Home Maintenance For Dummies, 2nd Edition

by Carey, James

  If your cabinets aren’t terribly nicked up or scratched, and they have drawers and doors that still work well, all they may need is a little TLC. In fact, a good cleaning could be just the trick to make their surfaces look new again.

  Cleaning wood cabinets

  To give varnished wood cabinets a super cleaning, use our Super Wood Cleaner (see Chapter 20).

  This formula is not made for painted surfaces. If you have painted wood cabinets, skip ahead to the next section, “Cleaning painted wood, metal, laminate, or vinyl-covered cabinets.”

  After you’ve mixed up our Super Wood Cleaner, follow these steps:

  1. Remove all the drawer pulls and door handles from the cabinets, and cover the countertops and floors with dropcloths.

  2. While wearing rubber gloves, wet a soft rag in the Super Wood Cleaner and ring it out well.

  3. Thoroughly wipe all cabinet surfaces (inside and out), doing small sections at a time.

  4. Wipe the surface dry with a clean rag.

  5. Repeat the wiping and drying until all old wax, sticky grease film, and grubby fingerprints are gone.

  6. Replace the pulls and handles.

  Our Super Wood Cleaner is moderately flammable. For safety’s sake, don’t smoke while you’re using it or work with it near open flames. Don’t try to reheat the mixture — mix up a new batch when it gets cold. Dispose of any leftover by letting it evaporate outside — don’t pour it down the drain. Let the rags completely air-dry outside before disposing of them in the trash. (Don’t keep these rags inside — they’re subject to spontaneous combustion!)

  Cleaning painted wood, metal, laminate, or vinyl-covered cabinets

  If your cabinets are painted wood, metal, laminate, or vinyl-covered, you can clean them with warm, soapy water and a sponge:

  1. Cover the floor and countertops from spills and splashes using dropcloths.

  If you want to do a really thorough job, remove the drawer pulls and door handles from the cabinets.

  2. Mix up a lightly soapy solution using dishwashing soap.

  Don’t go crazy — one small squirt will be plenty.

  3. With a wrung-out sponge that’s wet but not drippy, thoroughly wipe the door and drawer fronts and everything in between (the face frame).

  Get into the nooks and crannies, and don’t forget the edges.

  Do one section at a time. You don’t want water to sit too long on the wood or begin to dry.

  4. Remove any soapy residue with a cloth and clean water, and then thoroughly dry the cabinets with towels.

  5. If you removed the pulls and handles from the cabinets, replace them after the cabinets are dry.

  Something Old Is Something New: Refinishing Your Cabinets

  If cleaning doesn’t do the trick, and your cabinets still look lousy, then it’s time to cover up their flaws. In fact, a few minor surface repairs and a fresh coat of paint or varnish can make your old cabinets look new, make them easier to care for, and probably brighten up the room.

  Not only does the cabinet finish look good, but it also protects the wood from moisture damage, a common problem in the places where cabinets are installed — kitchens and bathrooms.

  Here’s a way to get a new look for a little moolah: If your cabinets could use a little pick-me-up, but they don’t quite need to be refinished, replace the drawer pulls and door handles. Nothing perks up your cabinets — and your mood — like new hardware!

  One small budget, one huge success

  We have friends who had a terrible-looking set of kitchen cabinets and a terribly limited remodeling budget. The cabinets were real wood, however, and our friends had to admit that they still worked fine. They tried repainting the cabinets to see if they could avoid buying new ones. And when they were done, the cabinets looked beautiful! The total cost? Less than $750! What’s more, they saved more than $15,000 in what it would have cost to remove the cabinets and replace them with new ones. The bottom line: Not every kitchen remodeling job has to cost $25,000 or more. Sometimes the simplest things, like a coat of paint, can make a big difference.

  Getting your cabinets ready for refinishing

  Before you paint or varnish your cabinets, you have to get them ready. If you don’t prepare properly, your paint will peel or your varnish will look lousy. Follow these steps:

  1. Remove the cabinet doors and drawers, being sure to label them with removable stickers so that you can get them back in the right place.

  You may have to move or remove the refrigerator, range, or vent hood to complete the job. If so, clean behind the refrigerator, under the stove, and up inside the range hood. (Why pass up this great opportunity for a thorough cleaning?)

  2. Remove the drawer pulls, door handles, and hinges.

  Do this job in your garage or basement workshop to minimize disruption and mess in the kitchen.

  3. If you intend to reuse the pulls, handles, and hinges, soak them in a mild solution of soap and water.

  Don’t use ammonia — it can remove the plated finish.

  4. Wash all the cabinet surfaces and the drawer and door surfaces with a mild solution of trisodium phosphate (TSP), a heavy-duty all-purpose cleaner, and wipe them dry.

