Country CleansAll recipes
Home › Cleaning recipes
Recipe 14 of 100 · The Country Cleans Mix Book

How to Clean Greasy Kitchen Cabinets Above the Stove

The Oil-First Trick

Old cabinet grease hardens into a varnish, so soap bounces off. Test inside a door first. Rub a thin film of plain vegetable or olive oil into the glossy patches and wait 10 minutes. Then spread a paste of 1/2 cup baking soda, 3 tablespoons dish soap and 1 tablespoon warm water on top, wait 5 minutes, scrub in small circles and toothbrush the grooves. Wipe, rinse the cloth, wipe again. Not for high gloss, thermofoil or painted doors.

Deep Strip for Baked On Cabinet Grease recipe card: 1/2 cup baking soda, 3 tbsp dish soap, 1 tbsp warm water, 2 tbsp vegetable or olive oil, separate
What it fixesHardened, varnish like grease buildup on cabinets above the stove and on range hood surrounds, the stuff that has been there for years.

You need

Mix it

  1. Stir the baking soda and dish soap together in a bowl, then add the warm water a little at a time until you have a spreadable paste that holds its shape.
  2. Keep the oil separate. It is a pre soak for the worst spots, not an ingredient in the paste.

Use it

  1. Test the paste on the inside of one cabinet door first, since abrasion can dull a weak finish.
  2. Find the hard glossy patches and rub a thin film of plain oil into them with your fingers. Let that sit 10 minutes. Oil dissolves oil, and this softens the varnish layer so the paste has something to grab.
  3. Spread a thin layer of paste over the whole greasy area, right on top of the oil, and let it dwell 5 minutes.
  4. Scrub with the sponge in small circles, then run the toothbrush through the grooves and around the hinges.
  5. Wipe off with a damp cloth, rinse the cloth, and wipe again. Residue left behind attracts new grease fast.
  6. Repeat the oil soak and paste on anything that survived. Two gentle passes beat one hard one.
  7. Finish the whole door with the weekly wood feed to restore the sheen you just cut through.
Dale's noteOld grease is polymerized, which means it has cross linked into something closer to varnish than oil. That is why soap alone bounces off it. Fresh oil swells that layer back up and the baking soda then carries it away. It sounds backwards, putting oil on a grease problem, and it is the single best trick in this chapter.
Don'tDo not use the paste on high gloss, thermofoil or painted cabinet doors, because baking soda is still an abrasive and it leaves a dull scuffed patch on a soft finish. And do not skip the final rinse, since oil or soap film left on the door collects a fresh layer of airborne kitchen grease within a week.
The Country Cleans Mix Book

This is 1 of 100 mixes in the Mix Book

Glass, wood, bathrooms, mold, kitchens, carpet, couches, laundry, floors, metal, odors and more. Every one with the same exact amounts, steps and warnings. A PDF in your email within a minute.

GET THE MIX BOOK · $12.99
Free: Dale's Fall Deep-Clean Checklist

Free: Dale's Fall Deep-Clean Checklist

19 jobs to do before the house closes up for winter, room by room, plus 3 recipes printed in full. Print it and stick it on the fridge.

SEND ME THE FREE CHECKLIST

More homemade cleaning recipes

How to Get Rid of Trash Can Smell for GoodHow to Clean a Yellowed Acrylic Tub Without Scratching ItHow to Get Gravy and Butter Grease Out of a TableclothHow to Get Smoke Smell Out of Carpet After the First Fire