Painting your kitchen cabinets is one of the best ways to give your kitchen a refresh. But, soon after, you’ll find splotches of pasta sauce, streaks of peanut butter, or small coffee spills on them. The way that you choose to clean up your painted kitchen cabinets really matters to prevent damage. You can easily scrape your paint job if you’re not careful. Here is how professionals would handle cleaning your cabinets and how you can replicate them.

Never Scrub

We know that it is likely your first instinct to take out a rough sponge or a brush and scrub away at the kitchen cabinets. However, any kind of friction and rough handling like this can ruin your paint job. And it is usually unnecessary. If you buy a soft sponge or a microfiber cloth, you should find that it does the job easily, without having to undermine the paint coat just to remove the grease. The simplest cleaning job is just to wet the cloth, add a gentle soap, and then swipe across the surface.

Soapy Water is Best

Cleaning up your kitchen cabinets is easiest when you do it first thing. But, if you have kids, you might not even notice that something has gotten onto the cupboards until it has long dried. And, most people with busy lives are not checking their cabinets for stains after they cook. So how do you clean off things that have dried onto the paint?

The answer is simply soapy water. Dish soap is meant to clean up foodstuffs so it is a perfect option for kitchen cabinets. If you have anything that has dried on the counter, douse it in a bit of warm, soapy water and wait. It should soften, which should allow you to wipe it down with soap. Don’t be tempted to scrape the food off, as doing this over the years is bound to scratch your paint.

Never Use Chemicals

It’s pretty tempting to pull out all-purpose spray cleaners and take them to your painted cabinets. It might also be tempting for you to follow the pages and pages of advice online, all suggesting that you take vinegar to your kitchen cabinets. Both are bad ideas. Any chemical or strong vinegar solution can damage your paint and even weaken it so that it is easily scratched the next time you go to clean your cabinets.

If your first application of soapy water didn’t work, try it again. Then use your soft cloth or sponge in a gentle circular motion to bring up the dirt. Sometimes applying a paper towel after will help remove grease for good.

If Your Paint Job Helping?

If you find that it is often a challenge to clean your kitchen cabinets, you may have gotten the wrong paint job. When we paint in the kitchen, especially on the cabinets, we recommend choosing paint with a high gloss finish. The closer to matte, the harder the paint is to clean.