Keeping a white kitchen clean

[Dynamite5]

We are possibly buying a house that needs a total renovation. I've dreamed of, but never had, a white kitchen. In our current home, we have white woodwork and the bedroom, bathroom and pantry doors are all white. I tend to notice fingerprints and smudges. I wipe them down when I clean (my pantry door almost daily--I give it a swipe as I wipe off the counters). Do you have experience with an all white kitchen? Will I notice smudges and smears, or do white cabinets not show those? 

 

The best scenario, of course, would be if I could install a white kitchen, live with it for 6 months and then decide--but that's not going to happen, LOL!

 

Please tell me your experience with white kitchens!

 

[Arcadia]

I have all white kitchen cabinets since 2001. My husband and I love white cabinets because we love bright kitchens. However you can see coffee stains and oil stains on the underside of the white cabinets next to the stovetop. You can also see some smudges near the cabinets handles. If my husband wants to clean it up for guests, magic eraser, wipes and some bleach gets the cabinets doors clean so it's not too bad.

 

My mom's kitchen cabinets were baby blue and dirt still shows. My childhood home's and my home's walls are all cream colored. My refrigerator is white and the handles need a good scrub.

[slackermom]

I have always wanted a white kitchen, but my BIL, who is a general contractor, always says "Don't do it!" He says they start to look bad almost immediately.

 

I was still determined to get them, because I love the look too. Then he gave us a full set of barely used honey maple cabinets, so I didn't get to buy white.

 

I suspect that if the cabinet surface is very glossy, it will be easier to keep white, but haven't been able to test my theory.

 

Edited for grammar

Edited April 17, 2017 by slackermom

[emcap]

In our last house, I painted the cabinets white. It looked great, but It was a little harder to keep clean and chipped about 20x easier, in our current house we put in factory white cabinets. They are so easy to clean, the surface is super smooth and they wipe up like a dream. I simply added wiping cabinets to my seven year olds weekly chore list (takes him maybe 10mins) and they never get gross at all. Always looks fresh and clean.

 

One thing to consider is if your family is rough on things. We got soft close cabs/drawers and I tell me boys not to crash into things! I think getting chipped is a huge factor in them looking grungy.

 

Good luck!

[Rebel Yell]

I have medium brown stained wood cabinets. At first glance, they do not look dirty. That is good as far as guests not thinking you actually cook in your kitchen LOL!

 

However, because it doesn't ever look dirty, it doesn't ever really get cleaned. They are actually filthy with years of grease build up, food splashes, etc.

 

My white fridge and stove, however, get wired down frequently, since dirt is visible.

 

So I guess a better question would be, after "What do I/we like and want?" would be, "Do I want to see dirt that will actually get cleaned, or hide dirt that might get ignored?"

 

FWIW, I am a very detail oriented person. If I noticed a worn or stained spot by the handle of your cabinets in an otherwise clean home I'd just figure that's the cabinet you use most frequently. In my mind, that is completely different from last month's spaghetti sauce dripping down the cabinet door that didn't get wiped all the way off,

[TechWife]

White kitchens aren't any harder to keep clean than any other color. The dirt will show differently, but the color doesn't change how much or where the dirt and kitchen grunge are. 

[ksr5377]

I feel like my white kitchen is cleaner.  Yes, it shows dirt faster that wood cabinets, but then that gets wiped up immediately.  It takes seconds.  I think I washed my wood cabinets twice in 10 years.  Yuck.

[Guest]

I adore white kitchens. I'd rather see a spot and clean it than wipe a rag across a surface and realize it was covered with hidden filth. I want to know it is clean.

[Guest]

Plus, I don't think white will go out of style as quickly as other colors. My mom's blue and oak kitchen screams it's age.

[Dynamite5]

I have all white kitchen cabinets since 2001. My husband and I love white cabinets because we love bright kitchens. However you can see coffee stains and oil stains on the underside of the white cabinets next to the stovetop. You can also see some smudges near the cabinets handles. If my husband wants to clean it up for guests, magic eraser, wipes and some bleach gets the cabinets doors clean so it's not too bad.

 

My mom's kitchen cabinets were baby blue and dirt still shows. My childhood home's and my home's walls are all cream colored. My refrigerator is white and the handles need a good scrub.

