How to Protect Kitchen Cabinets From Scratches

Kitchen cabinets are important pieces of furniture that are frequently disregarded. Cabinets acquire dirt, dust, and food residue at a similar rate as other kitchen surfaces such as worktops, tables, stoves, and floors. Grease and dirt accumulate over time, necessitating vigorous cleaning, the power of which can leave lasting marks.

So how can you keep your cabinets safe from marks or scratches? The visible wear and tear on your kitchen cabinets may be avoided with regular gentle cleaning and preventive cabinet care to avoid deep scratches and excess dirt.

Preventing Scratches On Your Kitchen Cabinetry

Dusting

Dust or vacuum the surface of your kitchen cabinets on a regular basis to keep grit, filth, and dust from scratching the surface. Check your cabinets every day for food residue and other morsels and clean them immediately, especially cabinets near places where food is being prepared.

Allowing dirt to fester might lead them to dig into the surface of your cabinet, leading to deep scratches. If you have to use force to remove stubborn stains from your cabinet, you risk scratching it, so be sure to use the right cleaning products.

Keep Your Cabinets Dry

If your cabinets are constructed of wood, keep them dry to avoid rotting the finish. Cabinets near water or steam sources should be cleaned down with a clean cloth on a regular basis to avoid getting water damage on the cabinets.

Also, keep heat-generating kitchen equipment away from your cabinets, since they might harm the topcoat for kitchen cabinets, damaging the entire surface. A clean cloth is good to have in the kitchen for regularly cleaning cabinet exteriors.

Always Wipe Your Kitchen Cabinets

Wipe your kitchen cabinets using a damp soft cloth or one that has been moistened with polish or a gentle cleanser, since wiping them with a dry cloth might create scratches. If you're going to use a polish or store-bought cleaner, check sure it matches the materials in your cabinets. Only use wood-specific cleaning chemicals on wood surfaces.

Always use a clean towel to wipe your cabinet, since dirt particles on a dirty cloth might harm the surface. Sponge or dishcloths should not be used to clean your cabinets since they may contain residues of dish detergent or food oil.

Use the Right Materials

Avoid using steel wool, scouring pads, powdered cleaners, ammonia, bleach, or oven cleaning on your cabinet. Always use a soft cloth to clean wood surfaces. Remove any buttons, zippers, or snaps that can harm your cabinet while cutting old clothing into little pieces of cloth.

When cleaning wood cabinets, wipe against the grain to avoid scratches if there is extra dirt or grit on the surface, this will retain the smooth finish of the cabinet.

How To Protect Certain Materials

1. Wood

All oil products should be avoided if your cabinets are wood or painted. The oil will lay on top of the finish for kitchen cabinets, attracting dirt and filth, which is especially evident on surfaces with white paints. Use a wood filler wax mix stick to fix a scratch or depression. These come in a variety of colors to complement your wood cabinets' finish.

2. Laminate

When dealing with a scratch on laminate kitchen cabinets, repair kits designed specifically for laminate cabinets are your best option. If you have a stain, cover it with a baking soda paste and try to absorb it. Simply mix baking soda with a little water and apply it straight to the stain. If you want to avoid scratching the laminate, be delicate when removing the paste.

3. Thermofoil

If your thermofoil cabinets have scratches, you'll need to buy a repair kit designed expressly for this material, just as you would for laminate. Both laminate and thermofoil cabinets can only be fixed to a certain extent while being more durable than in the past. If they've been severely damaged, replacing them will be the only method to restore their appearance.

4. Glass

You may use any glass cleaner or mix your own solution with one part water and one part white vinegar to clean kitchen cabinets with glass doors. Before cleaning glass or any other type of cabinet door, always check the manufacturer's instructions to make sure it doesn't require any extra attention.

How To Prolong Cabinet Life

1. Apply Quality Paint When Painting Your Cabinets

This should go without saying, but the first step in guaranteeing the life of your painted cabinets is to start with high-quality paint and coat for kitchen cabinets. Thick coats of paint can not only add a shiny surface to your cabinet, but they can also add an extra layer of protection against dust and residue. Kitchen cabinet painting is difficult to work on, as it needs numerous stages to do correctly, which is why it's best to leave it to the specialists.

