Day 5. Clean Doors and Cabinets

Day 5 of “A 30 Day Guide to Spring Cleaning“.

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Oh, the dreaded cleaning of cabinets. How do you best clean them? How often should you clean them? Can we just burn them all and store things in boxes instead of cleaning them? These are all questions that arise when thinking of cleaning cabinets. I’m not sure if you can tell, but it’s not on my list of favorite things to do…

Although cleaning cabinets may not be your favorite thing (or mine) it does in fact still need to be done. Commonly, we focus so much on the horizontal surfaces where dust and dirt can “collect” and we tend to neglect the vertical surfaces that, according to the laws of gravity, should be perfectly clean! Well let me break the bad news to you… **suspenseful music** your cabinets are probably filthy!

Your cabinets should be wiped down fairly regularly, and if you do not keep up with a somewhat regular maintenance, cleaning them can become a nightmare. So lets talk about some easy ways to tackle this task, and tackle cleaning your doors.

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What to clean:

• Cabinet doors
• Cabinet framing
• Molding/trim around cabinets
• Tops and bottoms of cabinets
• Décor on cabinet tops
• Inside shelves of cabinets (if you have time)
• Doors from top to bottom

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Cleaning Supplies:

• Recommended: dish soap and water, netted dish cloth (I highly, highly, recommend Norwex on this one), kitchen towel, bucket
• Check out these premium kitchen towels ‘paid link’
  • Optional recommended add on: Windex or Scrubbing Bubbles
• Alternative: all purpose cleaner, kitchen/dish cloth

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Cleaning Cabinets

Let’s start by getting our items ready, my mama always taught me to come prepared! Get your bucket and fill it a little over half full with hot water (as hot as you can handle on your hands), and about a tablespoon of dish soap. You don’t have to measure it out, I just felt compelled to provide an approximate amount. Put the dish soap in first, the water will mix it all up for you!

Add in your netted dish cloth. Using this netted dish cloth will allow for the holes in the netting, and the slightly abrasive texture to take off and collect stuck on grime, grease, and particles that you may encounter.

This netted dish cloth holds a lot of soap and water, so it can be a little messy. The great thing is, dish soap is safe for all counter types and shouldn’t pose an issue. I highly recommend Dawn Platinum Dish Soap ‘paid link’, it’s my go-to dish soap every time!

Next, let’s assess our situation here. I have added in some photos of my kitchen cabinets below. When I assess my situation, I am determining which cabinets are in the worst shape. I started in my kitchen because, let’s be real, these are going to be much more challenging than some bathroom vanities.

My bottom cabinets were definitely going to be my biggest challenge. Those, along with the cabinets above the stove. The bottom cabinets tend to get much dirtier, much faster due to being under the counter. Any spills, dropped items, overflows, etc. that occur on your counter surface are likely to leak down the cabinets.

Now, we think we clean these up well, but our kid spilled a glass of juice on the counter, and we are trying to clean it up while our child is crying hysterically because they don’t have juice anymore. We are fighting the dogs off trying to clean it up before they walk through it and track it through the house, and then another child runs up and slips in it, and they start crying because they hit their head.

My point is, stuff happens! We think we clean everything up but sometimes we don’t realize we missed spots, or we get distracted. I wipe my lower cabinets down probably about once a week or as needed, but when I looked closer, they were in rough shape!

You will want to start with the cabinets that will be the hardest to clean. Why?!?! Because we lose motivation as we go… don’t tell me it’s not true. If you are sick and tired of cleaning cabinets, and then you get to the really tough ones, you will likely want to quit right then and there!

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How to clean the cabinets:

• Soak your netted dish cloth in the soapy water and squeeze out excess water
• Start scrubbing
• Put some elbow grease into it
• Anywhere the dish cloth is “sticking” likely still has build up
• Start with the detailed areas and work to the flat surface
• Focus around areas that get touched quite frequently (hand oils cause further buildup)
• Open the doors up and wash the framing
• Clean the inside of the doors starting at any details and working to flat areas
• Rinse and squeeze your dish cloth as needed
• Change your water as needed
• Make sure to pay attention to the bottoms of the doors and kickboard as well
• Wipe the cabinet dry with a dry kitchen towel to avoid water spots

Do Not:

• Use an abrasive cleaner (abrasive cleaners can ruin your cabinet finish)
• Use a super abrasive cloth
• Leave water buildup sitting
• Forget to wash the bottoms of your cabinets

Additional Items:

• Now is a great time to organize your cabinets again, and throw out those expired pantry items, or unused items
• Use this opportunity to touch up any nicks or scratches in the cabinet surfaces
  • You can use a wood filler for nicks or deep scratches
  • For surface scratches and wear and tear, you can use touch up paint (from the paint on the cabinets if they are painted), or there are plenty of cabinet scratch repair pens, or stain repair pens available. Stain and Furniture Repair Kit ‘paid link’
  • Use a Cabinet Restorer ‘paid link’ on wood cabinets to provide a nice finish
  • Tighten loose hardware on the cabinets

I did not put much focus into repairing the finish and stain on my wood cabinets, as I will be painting them as my next project in my kitchen upgrade/restore. I will be providing posts on this process, so stay tuned!

Speaking of painting cabinets, I recently tried out a cabinet paint on my downstairs bathroom vanity. It was a cabinet paint that I wasn’t familiar with, and I wanted to try it out to determine if I might want to use it for my kitchen revamp. I won’t be using it, as it has already scratched off in places, but this provided a perfect opportunity to demonstrate repairing scratches with paint and a Q-tip. Be sure to mix the paint before using it, once the paint dries it will blend right in!

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Cleaning Doors

Now that you already have your bucket and soapy water ready, let’s clean some doors with the same supplies! Dish soap is fantastic for taking those oily finger prints and dirty/grime buildup that happens from opening and closing the doors. Not to mention those pesky dog prints and kid shoe prints that magically appear even though your kid “didn’t push the door shut with their foot”.

My doors and trim are all white. Why did I paint them white with kids and dogs on a dirt road?!?! Because I love a challenge and I prefer to live in a state of chaos. No, in reality, because I love the look of Sherwin Williams Alabaster, you can’t beat the fresh clean not to bright white color!

How to clean your door:

• Get your bucket of soapy water and netted dish cloth
• Soak the dish cloth and squeeze out excess water
• Wash your door from top down
• Start with the detailed areas and work to the flat areas
• Water will run down, so don’t wash the bottom first
• Focus around the high touch areas and bottom
• Wipe the door dry to avoid water spots and dinginess

Additional items:

• Tighten any loose door handles with a screw driver
• Touch up paint as needed

That’s it! I’ll wash doors all day if I could avoid washing cabinets, but now they are both taken care of.

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If you have any questions, feel free to post them in the comments and I would be happy to get back with you.

Check out Day 4. Wipe Down Shelves and Surfaces here.

Check out Day 6. Clean Furniture here.

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