The Homeowner's Guide to Custom Cabinet Care and Cleaning
Keeping your custom cabinets looking stunning is easier than you think. Here’s a quick guide to ensure your cabinetry remains beautiful and functional for years to come.
General Cleaning
Dust your custom cabinets periodically with a soft lint-free cloth. For laminate and high gloss finishes, a microfiber cloth works best.
Handling Grime
- Use a clean, soft cotton cloth (or microfiber for laminate and high gloss finishes) dampened with warm water to clean grime.
- For tougher dirt and grease, mix a mild solution of dishwashing liquid (not dishwasher detergent) with warm water. A 5% dishwashing liquid to 95% water ratio is ideal.
- After cleaning your stained or painted custom cabinets, wipe them down with a clean, damp cloth, and dry thoroughly with another soft cloth.
- Always dry laminates and high gloss finishes with a microfiber cloth to prevent scratches.
Dealing with Splatters and Spills
- Wipe up spills quickly, then clean with warm water or the mild dishwashing liquid solution. Prolonged exposure to food, water, grease, and oils can permanently damage or discolor your custom cabinet’s finish.
- After cleaning, dry with a soft, clean cloth for stained and painted cabinetry, and a microfiber cloth for laminates and high gloss finishes.
Glass Door Maintenance
- Clean glass doors by spraying an ammonia-free glass cleaner onto a clean, soft, lint-free cloth or paper towel, and wipe the glass. Avoid spraying directly onto the glass to prevent seepage behind mullions or dividers, which can damage wood or other materials.
Polishing and Waxing
Avoid both polishing and waxing your custom cabinets. Over time, these compounds can build up on surfaces, creating a hazy, streaked, or yellowed appearance. Removing wax build-up can be quite difficult and time-consuming.
Addressing Nicks and Scratches
- For minor surface damage on your custom cabinetry, touch-up kits are available. Your cabinet retailer can help you get a color-matched touch-up kit.
- Follow the kit instructions: use the touch-up pen for minor blemishes and the tinted putty stick for deeper scratches, gouges, or nicks.
Additional Tips
- Avoid draping damp towels or cloths over your custom cabinet doors, as moisture can cause permanent damage like peeling or discoloration. Dry wet surfaces immediately with a soft cloth.
- Wood expands and contracts with humidity levels. Maintain consistent temperature and humidity to keep your custom cabinets in good condition. Refer to your Cabinet Warranty and Homeowner's Guide to Humidification for specific recommendations.
- Heat from the self-cleaning oven cycle can exceed normal cooking temperatures and may damage nearby custom cabinetry. To reduce the risk, consider removing cabinet doors and drawers closest to the oven during the self-cleaning cycle.
- Direct sunlight can alter the color of natural wood products, except for walnut, which lightens. Painted wood surfaces and laminates, including high gloss, can also fade or discolor. Use draperies or blinds to shield cabinetry from direct sunlight, and avoid cleaning laminates and high gloss materials in direct sunlight.
Products to Avoid
- Harsh detergents, strong soaps, multi-purpose cleaners, and abrasive products like tub and sink cleaners, scouring powders, and steel wool.
- Sponges or dish cloths that may contain particles or residues from harsh cleaning solutions.
- Paper towels, especially on high gloss cabinetry, due to the risk of scratching.
- Solvent-based or petroleum-based products like mineral spirits, nail polish removers, and paint thinners.
- Cleaners containing ammonia or bleach, and silicone-based cleaning, waxing, or polishing products.
By following these guidelines, you’ll keep your custom cabinets looking gorgeous and ensure their longevity.
Custom Wood can help design & build the perfect cabinet solutions for any room in your home. Visit our showroom in Cream Ridge and be amazed by the craftsmanship, Appointments Recommended.