 

I love that line! You are a lucky lady. My dh would not see the dirt, even if I was there to point it out!

[Dynamite5]

In our last house, I painted the cabinets white. It looked great, but It was a little harder to keep clean and chipped about 20x easier, in our current house we put in factory white cabinets. They are so easy to clean, the surface is super smooth and they wipe up like a dream. I simply added wiping cabinets to my seven year olds weekly chore list (takes him maybe 10mins) and they never get gross at all. Always looks fresh and clean.

 

One thing to consider is if your family is rough on things. We got soft close cabs/drawers and I tell me boys not to crash into things! I think getting chipped is a huge factor in them looking grungy.

 

Good luck!

My current island is factory painted wood and it chips easily--I wonder if it's the type of wood. Perhaps it's too soft for the wear and tear and island gets? I will say that I think we are not hard on things. We've been in this house more than 10 years and people who don't know think it's much newer than it is. 

[sbgrace]

I have IKEA cabinets in white, so it's not paint. They wipe clean easily. I think they look great over 3 years in. I imagine any cabinets get the same grime and prints. I like that I can see it and wipe it off easily on these compared to my old home with wood.  I really like the bright and open look the white gives the room. 

[Dynamite5]

I have medium brown stained wood cabinets. At first glance, they do not look dirty. That is good as far as guests not thinking you actually cook in your kitchen LOL!

 

However, because it doesn't ever look dirty, it doesn't ever really get cleaned. They are actually filthy with years of grease build up, food splashes, etc.

 

My white fridge and stove, however, get wired down frequently, since dirt is visible.

 

So I guess a better question would be, after "What do I/we like and want?" would be, "Do I want to see dirt that will actually get cleaned, or hide dirt that might get ignored?"

 

FWIW, I am a very detail oriented person. If I noticed a worn or stained spot by the handle of your cabinets in an otherwise clean home I'd just figure that's the cabinet you use most frequently. In my mind, that is completely different from last month's spaghetti sauce dripping down the cabinet door that didn't get wiped all the way off,

This is a great way to look at this. Thank you for helping me think it through. I, too, am very detail oriented and frankly, a bit OCD when it comes to cleaning, so I'm probably going to clean a white kitchen as much as any other.

[wonderchica]

My cabinets are cream (not painted). They wipe off easily. I do get some little smudges here and there but they come off so easily it isn't a hassle. I have black granite countertops, stainless appliances and blue/gray/sage glass tile backsplash.

[Dynamite5]

White kitchens aren't any harder to keep clean than any other color. The dirt will show differently, but the color doesn't change how much or where the dirt and kitchen grunge are. 

So, so true! What I should focus on then, are things that are important to me to be clean be made of materials that are easy to clean and don't need to be fussed over. And that is why I love these boards--always a new way of looking at something!

 

Thanks!

[emcap]

My current island is factory painted wood and it chips easily--I wonder if it's the type of wood. Perhaps it's too soft for the wear and tear and island gets? I will say that I think we are not hard on things. We've been in this house more than 10 years and people who don't know think it's much newer than it is.

Ours are the white coated from IKEA, I think any painted cabs would chip, that's what drew me to that type after having painted ones. Our old cabinets were oak, and that's a pretty hard wood. I think it's just the nature of paint. I also like how smooth the coating is. I wasn't sure what it was called though to specify.

[Dynamite5]

My cabinets are cream (not painted). They wipe off easily. I do get some little smudges here and there but they come off so easily it isn't a hassle. I have black granite countertops, stainless appliances and blue/gray/sage glass tile backsplash.

Your kitchen sounds lovely!

[zoobie]

I have white cabinets, and if they weren't stupid white cabinets, it wouldn't be bad. The prior homeowners "refreshed" the 1960s kitchen by taking down most of the upper cabinets and painting the pine white. So it's latex paint over old oil stain. So it's perpetually sort of tacky. Not tacky as in TACKY but slightly not quite sticky. So dust and pet hair and such clings to them. I use whatever spray cleaner I have and a microfiber towel to clean them off. It takes more effort than it would if they weren't stupid. But generally, white cabinets aren't more or less of a pain IMO.

