The Best Way to Clean Sticky Kitchen Cabinets (The Amish Way)

Put one fingertip on the bottom corner of the cabinet door beside your stove and lift it slowly. If it sticks like a stamp, wipe that corner once with a warm wet paper towel and a drop of dish soap. If the towel comes away yellow or brown, that isn't dirt. That is weeks of cooking. My neighbor Donna sprays her honey oak cabinets every Saturday and polishes them once a month, and the more she cleaned them, the stickier they got. Here is why the cabinets near your stove turn tacky, why fall makes it worse, and the gentle way we wash them here in Holmes County, Ohio, with warm water, one spoonful of dish soap and three cloths. In this video: • Why cabinets get sticky: tiny drops of cooking oil settle on the nearest cool surface, thicken in the air and catch dust • Step 1: know your finish (clear-coated wood, painted wood or laminate) and test inside a door first • Step 2: warm water and one tablespoon of dish soap, a warm cloth laid on for a minute, then wipe with the grain • The three-cloth rule: wash, rinse, dry, and never let a cabinet dry itself • Step 3: a gentle baking soda paste for thick spots, and when not to use it • The mistake: more spray, one cloth, no rinse, and polish that builds up into a sticky haze • What never to use on a wood finish (ammonia, bleach, oven cleaner, scouring powder, scrub pads, melamine sponges, acetone, wax and silicone polish, wet towels hung on doors) • How to keep it from coming back: the range hood, the back burners, a lid on the pot, and brown paper on top of the cabinets • Honest words: when a door needs refinishing, not cleaning, and what it all costs • Easier ways if you're past sixty: sit for the lower doors, a step stool with a handle for the uppers Homework: tonight, after supper, wash just one door, the one right beside your stove. Use three cloths. Then run your hand over it and feel the difference. Which door in your kitchen is the stickiest, and how old are your cabinets? Tell me in the comments. I read every one. CHAPTERS 0:00 The fingertip test 0:39 Donna's sticky oak cabinets 1:23 What you'll learn 2:18 Why cabinets get sticky 3:22 Why fall makes it worse 3:38 Safety first 4:13 Step 1: Know your finish 4:36 Step 2: Warm water and dish soap 5:40 Rinse and dry: the three cloths 6:17 The day I was thirty-one 6:54 Step 3: Baking soda paste 8:10 The too-much-cleaner mistake 8:39 Why polish makes it worse 9:42 Never use these on a wood finish 10:43 What about vinegar? 11:10 Keep it from coming back 12:04 Honest words and the cost 12:40 Easier after sixty 13:08 Putting it all together 13:53 What my mother-in-law said Safety note: if you have the care paper for your cabinets, follow it first. Test any cleaner or paste on the inside of a door. Use a damp cloth, never a dripping one, and dry right away. Keep oven cleaner, acetone and mineral spirits away from cabinet finishes. Use a sturdy step stool with a handle for the upper doors, never a chair. Never mix bleach with vinegar, ammonia or other cleaners; always follow your appliance and product labels. #amishway #cleaningtips #kitchencleaning