Tips for Maintaining Kitchen Cabinets

SAN RAMON — If you’ve recently had new kitchen cabinets installed, you’ll want to be proactive about maintaining them. This primarily consists of two aspects: cleaning and repairing minor damage.

Cleaning
Water, grease and food particles can cause damage to wood cabinets over time. Here are some tips for preventing this:

• Promptly wipe up spills with a microfiber cloth. Avoid using paper towels—due to their abrasiveness, they can damage your cabinets’ finish if used recurrently.
• To remove grease and food particles, use a mild cleaning product that’s appropriate for wood cabinetry.
• Don’t hang hand-drying towels over your cabinets—these tend to hold a lot of moisture, which can get transferred to the cabinetry.

Dent and ding repair
Minor dings, dents and scratches inevitably happen with wood cabinets. Fortunately, most can be easily repaired using a cabinet touch-up kit. These kits usually come with a putty stick and a marker, which can be used to fill in dents and scratches and blend in the color. This allows you to “erase” minor blemishes and keep your cabinets looking pristine.