Cleaning and or touching up moderately worn cabinets?
#1
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Cleaning and or touching up moderately worn cabinets?
Apologies if this has been posted before somewhere. I'm not even sure of what to search for.
I bought a house and the cabinets are in a condition where they aren't bad enough where I want to repaint them or buy new ones but they do have quite a bit of wear and grease. I have given them a nice once over with a 50/50 water/vinegar solution and that did quite a bit but there still seems to be a lot of wear (?) or grease (?) on some of the cabinet faces, most commonly where people would grab the cabinet to open the doors. Are there any products / methods you can recommend to touch these up? Something stronger than vinegar but won't strip the wood. Maybe some kind of touch up paint to diffuse and blend in the wear?
In case you can't tell by the pictures, the cabinets are a creamy sage green type color.
I bought a house and the cabinets are in a condition where they aren't bad enough where I want to repaint them or buy new ones but they do have quite a bit of wear and grease. I have given them a nice once over with a 50/50 water/vinegar solution and that did quite a bit but there still seems to be a lot of wear (?) or grease (?) on some of the cabinet faces, most commonly where people would grab the cabinet to open the doors. Are there any products / methods you can recommend to touch these up? Something stronger than vinegar but won't strip the wood. Maybe some kind of touch up paint to diffuse and blend in the wear?
In case you can't tell by the pictures, the cabinets are a creamy sage green type color.
#2
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A gentle rub with mineral spirits will remove any oil or grease without dissolving the finish (but test on inconspicuous spot first), but from the pictures I'd say the existing finished is damaged, not just dirty.
That finish looks like a glaze, and I doubt you'll get any kind of touch-up to look good. Maybe Marksr here will have a suggestion.
That finish looks like a glaze, and I doubt you'll get any kind of touch-up to look good. Maybe Marksr here will have a suggestion.
#3
Forum Topic Moderator
I would assume the finish is a poly or similar. I agree with scrubbing those areas with mineral spirits although a household degreaser might also work. Like Paul, I suspect the finish is worn away as finger oils and dirt/grime shouldn't penetrate the wood but be fairly easy to wash off.
If the grime doesn't wash off about the only fix would be to sand it clean and apply a fresh coat of poly. If you sand thru the stain [not positive it has one] the job gets more complicated.
If the grime doesn't wash off about the only fix would be to sand it clean and apply a fresh coat of poly. If you sand thru the stain [not positive it has one] the job gets more complicated.