Kitchen is the hub of every house, but it is undeniable that more often than not, it is also one of the dirtiest parts of a house. This is especially true for kitchen cabinets, as layers of dirt and grime can easily pile up from daily activities in the kitchen. While it is recommended to clean your cabinets as often as possible, a vast majority of homeowners simply do not have the time and energy to do so, and that is fine. The most important thing is to clean them thoroughly when you are cleaning them, and this process depends heavily on the type as well as the finish of your kitchen cabinets.
For those of you with wooden cabinets, you need to be more careful when cleaning them. This is because you would not want to ruin the finish of your cabinets or scrubbing them down to bare woods, which might reduce their appearance and aesthetic value. The best way to clean wooden kitchen cabinets is by using dedicated cleaner made for wood, which is widely available in hardware stores with a relatively low price. If your wooden kitchen cabinets are antique or expensive, you might also want to consider purchasing professional cleaning agents or solutions–while these might be more expensive that the usual wood cleaner, they will also help preserve the shine and finish of your cabinets for years on end.
If you want to go the DIY route, you can also use detergent, vinegar, or baking soda to clean your cabinets. Detergent is good for cleaning sticky films, and it can also be substituted by a vinegar and water solution in you want to. For stains that can be difficult to remove using detergent or vinegar, you can create a baking soda paste to rub the stained area clean. As wooden cabinets can be pretty tricky to clean properly, it is also advised for you to test out your method of cleaning on a small patch of area to make sure that it can clean your cabinets properly without ruining its finish or color.
Painted and metal cabinets, on the other hand, are so much easier to clean up compared to their wooden counterparts, due to their durability. You can use an all-purpose cleaner to clean your painted or metal cabinets easily, and they can handle rougher scrubbing if you encounter stains that are difficult to remove. You do need to practice more caution when it comes to water-based, latex-painted cabinets, however, as excessive scrubbing and the use of baking soda might instead leave scratch marks on its surface. The safest way to clean this type of cabinets is by using all-purpose cleaner and warm water, and to just gently rub the surface instead of putting a lot of force and elbow grease into the motion. It is not advised to clean your metal cabinets with baking soda, but these cabinets can handle far more wear and tear–just make sure not to overwet the surface to prevent rusting.