6 DIY Degreaser Recipes for Kitchen Cabinets (2024)

I’ve found some quick and cost-effective ways to degrease kitchen cabinets using items you likely already have.

  • I mix 1/4 cup of Dawn dish soap with a quart of warm water for an easy degreaser.
  • I create a paste with white vinegar and salt to tackle tough grease in nooks and crannies.
  • I use straight white vinegar in a spray bottle to dissolve grime after letting it sit for 30 minutes.
  • I make a paste of baking soda and water for a gentle yet effective scrub on my cabinets.
  • For polishing and protecting wood, I apply a few drops of Murphy’s Oil Soap with a clean cloth.

To use my Dawn dish soap mixture, I simply spray or wipe it on my kitchen cabinets and rub them with a soft cloth to remove grease stains. For the vinegar and salt paste, I work it into tight spots with an old toothbrush for a deep clean. Straight vinegar is great as a stand-alone cleaner; just spray, let it penetrate, and wipe clean.

Baking soda paste is perfect for a non-abrasive scrub, and Murphy’s Oil Soap keeps the wood nourished and looking its best. These methods are not only effective but also cost-efficient and easy to use, ensuring my kitchen cabinets stay pristine without harsh chemicals.

Your kitchen cabinets are one of the most handled items in your home. Constant use causes them to collect crud and grime, and their proximity to the stovetop means they will get greasy. A cleaner and degreaser for kitchen cabinets is required to keep them looking new, but you need to use one that will not damage the cabinet or its finish.

We are going to help with some great cleaning tips that explain how to degrease kitchen cabinets without causing damage by using natural ingredients to create a powerful degreaser.

Our DIY tips and tricks will bring your cabinets to life and then help keep them that way. You probably have all you need right in your pantry!

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Table Of Contents

  1. Simple Degreasing Tips and Recipes for Cabinets
    • Getting Prepared
    • Degreasing a Kitchen Cabinet with Dawn Dish Soap
    • How to Degrease Kitchen Cupboards with White Vinegar and Salt Rub
    • White Vinegar Degreases My Kitchen Cabinet
    • Baking Soda and Water as Degreaser
    • How to Degrease a Kitchen Cabinet Using Oil Soap
    • Clean Them With Vegetable Oil and Vinegar
    • Degreasing Recipe for Kitchen Cupboards

Simple Degreasing Tips and Recipes for Cabinets

Here are six DIY recipes to be used as a degreaser for kitchen cabinets. Each works a little differently, and when combined in concert, they will help get your cabinet doors clean with minimal elbow grease.

Getting Prepared

Most of the things needed to make a kitchen cabinet degreaser are everyday household items. There’s no need to have every element to begin, start with the items you already have. You should also use gloves and wear safety glasses while cleaning.

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What You Need to Degrease Cabinets

  • Dawn dish soap
  • White vinegar
  • Baking soda
  • Murphy’s Oil Soap
  • Salt
  • Paper towels
  • A soft cloth
  • Spray bottle
  • Old toothbrush

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Degreasing a Kitchen Cabinet with Dawn Dish Soap

Dawn dish soap is famous for being an excellent degreaser, and this simple tip might be the best way to clean wooden cabinets. It is also mild enough that it won’t ruin your wood cabinets or their finish. You can even use dish detergent as the best way to clean painted kitchen cabinets, too.

Make a cleaning solution by mixing 1/4 cup Dawn dishwashing detergent with one quart of warm water. Don’t make too many suds. Pour the cleaning solution in a pail or a bucket, but it is also quite helpful to put it in a spray bottle.

Spray or wipe down the kitchen cabinets with the solution. Using a soft cloth, rub in a circular motion to remove any visible splatters or grease stains. Apply a little elbow grease to stubborn grease stains. You can also remove oil stains from kitchen wall tiles and countertops with dish soap and water. Wipe dry with paper towels.

How to Degrease Kitchen Cupboards with White Vinegar and Salt Rub

Make a paste using white vinegar and salt for an excellent wood cabinet cleaner. Use an old toothbrush to scrub the paste in tight spots where grease might have a chance to build up.