 

[eternalsummer]

I have white cabinets, and if they weren't stupid white cabinets, it wouldn't be bad. The prior homeowners "refreshed" the 1960s kitchen by taking down most of the upper cabinets and painting the pine white. So it's latex paint over old oil stain. So it's perpetually sort of tacky. Not tacky as in TACKY but slightly not quite sticky. So dust and pet hair and such clings to them. I use whatever spray cleaner I have and a microfiber towel to clean them off. It takes more effort than it would if they weren't stupid. But generally, white cabinets aren't more or less of a pain IMO.

 

 

We had cabinets like this at our last rental.  Absolute nightmare to keep clean.  If you let any food bit sit on them for more than about an hour, it was permanently welded to the paint and scrubbing it off took off paint too.  Everything showed and everything stuck and it was just terrible.  Cleaning them never felt good, either, if that makes sense.  

[Guest]

Our house (a flip) has IKEA white cabs in it, and they are nice.  They are holding up well enough.  The soft-close drawers are wonderful, and probably prevent chipping.  That said, they did the matching front for the dishwasher and the fridge and I don't like those.  (I did like them in my old house, but they were more like thick veneers than full panels attached the the front.  They are *heavy* and the dishwasher panel has NOT held up, so it looks really crummy.  When that dishwasher dies (I hate it), we will get stainless.  Same with the fridge.  

 

I will also say this:  the *design* of the cabinets will have more to do with how easy they are to keep clean than the color.  Our old house, we had flat panel cabs (they were right for the era of the house) and they cleaned so fast.  These ones have decorative woodwork as part of the design and I have to get toothpicks out to get into the corners.  THAT annoys me, not the white color.  I like the color. 

 

If you get white, get a smooth finish, probably factory applied.  And find out what is the matching paint color and get some of that.  If you have to do a few minor touch-ups or if you want to add a panel somewhere else in the kitchen, you can tie it all together with the paint.

 

[ealp2009]

I have white floor and white cabinets. The floor makes me crazy. I sweep close to 5 times a day and wipe it down 2-3. And we don't wear shoes in the house. On the plus side, I know my floor is clean and don't mind when my baby eats off it. :)

 

 

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[4Kiddos]

About eight months ago, we painted our dark oak cabinets white and it has been amazing to have white cabinets. It was a fairly dark kitchen as it was north facing and the white just made it look amazing. Like someone said above, the oak hides a lot of grime and when we first moved here the cabinets were sticky with years of grease and food. It was nasty but I scrubbed them clean. Then, when we paint them white (we did it the proper way with the correct paint- that makes a huge difference even though it was a pain) I just wipe them when anything shows up. I actually vastly prefer the white for its cleanability because everything shows up so it gets wiped up right away. I have four little "helpers" who love to cook with me in the kitchen so it can get messy fast. But, the white allows us all to notice it right away. We even (gasp) painted our pink laminate counters a pretty taupe color and that is also the same way- It is lighter so everything gets wiped up right away. And there has been no chipping even with five little kids running through here and banging things into the cabinets.

[StephanieZ]

Sure, I could keep a white kitchen clean. 

 

Right after I painted it all brown. 

 

:lol:

[rebbyribs]

Our previous house had white beadboard cabinets, and those were awful to keep clean.  Dirt would find its way into all those little nooks and crannies and I'd need to scrub with a brush rather than just wiping down to get them clean.  

[wintermom]

In our last house, I painted the cabinets white. It looked great, but It was a little harder to keep clean and chipped about 20x easier, in our current house we put in factory white cabinets. They are so easy to clean, the surface is super smooth and they wipe up like a dream. I simply added wiping cabinets to my seven year olds weekly chore list (takes him maybe 10mins) and they never get gross at all. Always looks fresh and clean.

 

One thing to consider is if your family is rough on things. We got soft close cabs/drawers and I tell me boys not to crash into things! I think getting chipped is a huge factor in them looking grungy.

 

Good luck!

 

:iagree:   We just had our kitchen renovated, and we went with the smooth, white cabinets. They are very easy to wipe clean. So much easier than wood with the grain. We really like our soft-close cabinets and drawers, too! 

