5 Expert Ways to Clean Wooden Kitchen Cabinets

Last Updated on January 5, 2024

What is the best way to clean kitchen cabinets? At first glance, it seems like a simple question with a basic solution. I certainly thought so. But after reading what the experts had to say, I was surprised that there a lot was more to it than you expect! Read below on 5 different ways to clean wooden kitchen cabinets – and an average homeowner’s thoughts after trying them all.

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Why Clean Wooden Kitchen Cabinets?

Sure, cleaning your kitchen cabinets is all part of a maintaining a clean and cozy home. But here’s the real scoop – did you know that well-kept kitchen cabinets can last for a long time, even up to a whopping 50 years? Impressive, right?

That’s a longer lifespan than most of the stuff in your kitchen – including appliances, countertops and kitchen sinks. Heck, 50 years is older than me, and I’m no spring chicken ?

But here’s the plot twist. If you neglect your kitchen cabinets, they may start showing signs of wear and tear only after just 20-30 years. That’s when you will be start shopping around for replacements… and let me tell you, it’s not cheap.

Cabinet replacements can gobble up a whopping 60-70% of your full kitchen renovation. Considering the average full kitchen makeover costs around $24,000, that’s a hefty $15,000 bill just for cabinets.

That cost is nothing to sneeze at.

So, for someone like me who loves to make every penny count, it’s all the motivation I need to make sure my kitchen cabinets stay spick and span, standing strong for years to come.

My Experience

I love my kitchen cabinets – the kitchen is what sold me on this old house. They are beautiful, high-quality Thomasville kitchen cabinets with a rich brown tone and LOTS of storage space even a lazy susan!

But I’m hard on my kitchen. First, I’m a very messy cooker.  Plus, I have 3 precious little monsters (excuse me, I mean daughters ?) who love to “help” (i.e. create an even bigger mess).

Grease, grime and sticky toddler fingerprints quickly build up to embarrassing proportions on my kitchen cabinets.  With a busy lifestyle it’s hard to keep them constantly clean. 

I don’t know how old my cabinets are. They clearly aren’t original to our 1916 old house. We do based on home history research that our cabinets are at least 20 years old – aka when wear and tear starts to show on neglected cabinets. Uh-oooh…..

To ensure I’m giving my kitchen cabinets the best TLC possible, I turned to the wisdom of 5 online cleaning experts.

Who are the Cleaning Experts?

The online sources I found were completely varied – from large major cable networks and national cabinet manufacturers to smaller scale bloggers.  In alphabetical order, they are (drum roll please…..)

1. HGTV  – major cable network
2. Everyday Cheapskate – blogger and syndicated columnist
3. Grapes and Splendor – home blogger
4. The Spruce – major lifestyle online magazine 
5. Thomasville – large cabinet manufacturer

After reading through the expert’s posts, I was surprised at the variety of ways recommended to best clean wooden kitchen cabinets.

Before we start, here’s 2 things of note:

1. I’ve included links to the original source – I recommend you visit them.
2. Be sure to first test these cleaning methods first out on an inconspicuous area of your cabinet. Wait at least a few hours to ensure no damage and avoid ruining your cabinet’s finish.
3. The methods below are for cleaning WOOD cabinets. If you have differnt type of finish, like laminate cabinets, unfortunately this post isn’t for you.

How to Best Clean Wooden Kitchen Cabinets

1. HGTV

Like other experts, HGTV’s post “How to Clean Wood Cabinets” had two different strategies to handle general and deep cleaning kitchen cabinets. For general cleaning, HGTV recommended a vinegar solution as the best go-to natural solution. But for a more thorough cleaning, they recommend amping up the power with salt or baking powder.

My kitchen cabinets are dirty, but they aren’t horrific (luckily), so I tried out the general cleaning recommenation. However, If you’re cabinets are covered in sticky residue and tougher stains, be sure to scroll down to the FAQs on cleaning wooden kitchen cabinets and check out the expert recommendations for Deep Cleaning.

DIY Cleaner

1. Mix a 50/50 solution of vinegar and warm water in a spray bottle.
2. [Optional: Add a few drops of dishwashing soap to cut grime]
3. Mist on cabinets
4. Let sit for a minute or two
5. Wipe clean with a soft dry cloth.

Once cleaning is complete, HGTV also recommended added a protective finish on kitchen cabinet doors. BUT I’m going to save what to do once your cabinets are clean (since there is a difference of opinions) for the below FAQ section on Cleaning Kitchen Cabinets…

2. Everyday Cheapskate

Mary Hunt, the synidcated columnist behind Everyday Cheapskate, addressed a reader’s questions about moving into their new house with “stanky” greasy kitchen cabinets by recommending both a commercial and two homemade cleaners.

