Your kitchen is one of the places in your home that you have to own. From the design to the colors and the placement of every cabinet and kitchen utensils and appliances, your kitchen must always make you feel comfortable.
What better way to own your kitchen than by investing in white-painted cabinets? They give your kitchen a clean and airy look. However, they can turn yellow over time.
Many homeowners do not invest in white cabinets for this reason. Taking care of an all-white kitchen just requires you to be more diligent and educated.
Table of Contents
Reasons For The Yellowing of White Cabinets
Some reasons that cause the yellowing of white cabinets are:
Direct sunlight
Direct sunlight on your cabinet will fade the painted color away and laminated surfaces. You should use blinds, window film, and draperies to shield your cabinets.
Cooking
When you start cooking in your kitchen, the aroma of the food rises into the air in the form of very small grease particles, and they land on your white cabinets.
Over time, your cabinets will begin to reflect the stains in yellowish films.
Grease splatters
When you cook, grease, water, and oil can splatter around, and some will land on your cabinet. Over time, even when you clean these stains, your cabinets will begin to yellow.
The solution to these grease and oil splatters is immediate cleaning. Use a cloth and warm water to clean these stains. You may also use a bit of dish soap to make the cleaning deep.
Bleach is also an excellent whitener. Allow the bleach to sit on the cabinet for a long time, and then rinse the entire surface with warm water.
If you do not want to use bleach, you can use club soda and lemon juice. Let the mix stay on the stains for a long time, and then wash it off with warm water.
Vinegar is a beautiful cleaner and should remove all the stubborn stains on your cabinets. If not, you can also use baking soda as a cleanser. Make sure to scrub with a light brush or sponge.
Avoid using abrasive sponges or tough and harsh pads on your cabinet. That is unless you want to scratch the surface.
How Do You Remove Laminate Stains?
People avoided plastic laminate before as a poor choice for kitchen designs; however, it has become an acceptable and popular choice.
As beautiful as it can be, white plastic laminate can stain. How do you clean these stains off?
1. Get a household detergent and mix it with baking soda to create a paste. Mix in the ratio of 1 part detergent to 3 parts baking soda.
2. Apply this solution directly to the stain and scrub with a bristle nylon brush. Make sure not to put too much stress on the brushstrokes so that you will not scratch the laminate finish.
3. Rinse the countertop with a moist cloth. You do not need to soak the laminate with water because laminates are sensitive to excess moisture.
Make sure the cloth is just wet enough to clean the residue of the baking soda and stain residue.
Only in extreme cases will you need to repaint the cabinet. You might only have to engage in basic cleaning to whiten your laminate cabinet again.
Read: How To Clean Painted Kitchen Cabinets Easily
Basic cleaning
Mix a half cup of all-purpose cleaner, white vinegar or wood cleaner with half a cup of water in a spray bottle.
Spray the cabinets with this solution. Scrub the surface with a soft sponge in a regular motion.
Rinse the sponge, wring it, and wipe the cabinet to remove the cleanser.
Dry the cabinet with a soft and non-abrasive towel or rag.
Removing Yellow Grease Stains
- Dip a sponge in water and wring it very well. You only need it to be wet, not dripping with water.
- Open your windows to allow air to come in and out. Ammonia is what you will use to clean the cabinet, and you will need the fumes to go out and the fresh air to come in. You will also need to wear a pair of rubber gloves.
- Pour a small amount of undiluted ammonia on the sponge and use it to clean your cabinets.
- Wipe the cabinet very well.
- Rinse the sponge and use it to wipe the ammonia off the cabinet. Dry the entire surface with a soft towel.
Removing tough Yellow Stains
- Mix half a cup of baking soda with a quarter cup of water to make a paste.
- Dip a damp sponge into the paste
- Scrub the yellowed spots on the surface of your cabinet, and leave it on for about 10 minutes
- Wipe the baking soda paste with a moist sponge afterward. You should also dry the cabinet with a soft towel and rag.
Read: How To Get Greasy Fingerprints Off Kitchen Cabinets
To sum up, you will need an all-purpose cleaner, wood cleaner, vinegar, baking soda, spray bottle, sponge, ammonia, nylon-bristled sponge, and towel or rag to clean your white laminated cabinet.
You should also get a second sponge on the ground alongside a bucket to rinse the cabinet after you have washed it.
However, make sure that you do not use abrasive cleaners or scouring pads on your cabinets because they will scratch and dull the paint.
You should also make sure that the windows are open when you use ammonia to allow for proper ventilation. Also, do not mix ammonia with bleach or other cleansers. The result can be adversely devastating.
These tips will really help you when you don’t go clean your white laminated cabinet. If you want to prevent stains and yellow spots on your cabinet, you may block the sunlight from reaching them and use a large cloth to cover the cabinet areas that are close to the cooking area.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you clean white laminate cabinets?
If you want to clean your white laminate cabinets, make sure to dust them with a lint-free cloth or duster at least 3 times a week.
You can also use dish soap and warm water to clean them if they look dirty. If your cabinets have grease and grime on them, you can make some cleaning agents use them for their cleaning.
Why does my white paint turn yellow?
The first culprit is the sun. Exposure to sunlight will cause the color of your cabinet to be yellow.
Also, when you cook, oil, grime, and grease accumulating on your cabinets can also change the color.
Try using drapes to block the intense ray of the sun from reaching your cabinet. You should also clean your cabinets immediately after you use the kitchen to remove both microscopic and macroscopic dirt from them.
How do you whiten yellowed cabinets?
To whiten your now yellowed cabinets, you can make use of bleach. However, make sure that you do not mix the bleach with any other substance.
You can also use white vinegar, baking soda, and ordinary dish soap as whitening and cleaning agents.
Are white cabinets bad for my home design?
White cabinets give your home a wiry and gentle look. It promotes exquisite simplicity and provides a fantastic feel to your home. Are white cabinets bad for your home?
The right answer is an emphatic no. If you want to design your home with white cabinets, you should totally go for it. You will not regret the design.
Do white laminate stain?
Yes, white laminates can stain. The oil, grease, and grime from your cooking will stain your white laminate cabinets. The rays from the sun will also fade the color of your cabinets.
Immediately you use any place around your cabinet, you will do well to use a moist rag dipped in regular dish soap and warm water to clean your cabinets.
Can I clean my laminate with vinegar?
Yes, you can. Vinegar is a good cleaning agent for your laminates, especially white vinegar. Create a solution of vinegar and water, and spray it onto your cabinet. Use a moist rag to wipe it off after a while.
Is baking soda as a cleaning agent a good idea?
Baking soda is a good idea to clean your laminates. It is also very affordable and available. You should create a paste using baking soda and water.
Use a 2:1 mixing ratio for the mix. Baking soda should remove all stubborn stains without any trouble.
Is ammonia a good idea?
Yes, you can definitely use ammonia to clean your white laminate cabinets.
However, you should use it in small amounts and wear a rubber glove. You should also make sure that the room is well-ventilated and the windows are open to allow fresh air to come in to replace the ammonia fumes.
Your white laminate cabinets are perfect for your home design. However, through frequent use, they will eventually stain. Make sure to apply the above methods to clean them after each use immediately.