All-white cabinets and countertops have a tendency to turn yellow over time when exposed to high amounts of direct sunlight.
Every time you cook and boil food in your kitchen, airborne grease particles are deposited onto your white cabinets, and gradually over time, the grease forms a yellow layer. The best way to combat this problem is to always use the exhaust fan on your range hood when you cook food.
Yes, it is one of nature's cruel jokes. Cooking and sunlight can make your white cabinets turn yellow. And, not a pretty bright and happy yellow, but a dirty, unpleasant, sickly yellow. The good news is, with a little maintenance, you can keep your white cabinets white.
The question of why often comes up, and to be honest, yellowing is about the age of the finish on the cabinets. Nearly all cabinets prior to the year 2000 were painted with oil/solvent based products. With time these products turn yellow.
The grease and food particles get into the air and can build up on your vinyl cabinets as well. Overtime, they can stain your cabinets an ugly yellow colour. Prevention: When cooking, use your exhaust fan or range hood to absorb any particles.
Clean Cupboards With Vinegar and Baking Soda
To keep your white cupboards looking bright and fresh, create a cleaning solution with one cup of vinegar, one tablespoon of baking soda, and two cups of warm water. Dip a rag in this solution, wring out the access liquid, then wipe down your cupboards.
Oil-based sealers like polyurethane are especially prone to yellowing, but even 'non-yellowing' sealers like polycrylic can still yellow if they are applied too thickly. My favorite sealer for painted furniture is General Finishes High Performance Top Coat. It is easy to apply and gives a very durable finish.
Readily shows wear and tear.
In addition to dirt, white cabinets will also show unwanted wear and tear. Compared to other designs and colors, white cabinets will highlight any dents, scratches, or marks that come with working in a kitchen.
Although professionally painted cabinets should last 8-10 years there are a few factors that can drastically impact your cabinet's lifetime, requiring repainting only 3-4 years later. How long your kitchen cabinets will last depends largely on the way the paint was applied, and with what tools.
They will make your kitchen look bigger, cleaner, and more elegant while still providing ample storage space for all of your dishes and utensils. With so many benefits to white kitchen cabinetry, it's hard to see why anyone would choose anything else!
This type of cabinet will still look good after five years, and some long-time homeowners have been content with this choice after 20 years, from traditional to modern homes, white kitchen cabinets can work with any home decor.
White kitchen cabinets show dirt, smudges, and stains more easily than darker colors. This means that they will require more frequent cleaning and maintenance in order to keep them looking their best.
Other popular wall colors for white cabinets are SW Accessible Beige, BM Revere Pewter and SW Repose Gray. Sherwin Williams Amazing Gray is a good option for a gray wall color that's still warm because of it's beige undertones.
White Kitchen Cabinet Maintenance
Carve out some time once a month, or once every quarter (we don't judge how frequently you clean, here), to thoroughly clean your kitchen cabinets. A quick wipe-down with warm water, dishwashing liquid, and a soft cloth will prevent discoloring.
To prolong the lifespan of your cabinet paint job, then, finish the job by sealing your cabinets with a transparent top-coat. These sealing options include varnishes composed of polyurethane, polycrylic, spar urethane, nitrocellulose, waterborne acrylic, and more.
When you cook, excess moisture and grease particles may form on the surface of the laminates. This may turn the white surfaces into yellow over time. Excess moisture can also affect the quality of your laminated cabinets.
White cupboards make a space feel timeless. Makes it look bigger: Ivory surfaces bounce light around, and an alabaster coat of paint makes narrow galleys and small sculleries feel bigger and brighter. Works for many styles: White cabinets look good in a range of homes, from modern to traditional.
Scuffs and drips will show-up on any cabinet color, but on white cabinets they're easy to spot and clean. Similar to durability, the finish and paint type have more to do with how well they'll repel dirt and stand-up to frequent cleaning than the actual color of the paint itself.
For those looking for a timeless look that can be designed in any style or color palette, then going with white cabinets may be just what you're searching for. Studies suggest that whitewash kitchens increase home values up to ten percent – so it might not hurt to give them a try!
White shows fingerprints, food splatters, grease, and other dirt more easily than other colors. If you have ornate white cabinets with multiple trim depths, they may be even harder to clean. To combat this issue without sacrificing the white aesthetic, consider getting two-toned cabinets.
While white kitchen cabinets are not harder to clean than any other colour, they will show marks and dirt more than darker colours. White surfaces also show scuffs and scratches more easily than other colours.
While the all-white kitchen will probably never go out of style, there are lots of new kitchen trends for 2023 that will make you equally happy. Think: pops of colors, the return of white appliances, and timeless styling touches to make your space feel fresh. We know, we know.
Choosing the right color to complement cream colored cabinets in a way that does not make them appear yellow can seem like a difficult task–but it's not! You can opt for neutral colors–like gray and navy–for your walls and even add accent shades.
Unlike oil-based polyurethane, water-based polyurethane, shellac, wax, and epoxy resin all remain the same color over time. Each has pros and cons, which I'll discuss below. Water-based polyurethane is durable, protective and dries completely clear.
Minwax's Polycrylic is the top-rated sealer because it does not discolor over time. It dries in hours, may be reapplied several times in one day, and is user-friendly. This adhesive does not yellow over time and dries crystal clear.