My beautiful stained kitchen cabinets are 25 yrs old and quite streaked and dirty. I've tried Murphy's wood soap and other cleaners. I would like to clean them really well and then shine them up. I also don't know what to use to shine them once they are clean.
Hi I have same problem. I bought a house and inside the old kitchen cabinet smel like a old wood or mold. what can I do? I put backing soda inside of the cabinets but did not help. :(
I use a product called Liquid Gold. It has brought cabinet doors back to a lovely finish. One word about it though aside from it being very highly petroleum-smelling and thus a bit heady -- rub it on until the wood can absorb no more. Then polish off the excess. Treat at least once a year and more often if your climate is dry.
A friend in a similar situation suggested we use Pledge Revitalizing Oil with natural orange oil. Look for the bright orange trigger. It worked nicely. Need to re-do it about 3 times per year we have found. We use approx. two 16 oz. bottles. The first time, might have been 3 bottles.
Wipe your cabinets down thoroughly with mineral spirits - make sure the kitchen is ventilated well - this stuff smells! Once they are clean and have dried, put on a coat of polyurethane. You can either use the brush-on water-based ones or the "wipe-on" kind. The wipe-on formula is oil-based, but it goes on very easily with a soft cloth and doesn't drip.
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Request: Cleaning Old Kitchen Cabinets
Archived on 08/07/2008
My daughter just moved into her first apartment. The problem is the kitchen cabinets are old and have contact paper on them. How do we clean inside cabinets, they smell like old wood.
BJ from Ohio
Answers:
RE: Cleaning Old Kitchen Cabinets
I would clean the outside of the cabinets with baking soda and water. Inside to get the smell out I would put some coffee grounds, not used ones, in a paper plate or something similar and close the doors. This will freshen up the inside of the cabinets. Throw away the coffee after it is used. If the contact paper is in good condition on the cabinets a good cleaning would be fine. If the paper isn't in good shape then I would replace it or maybe see if they would let her paint them. Good luck! (09/07/2006)
By Michele
RE: Cleaning Old Kitchen Cabinets
The idea of using coffee gave me an idea. I put Folgers coffee singles in the cabinets and drawers. I called the landlord, they said it is probably varnish, and that they could only smell coffee. I disagree about it being varnish, varnish does not leave a stale smell. Will just replace the coffee single when they no longer work. Thanks for the ideas. (09/14/2006)