This rub is the perfect natural grease cleaner and an excellent way to remove grime around hinges and handles. If your wood kitchen cabinets have a lot of carvings and intricate designs, this will be able to get in there to give you a deep clean.

White Vinegar Degreases My Kitchen Cabinet

To make the best kitchen degreaser that is simple yet highly effective, pour white vinegar into a small spray bottle, spray on greasy cabinets, and let sit for about 30 minutes. Once the vinegar degreaser has had a chance to penetrate the grease stains, wipe away the vinegar and gunk with a damp cloth and clean water.

The slightly acidic nature of white vinegar makes it a top-notch kitchen cleaner degreaser. It not only works to clean cabinets, but it will also do a fantastic job cleaning a stainless steel stove top, most countertops, and laminate.

Baking Soda and Water as Degreaser

One of the most popular cleaning supplies is ordinary household baking soda. A perfect all-purpose cleaner, the most common practice is to mix baking soda with water, but both work much better on their own. Baking soda is an alkaline substance, while vinegar is an acid.

Make a paste from baking soda and hot water to make a homemade kitchen cleaner degreaser. Use an old toothbrush to scrub the mixture into your cabinet doors for a deep clean.

Use baking soda and vinegar as a DIY counter cleaner, particularly if there are tough stains.

How to Degrease a Kitchen Cabinet Using Oil Soap

Many different brands of oil soap, such as Murphy’s Oil Soap or home remedies, make a great wood cleaner. Oil soap is specially designed to not only clean wood but also protect and rejuvenate it. To use oil soap to clean kitchen cabinets, put a few drops onto a clean cloth and gently massage the oil into the wood using a circular motion.

Clean Them With Vegetable Oil and Vinegar

Vegetable oil and vinegar are among our last cleaning products. This tip is very similar to the oil soap tip and is a way to create a homebrew oil soap.

The way to make a degreaser with these handy pantry ingredients is to mix equal parts vegetable oil and vinegar and apply to a clean cloth to polish and shine your kitchen cabinets and remove grease build up that may have accumulated while you weren’t looking.

We hope that you liked our article and will use some of these DIY tips to degrease your kitchen cabinets and get them looking new. After a deep cleaning, some preventative measures may go a long way toward keeping your cabinets clean. Wipe them down once a week with white vinegar or Dawn dish soap to keep grease stains and crud to a minimum.

Degreasing Recipe for Kitchen Cupboards

6 DIY Degreaser Recipes for Kitchen Cabinets (3)

Degreaser for Kitchen Cabinets

Yield: 34 ounces

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Soap and water are not just for washing your hands.

Materials

  • 1/4 cup degreasing dish soap
  • 4 cups of warm water

Tools

  • Measuring cup
  • 48-ounce spray bottle
  • Clean rag

Instructions

  1. Pour the soap and water into the sprayer.
  2. Swish gently to incorporate. Try not to make too many bubbles.
  3. Spray one cabinet at a time.
  4. Wipe the cleaner over the cabinet face, getting into the corners and grooves.
  5. Allow to air dry.

Notes

If you don't have a spray bottle, you can easily add the mixture to a bucket instead.

6 DIY Degreaser Recipes for Kitchen Cabinets (4)

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6 DIY Degreaser Recipes for Kitchen Cabinets (2024)

FAQs

What is the best homemade degreaser for kitchen cabinets? ›

Vinegar is an effective sanitizer; liquid soap is a great stain remover and degreaser; baking soda makes a gentle abrasive and lightener for tough stains; and essential oils add a clean scent — mix them together and they make the perfect degreaser for your kitchen (and other places, too!).

What is a good homemade heavy degreaser? ›

Mix 1 cup vinegar with 3 cups of water, 1 cup of baking soda and ½ cup of dish soap in a bowl. This solution is best used right from the bowl, so dip a clean cloth into the bowl to apply the degreaser, then use the cloth to scrub the greasy surface. Be sure to rinse afterward and wipe the surface again to finish.

