White cabinets give kitchens a fresh, clean, and airy appearance. However, white kitchens tend to become yellowish over the years. The yellowing process is even faster for kitchens that don’t get enough sunlight. On the other hand, moisture can cause an amber hue on the white surfaces. If the white cabinets in the kitchen have become yellow, you may think about stripping the varnish and repainting the same. But before taking any costly measures, you can try to give the kitchen a good cleaning. If the yellowing is caused by smoke and cooking grease, a good cleaning can be helpful.
How To Clean White Kitchen Cabinets?
To give the kitchen a tough cleaning, you should follow some basic steps and here you go!
1. Fundamental Cleaning
First, you need to mix half a cup of any all-purpose cleaner, wood cleaner, or white vinegar with half a cup of lukewarm water in the spray bottle. Spritz the mixture onto the surfaces of white cabinets. Do one cabinet at a time. Now take a soft sponge for surface scrubbing. You should scrub the surface in a circular motion. Now rinse the sponge thoroughly and wring out the excess water. Wipe the cabinet once again with the damp sponge for removing the excess cleaner. Now with a soft dray rage, dry the cabinet.
2. Removing Grease Stains
Now, it comes to removing grease stains caused by cooking. Dip a sponge in the water and wring out excess water. Keep the windows of the kitchen open. Wear a pair of clean rubber gloves. Take a little amount of undiluted ammonia onto the sponge. Clean the cabinets now from the bottom to the top. Otherwise, the chemical can drip down your arms. After cleaning the cabinets, wipe the same and scrub gently. Rinse the sponge and wring out excess water; wipe the excess ammonia off the surfaces. Take a soft towel to dry the surfaces.
3. Removing Tough Stains
This is a bit time-consuming. Take half a cup of baking soda; mix it with one-fourth cup of water, and make a paste. Take a damp sponge or a soft toothbrush to apply the paste on the surface. Gently scrub the yellowed portions. Now let the paste sit onto the vintage kitchen cabinets for about 5 minutes and then wipe it off the surface with a damp sponge.
Things Not To Do
When it comes to cleaning white shaker kitchen cabinets, there are a few things that you shouldn’t do. Let’s check out some of them:
1. Don’t Soak The Cabinetry
Don’t directly spray the cleaning solution onto the surface of the cabinet. Rather spray it onto a soft rug to make it damp but not drenched.
2. Don’T Allow Water To Directly Run Into Knobs And Hinges
Though the cleaning solution you will make at home is safe for the finished and even painted wood and laminates, it is not safe for the knobs and hinges. It may cause unwanted rust. Instead of a cleaning solution, simply take a rag and wipe the grime and dust away from the metal hardware.
So, these are some dos and don’ts that you should follow to remove yellow stains from white cabinets.