Expert: Jamie Yocono - 9/29/2007

Question
Hi,
I would like to know the easiest way to clean grease off of my oak kitchen cabinets? I purchased "Cabinet Magic" and it will be going back for a refund. My cabinets do not need to be refininshed but the accumulation of grease on the underside of the cabinets is really bad. They are sticky and gross. Any product that will take grease off but not take off the finish is what I'm after. I know Murphy's is not strong enough. Any ideas that work?

Answer
Hi Missy,

I've answered something similar in the past, so I am going to cut and paste parts of that answer here.

It sounds like the underside of your cabinets are in bad shape, and you'd like to freshen them up. It's possible that you might need to use something stronger on the undersides, and then something weaker all over. I'm sure there is some buildup on the doors and drawer faces, too.

I'm going to recommend a Formby's product in a minute, but first, you need to think about the grease buildup. That is the usual culprit in the kitchen. If they are REALLY greasy, you should probably give them a good scrubbing with something that's going to cut the grease. There are a few products- like TSP, which comes in powder form and really strips grease. TSP is available in the paint section of any hardware store. Mix it with water and wear gloves.

If the grease is bad, but not wicked, you could try something with an ammonia base, like Ajax liquid, which is a good grease cutter too. It's harsh on the wood, but works better than those Citrus/Orange Glo products, and (I think) better than Murphy's Oil Soap, too.

It really just depends on the severity of the grease. If you can scrape it with your fingernail- you need something strong. You're going to use the same final finish either way, but the cleaning part is what's different, depending on the level of grease.

OK- if you've decided that the grease isn't that bad, go right into this next part. There is a product made by Formby's called Formby'sŪ Conditioning Furniture Refinisher.  It's sort of an all-in-one product, as it dissolves the old finish, and reconditions the wood all at the same time. If you cut and paste this link in your browser, you can see what they have to say about it on their website:

http://www.formbys.com/products/refinisher.cfm

Now normally, these products don't give you the same result as what a deeper stripping and refinishing job would do. But I think, from what I hear in your question, this product will work just fine for your cabinets if they're not too bad.

So- to be clear- if the cabinets are really bad, scrub the grease off with a heavy duty cleaner (TSP) and then use the Formby's product. If the grease isn't so bad, just use the Formby's by itself.

Good luck, I hope this helps. Please feel free to write back if you have any further questions after reading this.

Jamie Yocono
Wood It Is! Custom Cabinetry
Las Vegas, NV
www.wooditis.com