

As you prepare meals, clean up as you go. If you see something splatter on a cabinet, immediately wipe it with a damp microfiber cloth and mild dish soap. Rinse it with a clean, damp microfiber cloth, and then wipe it dry.

For more stubborn messes, Clemson Cooperative Extension recommends dissolving baking soda in warm water (4 T of baking soda to 1-quart water), applying it with a sponge, and rinsing it with clear water. Again, do not leave excess water to air-dry.

BONUS TIP: If you have a flat electric stovetop, sprinkle some baking soda on the tough stains and scrub them with a wet microfiber cloth. You’ll be amazed at the results!

Regular Cleaning

A buildup of grease, grime, dust, fingerprints, etc., can wear the paint down, and lingering grease collects more dust and grime. The more you let the dirt build up, the harder it will be to remove (which can also be said for unpainted cabinets).

Avoid a buildup by regularly wiping down all of your cabinets with a microfiber cloth and mild dish soap. How often you should do that depends on how hard your kitchen is used.

For example, if you live alone and rarely cook, you can do this once or twice a year. However, if you have a big family or you regularly enjoy frying foods, you’ll want to wipe down your cabinets more frequently (perhaps once a week or once a month).

And don’t forget to clean the interior of your cabinets, glass inserts, and hardware. You might try tackling the interior of just one or two cabinets each week instead of the daunting task of emptying all of your cabinets at one time.

What to Avoid When Cleaning Painted Cabinets

• Harsh cleaning products
• Cleaning products with alcohol that can eat away at the paint
• Cleaning products with wax that create a wax build-up that gets nasty over time
• Bleach or ammonia
• Abrasive sponges and scrubbers
• Soaking the surfaces
• Leaving them to air dry 

Why Microfiber?

“The microfibers, which include both positive-charged and negative-charged components, work by attracting and pulling bacteria, dirt, and grease from the surfaces they come into contact with,” according to Martha Stewart. “Essentially, it's the very fibers within the cloth that make it such a cleaning workhorse.”

Benefits of using microfiber cloths for cleaning:

• Lint-free
• Non-abrasive
• Absorbs water more efficiently
• Dries more quickly
• Removes up to 99% of bacteria on surfaces (That’s coming from the queen of cleaning – Marth Stewart.)
• Lasts longer
• Decrease the need for paper towels and other disposable wipes

Ready to Transform Your Kitchen, Bath, or Built-in Cabinets?

Transform your kitchen or bathroom at a fraction of the cost of new cabinetry. Martzall’s Custom Surfaces uses the latest spray painting and custom painting techniques along with highly durable paint to create a beautiful, customized look that will last!

Call us today at 717-682-2390 or connect with us online for a FREE, no-obligation estimate.