It’s easy for cabinet hardware, particularly in the kitchen, to get grimy really fast. With grease splatter from cooking, touching them with dirty hands and spills that happen in the kitchen, it can only take a couple of months before your cabinet hardware needs cleaning. Here are a few tips to help you clean your cabinet hardware.
- Remove the hardware from your cabinets and drawers before you begin. Sometimes cleaning solutions can damage the cabinets themselves, so you won’t want to replace them until they’re clean and dry. You should just need a screwdriver for this.
- Fill a bowl with hot, soapy water. Dish soap should suffice.
- Place cabinet hardware in the water and let it sit for at least half an hour. You want the hardware to be completely submerged in the water, so you may have to do this in batches.
- While your hardware is soaking, clean the area on the cabinets that the hardware normally covers. It would be silly to replace the hardware onto a dirty surface. Use an appropriate cleaner and scrub the built-up grime off the cabinets.
- Take a clean soft toothbrush and scrub the hardware to remove any gunk. Make sure to scrub the backs as well, as grease can often run down there.
- Rinse clean hardware in cool water. Dry with paper towels.
- If you are using metal knobs, use a metal polish to finish the job. This will help disguise any scratches on the hardware and prevent tarnish from forming.