Commercial Cleaner

Mary recommended that real orange oil polish is the most effective way to “melt away grease, grime, polish, and wax buildup, leaving a fresh scent and beauty in its place”.

Admittedly, commercial cleaners are more expensive, but not horrific.

But she continued and recommended the following homemade concoctions for cleaning those wooden kitchen cabinets. Once clean, nothing additional is required to polish or protect.

DIY Cleaner

1. Mix 2 tablespoons olive oil, 4 tablespoons white vinegar and enough warm water to fill a 16-ounce bottle (about 2 cups).
2. Shake to mix and spray on kitchen cabinets. Be sure to continue to shake before spraying to keep oil mixed into the solution.
3. Scrub with a soft cloth to remove any dirt
4. Buff with a lint-free cloth to a beautiful shine.

3. Grapes and Splendor

For best results on clean kitchen cabinets, our third expert also recommended a homemade cleaning solution without harsh chemicals, but with completely different items found around our houses.

DIY Cleaner

1. Combine a solution of 1 cup of water, 1 teaspoon toothpaste and 2 tablespoons baking soda in a bowl.
2. Use a sponge or cloth to dip into the solution
3. Scrub cabinets with a soft cloth and elbow grease to remove any dirt
4. Wipe remaining solution away with a lint-free dry cloth

4. The Spruce

The Spruce handled their Tips for Cleaning Food Grease from Kitchen Cabinets, differently from other sites in that they focused more on commercial cleaners than homemade solutions.

Commercial Cleaner (3)

1. Orange Oil Cleaner

Follow manufacturer instruction, apply and let the cleaner sit for up to 10 minutes after spraying. Afterward, wipe the cleaner off using a warm, damp micro-cloth.

2. Brazilian carnauba wax

Carnauba wax is an ingredient that’s typically found in high-quality wood cleaners and polishes. One excellent product, called Magic Cabinet and Wood Cleaner, has a spray pump application. 

3. Goo Gone

After putting on rubber gloves, apply commercial Goo Gone cleaner and let it sit for a minute or two. Heat a damp micro cloth in a microwave for 35 seconds, then quickly wipe away the grease layer. Finally, clean the area with a mild wood soap and water, then dry completely. 

DIY Cleaner

The Spruce had an incredibly simple homemade recipe for how to clean wooden kitchen cabinets that relied on the simple power of dish soap to effectively cut through grease. However, unlike the other experts, recommended a slightly more abrasive material for scrubbing.

1. Mix a squirt or two of grease-cutting dish soap into a bucket of very hot water (as hot as you can stand),
2. Use a nylon scouring pad to attack cabinet grease.
3. Keep the water hot, and use light pressure on the nylon pad to avoid scratching the surface.
4. Rinse and dry excess moisture off the cabinets

5. Thomasville

Thomasville is the largest cabinet manufacturre in North America. And has been around for quite some time – established back in 1904 in North Carolina

We have Thomasville cabinets – and honestly I love their high quality.

On their parent company’s website The Homeowner’s Guide to Care and Cleaning, they actually recommend cleaning your kitchen cabinets with just a clean, soft cotton cloth dampened with warm water will do the trick to clean kitchen cabinets!

But honestly, I jumped right over that. I feel the need for some sort of cleaning agent to tackle greasy, grimy kitchen cabinets. They also recommended this DIY cleaner:

DIY Cleaner

1. Create a mild solution of dishwashing liquid (not dishwasher products) with fresh, clean, warm water. Use a 5% dishwashing liquid to 95% water ratio.
2. Clean stained or painted wood cabinets
3. Wipe down the surface of your cabinets with a clean, damp cloth
4. If needed, dry wet or damp surfaces with another clean soft cloth.

Wait. No Murphy’s OIl Soap?

Before we get into the 5 options below I just want to touch on how I personally used to clean wooden kitchen cabinets before taking on this experiment.

For years I’ve automatically gone to one of my favorite products to clean my wooden kitchen cabinets- Murphy Oil Soap.  I use diluted Murphy Oil Soap throughout my house – clean my wood floors, and clean the wood trim and baseboards in my house.

So I was intrigued by the fact that none of the experts brought up Murphy’s Oil Soap.

