How to Clean Your Cabinets for a Long Lasting Paint Finish

The best way to improve the appearance of the kitchen is to paint cabinets or refinish cabinets. Refinishing kitchen cabinets is an inexpensive and cost-effective method of changing the look of a kitchen. One thing homeowners need to know is to remove grease from existing kitchen cabinets.

Grease or oil residues are the fastest contaminants that will cause a paint or stain to fail. Oil stains can prevent paint or stain from adhering properly to kitchen cabinets. Removing grease and cooking resin from kitchen cabinets will go a long way toward the longevity of your new finishes. It’s also easier to clean your cabinets with the doors off and put them in a safe place.

The first thing in the kitchen cabinet cleaning process is to remove all hardware from the cabinets and doors. Removing the hardware will prevent grease and water from collecting behind the hinges and doors, which could pose a problem later.

It takes a few things to clean cabinets of major kitchen contaminants. The list of items needed would be sticky pads, any strong degreasing solution, sponges, towels, and a clean 3 gallon bucket.

Scotch pads are needed to scrub cabinets to help remove contaminants from under the grain. Some people like to spray degreaser on their cabinets and others like to pour some degreaser into a bucket and dilute the solution with water according to the amount of grease deposits on their kitchen cabinets.

Once the cabinets are scrubbed down and clean, pour clean water into the 3 gallon bucket and soak your sponge. Once the sponge is soaked, wring it out and wipe all the degreaser off your cabinets and doors. Once you have removed all of the cleaning solution from your cabinets, you will want to repeat the cleaning process at least 2 times. You want to clean your cabinets 3 times minimum.

Thoroughly cleaning your kitchen cabinets is the best way to ensure that it will have the proper adhesion to your paint finish. Using the right cleaning products and removing all contaminants are especially important before moving on to the next stage.

You will need to do a test before moving on to the next phase to make sure you have removed all the grease and oil from your cabinets. An oil test kit can be purchased at your local paint store for around $50 at the time of writing.