How do I clean/spruce up oak cabinets?

Shari
by Shari

30 year old Oak cabinets in kitchen and bathroom, still in great shape, what’s best to use on them to make them look new again?

  7 answers
  • William William on Apr 06, 2019

    Clean with Murpy's Oil Soap. If really dirty use Krud Kutter first.

  • Megan Megan on Apr 06, 2019

    If you are wanting to brighten the wood up you can use Tung oil or hemp oil. :) You can get tung oil at your local hardware store.

  • Bubbe Bubbe on Apr 06, 2019

    Formans wood cleaner. Apply then polish with guardsmans woodpolish

  • Patti Nicholas Patti Nicholas on Apr 06, 2019

    After a thorough cleaning and degreasing allow to dry completely, at least 24 hours. Then use a natural furniture oil such as Natchez Solution http://www.natchezsolution.com/about.php to polish and protect the wood

  • HandyGirl HandyGirl on Apr 07, 2019

    Remove doors, numbering them to match their corresponding cabinets and remove all hardware. Clean both boxes and doors. Use liquid deglosser on all door fronts and boxes. Use Rustoleum dark brown glaze first on the boxes, because they can become your practice since the doors need a little more expertise. Wear gloves that fit. You will be doing some detail work and you don’t want long fingertips dragging into your freshly glazed surface. Take an old soft t shirt and cut into approx 6” or 8” squares. You will be using these to wipe off the glaze. Make sure your area (including adjacent areas inside the cabinets) is masked off before applying the glaze. Use a short smaller brush (like a shortcut) to apply the glaze in the direction of the wood grain. If you use a chip brush I guarantee you will Spend a significant amount of time picking loose bristles off your cabinets and doors and the next day will be dismayed over the number you missed. Once everything is prepped begin applying glaze to the cabinet boxes, making sure you hit the inside edges. Glaze application just needs to cover your entire area so you can work rather quickly in predetermined sections then wipe off excess glaze in the direction of the wood grain allowing the overall color of the cabinet to darken and also leaving extra glaze in crevices for a more dramatic effect. To easily get the look you want, take a t shirt square and fold over the edges so no rough edges will touch the surface. Then fold over again so the resulting “pad” will not show impressions from your fingertips as you drag it smoothly across the surface in the direction of the wood grain. Repeat the process going across wider areas and narrow ones. Then, while glaze is still wet but seems to be setting up a bit, wipe excess glaze off your brush and lightly drag it across your finish in the direction of the wood grain to accentuate It. Then repeat the whole process on all your boxes. Be conservative with the effect on the boxes because there is a learning curve. If the next day you look at the boxes and wish you’d gone darker you can simply reapply the second day right over top to deepen the color. Polyurethane the boxes and my advice is to use the slowest drying product you can find because overlapping poly where one area has already set up can look funky. Doors are trickier to glaze simply because the wood grains are all butting up to each other but on the doors remember to apply to no more than two door faces at a time because your glaze may set up and make it difficult to achieve your look. Use the same method as on the boxes. You should glaze first coat on the doors in the flat. Also try to keep something there as an example of color depth you want. Make sure you get the side of the doors that hinge the way you want on first coat. After the first coat has dried on the doors, hang them back onto the finished cabinets. Review the color depth variations as an overall presentation. Final glaze coat as needed to make the doors more match each other and cabinet boxes, and also to deepen the relief in the crevices for more dramatic effect. Allow that to dry overnight. The next day if you are happy with the result just polyurethane and you’re done. If not, you can tweak the color here and there. Just make sure to allow the glaze to dry overnight before applying poly. Good luck!

  • Arleen Sarsons Arleen Sarsons on Apr 07, 2019

    i also have 30 year old golden oak kitchen cabinets. I washed them well with Murphy’s Oil Soap & dried with old cloths. Then applied a liquid product called Rejuvinate for Hardwood Floors that I purchased at Home Depot & applied it to the cabinets. It worked very well. The cabinets are bright & rich looking. I would recommend this product. Oh, I also changed the handles for an updated look. Hope this helps...

  • Gloria R Gloria R on Apr 07, 2019

    Use TSP to clean them and then use Howard Restor a Finish in the finish of your choice. If they don't need the scratch cover up, you can use the TSP and follow with Howard's FeedNWax. I used one of the green scrubbing/scouring pads with the TSP. Couldn't believe how well it cleaned my cabinets up.