Curioustly got the best of me (or maybe I was procrastinating from actually cleaning my cabinets….) and I went direct to Colgate-Palmolive Company’s website, the makers of Murphy Oil Soap.

And it appears that I’ve been using the product wrong. Well, kinda wrong.

While I’ve been using Murphy Oil Soap solely to clean the grim and grease off my kitchen cabinet, I should have been using it in a two-step process. Murphy Oil Soap is meant to restore the wood’s natural glimmer AFTER the initial layer of dirt and grime is gone.

Whoops.

OK, so I tried all 5 cleaning methods…

I decided to experiment with each cleaning method on one of my kitchen cabinets to get my thoughts and find the best way to clean my wooden kitchen cabinets. So what was the best option? The best cleaner?

HGTV & Everyday Cheapskate

I tried both HGTV’s vinegar/ water mixture and Everyday Cheapskate’s olive oil/ vinegar/ water mixture. While both did an excellent job cleaning my cabinets, I struggled with the lingering vinegar smell. It reminded me of Easter when we use vinegar to color eggs. (Weird, I know….)

And apparently is you read below under FAQs on Cleaning Wooden Kitchen Cabinets, there is some debate on whether vinegar can actually harm your wooden cabinets! So I think I’ll shy away from vinegar on my kitchen cabinets.

Grapes and Spendor

Next, I tried Grapes and Spendor baking soda/ toothpaste/ water mixture. While the smell was more palatable, the toothpaste smell reminded me that I needed to call my dentist for a check up.

I think some folks will really like this method, but it just wasn’t for me. Like HGTV and Everyday Cheapskate, it was effective and got the job done. It cleaned the grease and grime off my cabinets.

The Spruce & Thomasville

Onto The Spruce. If you remember, The Spruce recommended a few commercial cleaning products, like Goo Gone, orange oil cleaner, and canruaba wax. Goo Gone I’ve used several times in DIY projects, including removing stubborn glue to restore an old wooden rocking chair. It’s an effective and powerful cleaner for spot cleaning.

But for general cleaning, I liked The Spruce’s idea behind just good old dish washing soap and water. (It’s the same method recommended by Thomasville, who manufactured my kitchen cabinets). Why? After thinking about it, it makes sense. Dish washing liquid is an alkaline-based product that effectively cuts through grease. Most of the grime on my cabinets comes from grease or food. So if dish soap that can cut through those things on my pots and pans, it should also work on your cabinets.

Wait a minute….. Wasn’t that Dawn’s tagline at one point? “Dawn takes grease out of your way” Insert cheezy 1990s Dawn dish washing soap commercial from YouTube here…..

(Side note for you folks who remember the 1980s and 1990s – It think the actress in the blue vest also played Andrea Zuckerman from Beverly Hills 90210…..agree?)

What’s the Best Way to Clean Kitchen Cabinets?

So here’s the results. ALL 5 methods were effective, BUT personally, my favorite method to clean my kitchen cabinets was using a mixture of Dawn dish washing soap to cut through grease (aka The Spruce & Thomasville methods).

For general cleaning, I combined 1/2 teaspoon of Dawn dish soap to 8 cups of water into a bucket of hot water. I washed the cabinets with my favorite sponge (Scotch-Brite Heavy Duty Scrub Sponge) dipped into the solution, and dried with a dry microfibert cloth.

For areas that needed extra attention due to grease or grime, or intricate cabinet details, I scrubbed with an old toothbrush.

Simple, right? Not a lot of hard work required to get these greasy cabinets back to their sparkling selves!

If by chance you try this and your cabinets are a bit too soapy, wipe them down with a cloth dipped in just hot water.

But Wait, There’s More….

I still missed the nostaligic smell from my Murphy’s Oil Soap…. I wanted to be reminded of the smell of Grandma’s kitchen.

So added a final quick step to cleaning my kitchen cabinets. After filling up a bucket with around 1 gallon of warm water and 1/4 cup of Murphy Oil Soap (per the bottle’s directions) I did a final rinse. This is my solution on handling the FAQ question below on whether or not to wax kitchen cabinets after cleaning.

It was the icing on the cake, and honestly, just a dran good idea. The rich wood tones of my kitchen cabinets came shining through AND I created that nostaligic oil soap smell.

FAQs: How to Clean Wooden Kitchen Cabinets

As I researched and experimented for this post, I discovered several questions keep popping up online. So this seems like the best place to address some of those most frequently asked questions:

1. Vinegar and Olive Oil: Good or Bad?

You’ll notice that some of the homemade solutions to clean wooden kitchen cabinets contain vinegar and/or olive oil. Before I started this blog, admittedly I bought all my cleaning products from the store.