  5. Lightly sand all the surfaces you plan to paint.

  Use 200- or 120-grit sandpaper if you intend to paint, or 400- or 600-grit sandpaper if you intend to varnish.

  The goal is not to remove all the paint or varnish, but to create a uniform surface for the new finish. So don’t go nuts — just get it smooth.

  6. If you’re painting, fill all nicks and blemishes with vinyl spackling compound and, when dry, sand the compound lightly. If you’re varnishing, use colored putty, being careful to remove the excess from around the gouge.

  A second application of spackle or putty may be necessary if the first coat shrinks.

  7. Vacuum the cabinets, drawers, and doors using an upholstery brush.

  8. Wipe down the cabinets with a tack cloth or a soft cloth dampened with mineral spirits.

  Painting or varnishing . . . at last!

  When your cabinets are suitably prepared (see the preceding section), you’re ready to paint or varnish. Follow these steps:

  1. Cover everything with canvas or heavy plastic dropcloths.

  Use masking tape to protect the counters where they meet the cabinets and to create a paint/no-paint edge on the interiors.

  2. If you’re painting, apply a coat of oil-based primer. (Skip this step if you’re varnishing.)

  If the cabinets are dark, use a heavily pigmented shellac-based primer to conceal the color and seal in the dark stain. If you’re making a big change in color, have the primer tinted at the paint store to closely (but not exactly) match the finished color.

  3. If you’re painting, finish the cabinets with a high-quality, oil-based, high-gloss or semigloss enamel. If you’re varnishing, apply a coat of high-quality, oil-based, glossy or satin-finish polyurethane.

  Use a natural-bristle brush. You may want to enhance spreadability and reduce brush strokes by thinning the paint or varnish a little with mineral spirits.

  4. Cover the drawer bodies with plastic and mask the edges of the drawer bodies where they meet the fronts.

  5. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for the doors and drawers.

  6. Replace the hinges, pulls, and handles.

  You can make your old grungy, grimy hinges, pulls, and handles look new again by soaking them overnight in a mild solution of dishwashing liquid and warm water — about 1 tablespoon to 1 quart of water. Mix the solution in a plastic bucket and allow the hardware to soak overnight. Use a nylon-bristle brush to get into the nooks and crannies, rinse, and towel-dry. Use a fine metal cleaner and polish such as Flitz to remove stains and blemishes and provide a protective finish.

  Maintaining Your Cabinets

  After you have your cabinets looking good (whether you’re starting with new cabinets, you’ve just cleaned your cabinets, or you’ve refinished them), you still need to do some tas
ks on a regular basis to keep them looking good and working well in the future. Don’t worry: None of these tasks requires any special tools or materials, and together they take no more than half an hour to do.

  Once a year, do the following:

  Tighten drawer pulls and door handles. Don’t over-tighten them. One-quarter turn beyond snug should do the trick.

  Lubricate and adjust the hinges. Don’t go crazy — a drop of fine machine oil is plenty. Remember: Less is more when it comes to lubrication.

  Lubricate and adjust the drawer slides. A little squirt of WD-40 works well on metal guides. Use beeswax or paraffin if your drawers have wooden guides.

  Remove finger smudges. Try spray cleaner first. If that doesn’t work, try a vinegar-and-water solution (one part vinegar to three parts water). If all else fails, put a little mineral spirits on a rag, and use that to wipe off the smudges.

  Making Your Lovely Laminate Last

  You may know it by one of its popular brand names (such as Formica or Wilsonart), but the generic name for that slick countertop material with the rolled nosing and integral backsplash is plastic laminate. Common plastic laminate is nothing more than a very thin piece of plastic combined with several thin layers of resin-coated paper. A heating process is used to bond the paper and plastic, and what results is a somewhat-flexible, waterproof material that has any number of practical uses. It’s cemented onto a solid surface — such as plywood or hardboard — to give it strength and support.

  Cleaning and caring for your laminate

  You can easily keep a laminate countertop nice and clean. All you need is water, a little soap, and a stiff nylon brush. Mix the water and the soap, and then scrub away with the brush. You’d be surprised at how dirty a countertop that looks clean really is.

  After your countertop is super-clean, consider giving it a coat of car wax. Wax will protect laminate in the same way that it protects the painted surfaces of a car. Waxing takes a little effort, but at least you won’t have to worry about scraping your hand on the edge of a license plate.

  If you’re handy with a buffer, you can use it to get an extra-glossy shine. But be very careful: Too much high-speed buffing wrecks the plastic laminate surface.

  Here are a few tips that will help you keep your laminate countertops looking lovely for a long time:

  Avoid using abrasive cleaners. That means no Ajax, no Comet, and no Soft Scrub.