Choose a company or business that’s open about the products they use so you can be assured that your cabinets will have a smooth, even and long-lasting protection. For kitchen cabinets, most experts recommend using an interior low-VOC alkyd enamel paint, but other alternatives can also be used.

2. Clean Kitchen Cabinets on a Regular Basis

It's up to you to look after your cabinets once they've been professionally painted. Cleaning your kitchen cabinets on a regular basis is the best and easiest method to keep them durable and presentable. Abrasive cleaners and pads should be avoided while cleaning cabinets to avoid scratching them. To clean dust, filth, oil, and light stains, use ecologically friendly detergents and water.

Mix two parts baking soda with one part warm water and a few drops of dish soap for more persistent stains, then gently rub the stain with a soft cloth until it disappears. After cleaning your cabinets, make sure to fully dry them inside and out, as the remaining water may cause water damage, damage the paint, distort wood, and attract bugs and mildew.

3. Keep The Temperature In Your Home Consistent

The environment in your kitchen is one of the biggest risks to your painted kitchen cabinets. Various equipment and cooking operations cause large temperature and humidity changes in actively used kitchens. Even if your cabinets and other features are completely protected by paint, these changes in the surroundings can cause them to expand, compress, and distort.

To counteract these effects, keep your kitchen at a constant temperature of around 70° and a relative humidity level of between 25 and 55%. Maintaining these conditions in the kitchen might be difficult, but if you want to extend the life of your painted cabinets, you must be aware of them.

4. Keep Your Cabinets Away From The Sun

While internal forces should be your first worry when it comes to safeguarding your painted kitchen cabinets, keep in mind that sunlight can also cause damage. Excessive exposure to sunlight could degrade your paint finish over time.

Particular types and hues of paint fade more quickly than others, but if you want to keep your cabinets looking new, you may reduce the amount of natural light that shines on them each day by shutting the shades or blinds at certain hours. If you have yet to install your kitchen cabinets, it might be best for you to have them set up away from windows or areas where the sunlight will be harsh.

5. Add an Extra Layer of Protection

While good paint offers a protective coating for your cabinets, it doesn't hurt to go the extra mile and add another layer of defense. You may do so by using a polyurethane or epoxy sealer to seal your painted cabinets, and a cabinet sealer will preserve your paintwork against moisture, scratches, fading, and other threats, much like a garage floor sealant would protect the concrete from impact, spills, and other dangers.

Other Ways To Protect Your Kitchen Cabinets

1. Preventing Cabinet Chipping

Although any primer is preferable to none, several primers on the market are designed to prevent peeling. They'll establish a strong connection with the wood or surface, allowing your next coat of paint to last much longer. Look for products with the words "peel bonding primer" or "peel stop" on the label.

After washing, put these primers directly on top of the existing paint as long as it isn't already cracking or peeling. Taking the time to complete thorough preparation work will improve the primer's performance.

2. Considerations for Hardware

Don't let the paint surrounding the knobs and handles peel. Even if you used the best paint for kitchen cabinets, friction from loose hardware can cause paint to rip, crack, and peel. To avoid paint peeling, adjust hardware on a regular basis, like checking if screws are loose or misplaced.

Paint on kitchen cabinets may literally peel behind closed doors. If the paint on the back of the cabinet door adheres to the paint on the cabinet outside, the paint will ultimately deteriorate and peel away completely.

Little pieces of felt can be affixed to the inside corners of the doors to prevent friction from chipping away at the paint, causing a domino effect of paint removal.

3. Top Coat

Since fingers and fingernails come into constant touch with the paint surrounding cabinet knobs and handle, it is especially prone to flaking. Apply at least one layer of clear, protective topcoat before hanging those kitchen cabinets back up and admiring your work.

Get High-Quality Cabinets and Installation Services from Zothex Flooring

Save yourself from old cabinets with chipping acrylic paint and deep scratches. At Zothex Flooring, we have beautiful stock and custom cabinets with a perfectly smooth surface for your kitchen. Our family-owned business guarantees top-of-the-line wood furniture with excellent durability to adorn your kitchen.

Forget about dust particles and surface scratches when you get Zothex Flooring cabinets, which have durable coatings, creating a resilient surface that can even be used as outdoor furniture.

Call us now at 916-925-1958.

Read More: How to Paint Kitchen Cabinets Without Visible Brush Strokes