But as I research and learn more about cleaning my house, vinegar seems to be an amazing option for homemade cleaning products. It’s usually already in the house, inexpensive, natural, and tough on bacteria, mildew, and dirt.

But interestingly, there seems to be an argument against using vinegar and olive oil to clean wooden kitchen cabinets.

According to some cleaning experts, including The Spruce and Springtime Cottage, vinegar and oil is not a good option for cleaning wooden kitchen cabinets. Why?

• Vinegar is a paint stripper and varnish remover and can destroy the coatings on many other surfaces. Each time it is used, it creates a thinner surface by slowly melting away furniture finishes.
• Olive oil is a non-drying oil so when it’s applied to the wood, it stays liquid and spoils.  Eventually it will create a stench and attract noxious bacteria.

Are vinegar and olive oil good or bad for kitchen cabinets? Honestly, I’m not sure what to think.

2. My Cabinets Are STILL Disgusting! What’s Next?

If the above methods still don’t remove all the sticky grease and sticky residue, then consider these deep cleaning methods from the same experts:

Deep Cleaning: HGTV

• Make a paste of vinegar and salt. Dip a toothbrush into the paste and lightly scrub the stained area. Don’t scrub too hard or use steel wool, as it will scratch the wood. Rinse the paste off with clean water and dry with a clean towel. 
• You can also put baking soda on a wet sponge and scrub stubborn stains. Use a soft toothbrush or nylon-bristle scrub brush so you won’t scratch the cabinet surface

Deep Cleaning: Everyday Cheapskate

• In a small bowl, measure out 1 part vegetable oil and 2 parts baking soda (for example 2 tablespoons oil and 4 tablespoons baking soda—or 1 cup oil to 2 cups baking soda depending on the size of your job).
• Using your fingers, mix this into a thick paste. Smoosh this a little bit at a time into the surface of that grimy cabinet, being particularly mindful of the areas close to the handles that receive so much handling and human contact.
• Scrub with a soft cloth, sponge or your fingertips to get this paste into the grain. Use an old toothbrush to get it into all of the nooks and crannies. This paste is very thick, and as you begin to scrub and brush, it will fall off, along with a lot of grime.
• Buff well with a soft cloth then step back to admire your beautiful work.

Deep Cleaning: Grapes and Splendor

• Place about 1/2 teaspoon of dish soap or oil soap wood cleaner on the scouring sponge. Wet the sponge slightly and gently scrub the cabinet allowing it to form a lather. Wipe with a slightly wet cloth with fresh water in it. Then dry it with a microfiber cloth.
• Make a paste with baking soda and water, apply it to the greasy areas by rubbing it on in a circular motion, slightly press it into the grease to use the abrasiveness of the baking soda to lift the grease and leave it to soak for ten 10 minutes. Using a damped piece of clean cloth, remove the baking soda paste by wiping it off.

3. Should You Wax or Oil After Cleaning Wood Cabinets?

Well, like the vinegar versus oil question this is debate on whether using a finishing wax helps or hurts your wood kitchen cabinets. Here’s the experts weighing with their opinions.

HGTV

Oiling up your wood cabinets are a go, according to HGTV. Mix vegetable oil and vinegar in equal portions and apply it lightly on the cabinet surfaces. Rub it in with a clean, soft cloth. Buff till it shines.

Grapes and Splendor

This one honestly surprised me. They also recommended adding a protective coating after cleaning wooden kitchen cabinets. They suggested spraying on some WD-40 and buffing with a microfiber cloth. It leaves it with a nice sheen and a sort of protective coating for the surface.

Thomasville

Cabinets don’t require waxing and isn’t recommended. Why? Over time, waxing and polishing compounds may build up on cabinet surfaces forming a hazy, streaked or yellowed appearance. Wax build up is really hard to remove — no one has time for that!

4. What’s the Easier Way to Clean the Tops of Kitchen Cabinets?

Oh, I’m so glad you asked. Because recently, I tackled that exact question of how to clean the top of the cabinet here.. ?

What’s Next? Tackling Other Parts of My Kitchen…

• 35+ Items to Declutter Your Kitchen Cabinets – Now that the outside of the kitchen cabinets are clean, how about the inside? Including your Lazy Susan.
• How to Clean Your Kitchen Cabinet Drawer Knobs and Pulls! (After experimenting, I found a secret ingredient to revive kitchen hardware and make them shine again! Shhhh! ?)

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