Grease spatter on kitchen cabinets

[Chinese Pistache]

The cabinets above my stove have grease spatter on them. It's up very high, so I'm guessing it's there from greasy condensation and not so much from grease spattering that many feet up (I don't fry very often and usually keep lids partially covered when sauteeing or something like that).

Anyway, how do I clean it without hurting the finish on my cabinets (they're stained, not painted and they do have some sort of lacquer coating, but not terribly thick or durable, imo)? I'm afraid Murphy's won't be strong enough (I've used it before on floors and it just seemed to smear stuff), but would a grease cutting soap like Dawn be TOO strong? Thanks for your help.

[staceychev]

My husband made the most amazing concoction for the tops of our cabinets. He mixed it in a spray bottle and then worked with rags to get the greasy mess off. It was about 2 tsp of Borax, 1/2 tsp of baking soda and water. Our cabinets are laminate, though, so if I were you, I'd test in an inconspicuous location!

[gmvh]

I've just spent the past little while cleaning above our stove and dishwashing (not dishwasher) detergent has done just fine with a scrubbie. I use the lavendar Trader Joe's stuff so it's not got quite the power of Dawn! I'd test some on an inconspicuous place first, just to make sure you're not scrubbing off more than you want!

[alison_in_oh]

I think the key is a mild/neutral pH surfactant. Dawn or other dishwashing liquid is probably fine, I'm finding though that Murphy's, and patience, is working fine. (I've washed down my cabinets about 2 times now, after a couple of years of half-heartedly swiping them with all-purpose cleaner once every couple of months, and have already noticed a difference in the tacky buildup!)

[SuzyLee]

I have this problem on the tile behind my stove. Vinegar does nothing, soap and water does nothing. I guess maybe I need to try scrubbing harder with just Dawn. I pretty much just gave up and let it stay greasy since nothing I did worked.

[bender]

Grease Grizzly works great for heavy duty grease build up on cabinets. It doesn't affect the finish, ime.

[gmvh]

I guess I should say that the grease on my stove/cabinets is definitely not built up, hence the dishwashing detergent working so well. We lived in a rental before this and wow! I couldn't anything to take away the tackiness. I was getting obsessive about trying to get it off! Good luck everyone!

[PGTlatte]

I've used Dr. Bronner's Sal Suds in water with good results.

[elsie]

The only thing that ever got stubborn grease off was ammonia, but it can be harsh.

[dbsam]

Bi-o-Kleen makes a soy based de-greaser. I've never tried it on cabinets but it may work - although I would dilute it. (I've used it on my stove, on a stain on the garage floor and on my husband's grease stained Carharts and it worked great.)

[staceychev]

Coming back to update:

DH said that he put a drop or two of dish soap in there, too. The recipe was from Annie Berthold-Bond's book Better Basics for the Home.

He's cleaned the tops of our cabinets twice since we moved in. The first time took about 3 hours, and he only got half done. The second time, with the Borax concoction, took about 45 minutes for all of them.

Seriously, I'm not selling this stuff. Just giggling in my mind remember DH's infomercial-style reaction.

[melissa17s]

One of the people I work with used to swear by a combination of vinegar, ammonia and alcohol. I googled and came up with a recipe here.

[artemis33]

Originally Posted by staceychev

Coming back to update:

DH said that he put a drop or two of dish soap in there, too. The recipe was from Annie Berthold-Bond's book Better Basics for the Home.

He's cleaned the tops of our cabinets twice since we moved in. The first time took about 3 hours, and he only got half done. The second time, with the Borax concoction, took about 45 minutes for all of them.

Seriously, I'm not selling this stuff. Just giggling in my mind remember DH's infomercial-style reaction.

I love that book!

Another vote for Borax though. You certainly should try a test spot to be sure it is ok on that finish...and you do have to rinse it...but Borax is AWESOME at grease removal! I used a similar concoction to wash down all of our kitchen walls before we repainted and it worked great! I use it for many cleaning tasks around the house...great stuff

[cristeen]

We just scrubbed down our kitchen last week, using plain old baking soda and it did a fabulous job with all the grease everywhere. Test the finish first to see if it strips it, but it shouldn't.

I would recommend making sure you turn on your vent in the future to prevent the problem, though. If you don't have one, then some sort of ventilation helps immensely. We had to get a twin window vent for the kitchen window, since we don't have a range hood. It's cut down on the grease migrating.

[Chinese Pistache]

Thanks everyone. Hopefully some time this weekend I'll have a chance to try out one of these concoctions

[UptownZoo]

Originally Posted by melissa17s

One of the people I work with used to swear by a combination of vinegar, ammonia and alcohol. I googled and came up with a recipe here.

Hmm? It wouldn't make any sense to mix vinegar and ammonia. The reason ammonia cuts grease is, grease (all fats) are acid. Ammonia is base, so it cuts through. Vinegar is acid, which is why it doesn't cut through greasy stains (but a great rinsing agent, since soaps and detergents are base). So mixing the two, their ph would balance (watch, a chemist will come here and tell me I'm full of it ) and it would be a very stinky, very neutral (and therefore quite useless) concoction.