It’s quite easy to get oil splatters everywhere when cooking. And it’s a natural part of the process, especially if you’re just learning to cook. It’s not something you’ll pay mind to initially, but you’ll often be caught by surprise due to the sudden stickiness of your kitchen cabinets.
Sticky residue on your kitchen cabinets is a common issue that can be quickly solved, provided you have the right tools at your disposal and know how to use them. Here, we’ll teach you how to clean sticky wood kitchen cabinets.
Necessary Cleaning Tools
Cleaning wood kitchen cabinets isn’t a particularly difficult task. Before proceeding to clean the dirt or grime off, you should check your inventory for these tools.
Cleaning Solution
Finding an appropriate cleaning solution is considered a bit difficult. Chemical solutions are effective at doing their jobs but can leave scratches and damage the surface of the wood. There are commercial cleaners that work effectively, but in case you don’t have them, you have an easy alternative.
Vinegar works surprisingly well as a cleaning solution when mixed with water. A 50/50 solution (equal parts vinegar and water) can handle almost all types of grimy residue while leaving your wooden cabinets undamaged.
It is recommended to prepare the solution and transfer it into a spraying bottle for the best use.
Soap and Hot Water Solution
Some dish soap and water can be used at the end of the cleaning procedure to remove traces of vinegar and have your kitchen cabinets look clean. You can also opt to use just clean water, but some soap helps to remove the vinegar.
Baking Soda and Water Mix
This is not a necessity, but depending on how dirty or sticky your kitchen cabinet might be, you’ll need this. At times, the vinegar mix may not be able to completely remove all the sticky residue, and you’ll need to resort to baking soda. Mix baking soda and water in a bowl until you get a thick paste.
You can later apply this paste using a sponge to sticky areas.
Sponge or Clean Cloth
A sponge is recommended for the best results, but a clean cloth will do well too. These make it easier to scrub the grime off your kitchen cabinets and, as such, is needed. You can also choose to use a toothbrush to scrub some small areas where there are sticky residues, and it is difficult to use a sponge or clean cloth.
Cleaning the Kitchen Cabinets
Once you have your cleaning supplies ready, you can begin cleaning the kitchen cabinets. The process is straightforward, and there are some simple instructions you need to keep in mind. They are:
Prepare Cleaning Solutions
Make all the necessary cleaning solutions (vinegar mix and baking soda mix). You will need a lot of it.
Apply Vinegar Solution
Take a sponge or cleaning cloth and soak it in the vinegar solution. Once soaked, apply it to the sticky area and start scrubbing it.
If possible, it is recommended to remove handles and knobs to make cleaning easier. You can also clean them separately to make the process smoother.
Clean with Water
Take another sponge or cloth and soak it in the soap water mix. Using that cloth, begin to clean the area where you previously scrubbed using the vinegar solution. Continue until the vinegar solution is wiped completely away from the surfaces.
Apply Baking Soda Solution (Optional)
If your initial vinegar solution was not strong enough to remove all the sticky residue from your kitchen cabinets, you might need to use a baking soda solution. Prepare the baking soda solution if you haven’t made sure it has been made into a thick paste.
Using a clean cloth, apply the baking soda mix to the area you want to clean, making sure parts of it don’t drip or fall. Once properly applied, wait for it to dry.
And once it has dried, you can then opt to scrape it off using a tool of your choosing (a brush can help a lot in doing this but make sure that the bristles are plastic or you risk scratching the surface).
Clean with Water Again
Once you have scraped off the dried baking soda solution, you need to take a clean cloth or sponge dipped with soapy water and clean the area again. Continue doing this until all traces of the cleaner solution has been removed.
Dry the Surfaces
You can use a clean cloth to simply wipe the water away and then let it dry naturally. You can also use a dryer if you want to speed up the process.
Conclusion
Hopefully, you now have a good idea of how to go about cleaning sticky wood kitchen cabinets. As you can see, it is not too difficult, but it is recommended to do this cleaning regularly as leaving the grime alone for a long time will cause a large build-up making it difficult to remove at times.