Your wooden kitchen cabinet fronts might look clean from a distance, but on closer inspection you may find them less than pristine.  That's because cooking releases a mist of grease into the air, this settles on your cabinets, trapping dust and other airborne particles of debris.  Add to that a few grubby fingerprints around the door handles, and you have decidedly gunky cabinet fronts without even realising it.

So, how do you get your wooden kitchen cabinets beautifully clean again without using bleach and other harsh chemicals?  Read on to find out more.

What you'll need

• vegetable oil or mineral oil (available from good DIY stores or online)
• baking soda
• blunt knife or flathead screwdriver
• old tooth brush
• rubber gloves
• dry sponge
• paper towel

How to do it

1. Begin by removing the cabinet door handles.  To do this, prise off the plastic screw guard from the back of the handle or doorknob using a blunt knife blade or flathead screwdriver.  Unscrew the washer and slide out the retaining screw so that you can remove the cabinet handle.  Put all the bits and pieces in a safe place so that they don't get lost while you're working.  
2. Now, mix together one part vegetable or mineral oil with two parts baking soda to form a paste.  
3. Before you begin working, set out double layers of paper towel underneath the cabinet fronts to catch the dirty paste.  
4. Put on your rubber gloves to protect your hands.  Begin working on a small section of each door at a time.  Use the sponge to rub the paste into the cabinet front's surface, using a circular motion to work the paste well into the wood and paying particular attention to the grain.  
5. For awkward corners and the area around the site of the cabinet handles, use the old toothbrush to apply the paste.  
6. When you've finished, wipe down all the cabinet doors with dry paper towel to get rid of any remaining paste.  
7. Use a small amount of paste on the sponge to clean the cabinet handles, wipe them clean, and replace them on the cabinet doors.

The baking soda is very mildly abrasive, so it will effectively get rid of ingrained dirt without scratching your cabinet door surfaces.  The natural oil blends with the residue of grease and lifts it away, leaving your wooden cabinet doors beautifully shiny and clean.  It's surprising how quickly your kitchen cabinet fronts get grubby.  For more information, contact a business such as DM Cabinets.