How To Clean Sticky Wood Kitchen Cabinets Easily

If you’re like most people, one of the things you don’t want to see in a kitchen set is a sticky layer of grease on your kitchen wood cabinets. Grease can easily form on wood cabinets, and over time, the grease can lose its luster. If you don’t know how to clean sticky wood kitchen cabinets, we’ve compiled the easiest ways in this article. We’ve rounded up some of our favorite, proven ways to clean your greasy kitchen, one cabinet at a time.

Table of Contents

Why Your Wood Kitchen Cabinets Have Sticky

Dirt can form on wood cabinets when steam, cooking grease, and cigarette smoke settle on their surfaces. Even cabinet polishes and finishes can break down, making surfaces look greasy.

Touching the cabinets with wet and/or dirty hands can also have a detrimental effect.

But don’t worry. Here’s how to make your kitchen cabinets shine again.

Why Clean Wooden Kitchen Cabinets?

Although the answer may seem obvious – cleaning kitchen cabinets play a huge role in keeping your entire home clean. But, there’s another reason – it can save you a lot of money in the long run.

The kitchen is often one of the most active workshops in the entire house, so it’s worth boasting that the cabinets can even last 50 years. Kitchen replacements are very expensive and maybe something you want to avoid. However, if you don’t properly maintain your kitchen cabinets, you’re sure to find replacements sooner than you might initially think.

How to Clean Sticky Grease Off Wood Kitchen Cabinets

With White Vinegar And Hot Water

What you’ll need:

Warm water
White vinegar
Soft clean cloth
Empty spray bottle
Dishwashing liquid
An old toothbrush, steel wool, or scrub brush

General Cleaning:

First, wipe the wood kitchen cabinet surface thoroughly with a soft or microfiber cloth.
Make a vinegar solution by mixing equal parts vinegar and a cup of water (50:50) in a spray bottle.
Spray the vinegar solution on the wooden cabinet and let it sit for about 2-3 minutes. This will allow the vinegar to dissolve the greasy residue, weakening its bond to the wood kitchen cabinet surface.
Next, dampen the cloth with hot water and wring it out firmly. This is a safety precaution, as too much water can damage your wooden cabinets.
Then wipe the wooden kitchen cabinets with a clean damp cloth. This will remove oil stains from the cabinet.
For stubborn stains, you’ll want to add a few drops of dishwashing detergent to the vinegar solution. This will tackle very sticky dirt.

Deep Cleaning:

First, you have to make a paste of white vinegar and salt.
Gather some toothpaste with your old toothbrush and scrub the affected area. Try not to scrub too hard to avoid scratching the wood. Steel wool can also be used if available.
When done, rinse off the paste with clean water.
Then dry with a clean cloth or towel.

NOTE: To clean cabinets (in general), you may need to apply vinegar a few more times to ensure your cabinets are thoroughly clean.

Another way we can clean sticky slime, grime and other tough sticky stains from kitchen cabinet surfaces are to use dishwashing detergent.

With Baking Soda

Baking soda and lemon or vegetable oil are exceptional natural cleaning products for getting rid of sticky pigments from your kitchen cabinets. We’ve already seen what baking soda can do.

Let’s explore more!

In this section, we’re going to show you how to go about both procedures.

What you’ll need:

Baking soda
Juice of lemon
Vegetable oil
Scouring pad
Soft cloth
Warm water
Spray bottle
Old toothbrush

How To Clean:

Cleaning cabinets with baking soda and lemon

We will make a household skim solution by mixing baking soda and water (1 part baking soda to 2 parts water) into lemon juice.
Then we poured the solution into a spray can and sprayed it on the wooden kitchen cabinets.
We’ll let it sit for 2-3 minutes so the baking soda will loosen the slime in the sticky wood cabinets.
Then use a soft scrubbing pad to gently wipe away the sticky paint.
Rinse the pad and repeat the previous step a few times until satisfied.
Finally, dry the surface of the kitchen cabinet with a clean cloth. Your cabinets will be as good as new too!

Cleaning goo with baking soda and vegetable oil

We will make this degreaser by mixing 1 part vegetable oil and 2 parts baking soda into a thick paste. The oils loosen sticky slime and grime, while the soda helps scrub away stubborn grease stains on cabinets.
Apply this baking soda paste a little at a time to all cabinet surfaces. Also, do the same for the areas and hardware that touch the most, including hinges.
Then use a toothbrush to brush toothpaste into the edges and crevices.
Scrub with a soft sponge and dry cloth to remove the grease residue.
Finish cleaning by washing the surfaces of wooden kitchen cabinets with soap and water. This will remove any remaining dirt and oil.
Finally, clean the cabinets with a dry cloth to make them shine.

With Dish Soap

As an alkaline product, liquid dish soap is another very effective household degreaser solution: plus mixing it with hot water makes it even more effective at loosening sticky residue.

This might be the first cleanser you want to try.

Some dish soaps are powerful enough to remove stubborn stains and buildup without damaging the finish of your wood kitchen cabinets.

What you’ll need:

Dishwashing soap or oil soap
Warm water
Soft cloth
Cleaning sponge or nylon scouring pad
Dish soap or oil soap

How To Clean:

Mix a few drops (or two (2) tablespoons) of dish soap and about two cups of warm water in a bowl.
Dampen a cleaning sponge or scrubbing pad with soapy water and squeeze.
Then wipe the cabinets back and forth until the sticky grease residue is gone. Press lightly when scrubbing to avoid damaging the cabinet surface.
If you are faced with a hard sticky oil stain or dirt, apply a small amount of soap directly to the cloth and wipe the cabinets again.
You may need to repeat the previous step several times to make sure the oil stains are gone and the cabinets are clean again.
When you’re done, wipe off any remaining soap or grease with a soft, dry cloth.

Deep Cleaning:

Lightly dampen a nylon scrubbing pad or sponge.
Put a few drops (or half a teaspoon) of oil soap, wood cleaner, or dish soap on a scrubbing pad.
Then gently scrub the kitchen cabinets to form a lather.
Then, wipe the cabinets with a damp cloth and dry with a microfiber cloth.
But that’s not all. You’ll want to make a paste with water and baking soda. In repeated circular motions, you can remove the grease by pressing it against the sticky areas.
Let it soak for 10 minutes.
Finally, wipe off the residue with a clean damp cloth. You are done here.

Tips To Care For Wooden Kitchen Cabinets

Don’t be afraid of basic daily cleaning.

At the end of each day, you can grab a paper towel and wipe down the cabinets with warm water from the kitchen sink. This will remove any dust or grease that may have settled on the cabinets throughout the day.

This is a great exercise to keep your cabinets looking new all the time. If you wait until the weekend to wash it, wipe it off as soon as you see a smudge or stain on it to prevent future damage.

Avoid excess moisture.

Some cabinets are not made of solid wood. These types of kitchen cabinets are easily damaged by too much water. When cleaning cabinets, avoid leaving water on them and watch for steam in the pot on the cabinets.

Avoid harsh commercial cleaners.

Not every chemical is good for your cabinets. You’ll never want to use bleach on your kitchen cabinets because it will flake off and change color. Even if the cabinets do get covered with grease, use something else, like Goo Gone, to clean them.

Conclusion

It’s a headache to have oil stains on the wooden kitchen cabinets. It seems to be troublesome to clean them, but in fact, as long as you clean them according to the method we give, you can immediately get a clean and brand-new wooden cabinet! So, take action!