How to clean heavy grease off wood cabinets? ›

Start by mixing a solution of warm water and a mild dish soap. Using a soft cloth or sponge, gently scrub the greasy areas, applying light pressure to avoid damaging the cabinet finish. For tougher grease stains, add a small amount of white vinegar or baking soda to the soapy solution.

What is a homemade cleaning solution for kitchen cabinets? ›

Mix a 50/50 solution of vinegar and warm water and pour it into a spray bottle. Mist on cabinets, let sit for a minute or two and then wipe clean with a soft cloth. Add a few drops of liquid dishwashing detergent to the vinegar and water solution to clean extremely grimy cabinets.

What is the best cleaner for built up grease? ›

Rapinchuk says a simple mix of baking soda, kosher salt and dish soap will do the trick on cooked-on food stains and grease. Use a kitchen scrub brush to work into the little nooks. Rise and dry parts, then reassemble.

What is the best chemical to clean kitchen cabinets? ›

Greasy Cabinet Cleaning Method: Castile Soap + Baking Soda + Vinegar. The method: Fill a 32-ounce spray bottle with a cup of white vinegar, a few drops of castile liquid soap (we like Dr. Bronner's concentrated version), a tablespoon of baking soda, and water.

How to make a cheap degreaser? ›

One of the most popular homemade degreasers is a vinegar-based solution. To make this solution, mix one cup of distilled white vinegar with three cups of warm water in a spray bottle. You can also add a few drops of essential oil for a pleasant scent.

What is the most powerful degreaser? ›

Solvalene, the highest strength industrial degreaser, can conquer countless tough cleaning assignments.

What is the main ingredient in degreaser? ›

The composition can involve 20% to 80% kerosine, fuel oil and/or heavy naphtha, 20% to 85% water (balance), 2% to 15% surfactant, 5% to 15% of 1, 1, 1 trichloroethane, 5% to 15% butyl cellosolve and about 10% aromatic solvent.

Why are my kitchen cabinets sticky after cleaning? ›

These sticky residues are usually caused by cooking greasy foods. But some of them may be left by some cleaners. Regardless of where they come from, they can be frustrating to remove. As time passes, when they build up too much grease, they can become unappealing and damaging to your kitchen.

How do you clean kitchen cabinets without removing the finish? ›

Dawn recommends adding a few drops of detergent to a bowl of warm water for general cabinet cleaning. For stubborn areas, it says to squirt detergent directly onto a sponge or cloth while holding it under running warm water. Test the cleaner on a small, inconspicuous area before you commit to cleaning everything.

How to clean sticky grease off kitchen cabinets with the family handyman? ›

Using vinegar or baking soda, scrub the stain until the abrasive action breaks it free. Finish by wiping down the cabinet with your damp microfiber cloth or sponge.

How do you clean kitchen cabinets like a pro? ›

Apply a safe, but grease-cutting all-purpose cleaner or a mixture of dish soap and water to a cloth. Ensure the cloth is damp, but not overly wet. Wipe both sides of the cabinet door, paying special attention to knobs and drawer pulls where you'll likely find greasy fingerprints.

Does vinegar remove grease from cabinets? ›

It has a grease-busting ability. Dampen a clean, dry cloth with undiluted white vinegar, and wipe down greasy cabinets. Rinse your cloth with warm water. Wring out most of the moisture, and then use the cloth to rinse the cabinetry.

What can I use instead of kitchen degreaser? ›

Pour 3 tablespoons of vinegar, 1 teaspoon borax, and 2 cups of water into a spray bottle. Shake to dissolve. Then add 1 teaspoon liquid soap (or dishwashing liquid) to the bottle and shake it again. Spray on surface and then wipe clean.

Does Murphy's oil soap remove grease from cabinets? ›

I'm gonna show you how easy it is to get your greasy, dirty cabinets nice and clean. Here's what you need:. One gallon of hot water and 1/4 to 1/2 a cup of murphy's Oil Soap. 1/4 cup if they're not too dirty, a 1/2 cup.

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