  Don’t let water stand, especially on seams and along the backsplash.

  Always use a cutting board. Laminate is too soft to stand up to knives.

  Never place a hot pan directly on the surface.

  Bursting bubbles

  Laminate countertops are made of a thin sheet of plastic bonded with contact cement to a plywood or hardboard base. Sometimes the contact cement loses its stickiness, and the laminate forms a bump. Luckily, it’s easy to stick the laminate back down (see Figure 13-1):

  1. Place a slightly damp towel over the bubble.

  2. Apply low heat with a clothes iron for 10 seconds (see Figure 13-1).

  This process softens the laminate and “re-stickifies” the contact cement.

  3. Immediately place several heavy books on the repaired spot and leave them there for 12 hours.

  The books keep the laminate in contact with the cement as it re-cures.

  Figure 13-1: Smoothing out bubbles on a laminate countertop.

  Hiding chips, cuts, and scratches

  Sooner or later, your nice laminate countertop will be chipped, cut, or scratched. This problem is more than just cosmetic — water can travel through the open area and damage the base.

  When you get done yelling at the person responsible, head out to the nearest home center for a SeamFil chip-filler kit and a brand-new, well-polished putty knife. SeamFil kits come in 20 colors; mix them to match your countertop. It dries to a satin finish, and a gloss additive lets you match shiny surfaces. Just follow the directions on the package.

  Neither SeamFil nor any other similar product can make a countertop gouge invisible; they just make them less noticeable. However, the repair does become water-resistant.

  Caring for Super Solid Surfaces

  You probably know this easy-to-care-for countertop material by one of its brand names — Corian, Avonite, and a number of others — but the generic name for it is solid-surface countertops. Plain and simple, solid-surface countertops require little care and are virtually impossible to permanently damage.

  Because these countertops are made of a nonporous, plastic, or plastic-like material, soap and water are all you need to keep them clean.

  Got some light scratches, stains, or scorched spots? The first thing you should do is go to the manufacturer’s Web site and find the care-and-repair instructions. Then follow the steps to the letter, using the exact materials recommended.

  Don’t know the manufacturer? Don’t know how to use the Internet? Forgot how to read? If all you want to fix is light surface scratches or stains, you can do the repair with a lightly abrasive cleaner like Soft Scrub and some elbow grease. If that doesn’t do the job, use an abrasive sponge (such as a Scotch-Brite pad) to lightly “sand” the surface smooth. Don’t press too hard, and make sure that the area remains wet while you work, to reduce the chances of creating new scratches.

  Don’t attempt this repair if your countertop has a high-gloss finish — the repaired area will not be glossy anymore.

  Things get dicier if you have deep scratches, burns, and deep stains. The best answer is to call in a pro to resurface the area (and maybe the entire countertop). The next best answer, if you’re feeling bold, is to lightly hand-sand the area using 400-grit wet/dry sandpaper. Keep the area wet while you work. Don’t get carried away. Do not use a power sander — you’ll ruin your countertop.

  The manufacturer of your countertop probably offers a repair kit. If you need to undo some self-inflicted imperfection, read the instructions and do exactly what the manufacturer’s instructions tell you to do.

  Keeping Your Tile Terrific

  Ceramic tile countertops offer a trade-off: They last forever, but they require more maintenance than other types of countertops. If you ask us, it’s worth the extra work.

  The tile itself is tough — it’s the grout you have to worry about. Grout is the cement-like stuff that fills the gaps between tiles, and it readily absorbs moisture and stains.

  Sealing out grout grunge

  Grout sealer goes a long way toward preventing stains and keeping your beautiful new countertop looking good. The trick is, you have to wait at least 72 hours for the grout to cure (dry) before you can seal it.

  Your local home center probably has several different brands of grout-and-tile sealer with handy sponge-tip applicators. A silicone-based sealer is best.

  Sealing grout can take several hours to do depending upon the amount of tile that you have, so plan not to be in a big hurry. Follow each grout line with the sealer applicator, making sure you’re getting the sealer down into the lines. (Follow the manufacturer’s directions for application.) Apply a second coat 24 hours later and a third coat 24 hours after that. Big fun — but totally necessary.

  Cleaning grubby grout

  To clean your grout, you need a bottle of vinegar, water, and a small brass brush. (A steel brush would leave rust marks in the grout and dark scratches in the tile.) If you can’t find a brass brush, grab a couple of brand-new hard toothbrushes. Then follow these steps:

  1. In a big jar, make a solution of one part water, one part vinegar.

  2. Dip the brush in the solution and start scrubbing the grout.

  Yes, cleaning grout takes a while. And yes, it’s tedious. The vinegar, a weak acid, helps remove hard-water deposits and other hard-to-remove chemical stains.