Keeping the kitchen tidy is hard enough, but what do you do when regardless of how much you scrub, there is a greasy film across your cabinets? You can wipe and scrub but all it does is make your cabinets dull with streaks. It’s a constant battle, regardless of how careful you are when cooking. Grease is one of the toughest things to clean and the longer it sits, the harder it can be to get rid of.
Here are a few different processes to help get your kitchen sparkling:
Vinegar
Just plain old white vinegar! This stuff works on so many different things around the house and is the most affordable of any option. Dampen a clean cloth and add undiluted white vinegar to it. Wipe across your cabinets to remove the grease. Rinse your cloth with warm water and give the cabinets a once over. Continue this process until all grease is gone.
White vinegar is VERY inexpensive and can be found at most stores. Costco usually carries two huge jugs for around $5 or $6.
RELATED: Mix vinegar with cream of tartar to clean porcelain or check out what NOT to do with vinegar
Dish soap and warm water
Your dish soap is not just for dishes! It has grease fighting properties that will work in other areas of the home. Fill a bucket with warm water and dish soap and use a scouring pad to scrub away the grease and rinse. Be careful not to scrub too hard and take off the finish of your cabinets. I’d recommend testing on a very small, out of the way area first.
Lemon Essential Oil
I love the smell of lemons so this is by far my favorite method. Using a clean cloth, apply small amounts of lemon essential oil to your cabinets. This will break up the grease and leave your cabinets sparkling and smelling like summer. If the grease is really baked on this method may take a bit longer than the others. Again, be sure to test a small area first to avoid discoloration.
RELATED: How to clean your home naturally with essential oils
Baking Soda and Oil
You can’t fight fire with fire but you can fight oil with oil If you have REALLY caked-on grease, make a mixture of 2 parts baking soda and 1 part vegetable oil. Rub this mixture into the grease with a soft cloth to help loosen the stuck on grime. Wash the cabinets with warm water and a little dish soap to help clear off this oil.
Just remember that the faster you get to cleaning up the oil, the easier it will be to clean off. If you allow it to sit and harden the more elbow grease you will have to put in to get it cleaned. I’d tell you to not let the mess build up as much as possible, but we all know this is the answer right? Sometimes things just get away from us.
We’d love to hear from you if one of the methods above worked well for you!
Looking for a good deal on a quality dish soap to battle stuck-on grease? Amazon usually has a great deal on Dawn dish soap, which is the brand we often see recommended in these unconventional cleaning hacks. Has great grease fighting properties! Check out this 4-pack of Dawn Liquid Dish Soap + 2 bonus non-scratch sponges for less than $15.
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I had my cabinets made by a woodcrafter person and they are beautiful with a satin finish cream and antiqued with a med. mustard inking in the grooves of the design. My cleaning girls have wiped them off with water, some light soap. I noticed that around the knobs there we quite a few smudges from light greasy handling and what they were doing was just creating more smudges from their wiping motion.
I tried just wiping them myself to no avail with water and lite soap to no avail. And, then I decided to use my lemon oil and the smudges came off easily. I remembered years ago I use an old rag with some oil to clean panneling and it worked. That’s when I decided to try the lemon oil.
Is this something that will harm my cabinets if I use it now and then for the smudges from hands, etc.
I don’t want to do anything to ruin my kitchen cabinets. Please advise me.