White painted cabinets give your kitchen a clean, airy look, but they can turn yellow with time. Oil-based paints, also known as alkyd paints, sometimes take on a yellowish cast because of the way they cure, especially if your kitchen doesn't get much sun.
All-white cabinets and countertops have a tendency to turn yellow over time when exposed to high amounts of direct sunlight. If not properly protected, the jaundice-like effect can cause major regret after only a few years.
"Yellow" cupboards are often caused by defective, aging finishes or airborne grease that settles over everything (even the ceiling!) over time, causing sickly yellow and tacky surfaces. An all-natural homemade cleaning solution can work wonders.
For day-to-day cleaning, simply wipe with a soft microfibre cloth or feather duster. Use an e-cloth (or soft microfibre cloth) to wipe fingerprints and marks away. For a deeper clean, spray with water and clean with a soft microfibre cloth or an e-cloth, and then dry with another dry and soft cloth.
A simple solution of a gallon of warm water and a tablespoon of mild dish washing liquid should clean and shine a high gloss kitchen cabinet. For caked-on grease or splotches from sauces, add a cup of vinegar to the water and soap solution. Begin cleaning high gloss kitchen doors from the top down.
Simply pour a quarter cup of baking soda into 1/4 cup of water to form paste. After the paste has been pasted, dip a damp sponge, soft toothbrush, or nylon-bristled scrub brush in it. Use the dry brush to gently scrub the yellow areas. Once finished cleaning, mix in baking soda with 5 minutes of salt.
Create a cleaning solution with 1-part baking soda, 2 parts warm water and the lemon juice. Add the solution to a spray bottle and spray the liquid onto the kitchen cabinets. Leave for 2-3 minutes, allowing the baking soda to work its magic. Use the soft sponge to gently scrub the grease away.
Apply a marker to flaws that match the color of the cabinetry staining. Fill in dents and worn spots with a putty. Apply a new coat of paint, or re-stain the cabinets to restore its former look and feel. Use a polyurethane coating to assist with the removal of cabinet imperfections.
Over time, all paints that are enamel solvent-based become oxidised. This then results in your white gloss paint taking on a yellow tinge. Unfortunately, this is one of the downsides of using oil-based paints and varnishes and it is something that cannot be stopped.
Use a soft lint-free cloth and wipe it away, either with the cloth slightly dampened or with a heavily diluted solution of water and washing up liquid. However, if it's something that might really stain (from wine or tomato sauce, for instance), you can opt for a diluted mixture of vinegar and water.
Saturate a small cloth with the FEED-N-WAX Wood Polish and Conditioner and wipe evenly all over the wood surface. Let wax stand for at least 20 minutes and then wipe off all the excess. There you go, just like brand new!
Related Articles. The sticky residue found on your kitchen cupboards is usually caused by cooking grease and dirt, but it may also be the residues left by some cleaners. No matter what its source, a sticky residue is unappealing and damaging to your kitchen cabinets.
Greasy Stovetop
Vinegar's acidity helps cut through grease easily. Spray some vinegar and water mix onto a splattered stovetop, let it sit for 10 minutes, and then scrub down with soapy water. It should wipe right off. If not, leave it to sit a bit longer.
To prevent yellowing, use oil-based gloss paint only in the rooms that receive a generous amount of light. Clean the paint with appropriate products. Plain water or a mild detergent is usually sufficient to clean gloss paint. Cleansers containing ammonia, on the other hand, speed the yellowing process.
If yellowing paint has been caused by moisture, there is also hope of correction. If the cause of moisture is a leak, find that leak and fix it, then sand down the stained area. Paint over the stain with stain-blocking primer in the shade that matches the rest of your paintwork.
The tendency to yellow is a quality prevalent in many white paints and clear varnishes, but particularly in those that are alkyd- or oil-based. It is the curing mechanisms in these paints that turns yellow over time, and this effect is often most noticeable in areas that are not exposed to much sunlight.
Dip a soft cloth into the bleach and water. Gently clean the wood with the damp cloth. Bleach naturally kills the mold that causes yellowing on the painted wood. Clean the painted wood thoroughly.
Water-based stain is best used to stain cabinets that are also treated with a water-based polyurethane finish. As you probably know, oil and water don't mix well, so always match your stain type to your finish type.