The Importance of Cleaning Your Cabinet Doors

If you haven’t cleaned your cabinet doors in a while, you’re hardly alone. This is not the kind of chore people do regularly, but that doesn’t mean you should avoid cleaning cabinet doors entirely. This post will show you why it’s important and give you some tips for keeping your doors in top shape year around.

How Do Cabinet Doors Get Dirty?

Everything in your home gets dirty over time. That being said, your cabinet doors are probably a lot dirtier than you think. That’s especially true for cabinet doors since they don’t get cleaned very often, if at all. And when they do, they only get wiped down with a bit of water where there is a smudge. For all these reasons, the majority of your cabinet doors may have never been thoroughly cleaned before.

That is a problem because cabinet doors also pick up a lot more grime and germs than people expect. Think of the most common places for cabinets – the kitchen and the bathroom. In the kitchen you have grease and smoke to contend with and in the bathroom, there is soap scum. In both places, there’s a lot of steam and humidity. Combine that with the fact that cabinet doors are often low to the ground and it’s clear why they pick up so much filth.

Why Should I Keep Cabinet Doors Clean?

Many people don’t make cleaning cabinet doors a priority simply because they don’t realize the doors are even dirty. That begs the question – if you can’t spot the dirt why deal with cleaning? The answer is because it upgrades your home in ways you don’t even expect. Here are some examples:

• Make Your Home More Sanitary – Your home is your headquarters. You don’t want it to make you sick. Even if your cabinet doors are not the dirtiest part of the home, they still need to be sanitized to ensure the whole family is not being exposed to accumulating germs.
• Make a Space Look and Feel Fresh and Clean – Since you see your cabinet doors every day, you probably don’t notice just how much grime has built up on the surface. Cleaning it off makes the doors itself look new. Consider spring cleaning cabinet doors every year.
• Make Your Cabinet Doors Last Longer – Dirt and grime wear down the finish on cabinet doors and eventually the wood underneath. If you wait too long between cleaning cabinet doors, the dirt may be difficult or even impossible to remove. As a result, you’re left with damaged and degraded doors. Replacing them is easier than you think, but you still want your current doors to last as long as possible.

Tips for Cleaning Cabinet Doors

Cleaning your cabinet doors is not rocket science. You still want to follow a specific method to ensure you get the cabinet doors as clean as possible without damaging the surface. Here’s what we recommend:

• Use a Mild Cleanser – You want something tougher than water alone but nothing that’s so harsh it damages the cabinet doors. Use a spray bottle to mix up one part dish soap or vinegar to two parts water. Make sure the water is warm to help take up the grease.
• Apply Lightly – Too much cleaner, even the right cleaner, is not good for your doors. Spray the cleaner directly onto a clean rag, not on the cabinet itself. Apply more cleaning spray as needed, just not so much that it’s dripping off the rag.
• Wipe and Scrub – Cleaning cabinet doors should be done systematically. Start at the top and work your way down ensuring you reach every bit of surface on the door. If there are places that require scrubbing or are hard to clean with a rag (like the hinges) use an old toothbrush.
• Final Rinse – Once all the cabinet doors have been tackled with cleaner, rub them down again with clean water. This helps to remove any lingering dirt as well as residue from the cleaner.
• Final Dry – The last step is to wipe all the cabinet doors down with a clean, dry cloth, preferably microfiber. Leaving water on the doors can cause the finish to crack or bubble.

Replacement vs. Restoration

As you’re cleaning the doors, take note of what kind of condition they’re in both before and after you clean them. Over time, cabinet doors get scratched, stained, weathered, and worn out. And no matter how much elbow grease you apply, these imperfections can’t be cleaned out. At a certain point, you need to consider whether replacing your current doors makes more sense than trying to restore them.

The team at CabinetDoors.com makes replacement easy. We custom-cut your new doors to fit your existing cabinets perfectly, and all our doors are made of premium wood. Whenever you’re ready to learn more, please contact us.