 

The ceramic tile I picked out for the flooring is quite light, too, and that is much more annoying to clean. I should have gone a little darker in colour there.

[Katy]

White never goes out of style, but I did have a realtor that said she hated them once.  We were looking at a house with a white kitchen where they had apparently NEVER wiped the dust off the lower cabinets. There was grease and grime and dust and filth and it was gross.  The realtor thought that even off-white hid dirt better.  But if you wipe them down even once a month (or make it a chore or consequence for kids), it's fine.

 

I'm in the process of renovating our kitchen with ivory kitchen cabinets.

 

The one thing I will say is that some types of white stone (marble) will etch every time a bit of any acidic food gets spilled on them.  That might drive you insane if you're a neat freak who wants everything to look new.  Personally I love the aged patina on things that makes them look since they've been around since the last time marble was in (midcentury), but not everyone does.

 

If you want to determine what's in style, go back and look at old movies.  A few months back we were doing a romantic comedy marathon and I realized some of these movies have kitchens that are still perfectly in style.  They all have white or off white cabinets, mostly simple shaker ones.

[Mergath]

I have white cabinets, and if they weren't stupid white cabinets, it wouldn't be bad. The prior homeowners "refreshed" the 1960s kitchen by taking down most of the upper cabinets and painting the pine white. So it's latex paint over old oil stain. So it's perpetually sort of tacky. Not tacky as in TACKY but slightly not quite sticky. So dust and pet hair and such clings to them. I use whatever spray cleaner I have and a microfiber towel to clean them off. It takes more effort than it would if they weren't stupid. But generally, white cabinets aren't more or less of a pain IMO.

 

OMG, I have the same cabinets and I thought I was the only one, lol. They painted the cabinets white right over the varnished wood, and if I clean them too hard it takes the paint right off. They even get hair stuck to them, and the paint is all chipped around the drawer pulls. :glare:  I love that they're white, but I need to be able to clean them better! This summer I'm going to take them all outside, sand the crap out of them, and repaint them with whatever kind of paint won't chip.

 

I do like my white kitchen other than that, though. The cabinets and walls are white and it feels really bright and cheerful. When my ancient dark-stained table finally falls apart I'm even going to get a white table and chairs.

[zoobie]

OMG, I have the same cabinets and I thought I was the only one, lol. They painted the cabinets white right over the varnished wood, and if I clean them too hard it takes the paint right off. They even get hair stuck to them, and the paint is all chipped around the drawer pulls. :glare:  I love that they're white, but I need to be able to clean them better! This summer I'm going to take them all outside, sand the crap out of them, and repaint them with whatever kind of paint won't chip.

 

I do like my white kitchen other than that, though. The cabinets and walls are white and it feels really bright and cheerful. When my ancient dark-stained table finally falls apart I'm even going to get a white table and chairs.

 

If your signature is correct, be careful because there's likely to be lead something in there someplace! I think that's why they just painted over these instead of refinishing. :(

[Mergath]

If your signature is correct, be careful because there's likely to be lead something in there someplace! I think that's why they just painted over these instead of refinishing. :(

 

We know who painted them, and I think it's more likely he's just lazy in our case. :p We live in a duplex with two friends/coworkers of dh's in the other unit, and it was one of them who did the painting because the landlord is his girlfriend's dad. (We live in a small town.) He's in his twenties and sort of lazy and oblivious. I honestly think he didn't know it wouldn't work well to just paint over the original finish.

 

That is a good point about the lead, though. I might make dh do the sanding just to be safe.

 

Edited April 18, 2017 by Mergath

[1GirlTwinBoys]

I had white cabinets at our old house when my kids were little.  I just wiped them down occasionally with Simple Green.  This product works so well on white cabinets and baseboards.

 

 

[The Girls' Mom]

My cabinets now are white, and I've had them for three years. I love them.  I had a completely white kitchen for 9 years in another house (cabinets, counter and backsplash).  I never had any trouble keeping them clean or looking nice, even with three small children.  To me they are easier to keep clean because you can see the spills/splatters much more easily to clean them up.  

[Ellie]

Love my white kitchen. :-)

 

The truth is that white kitchens don't get dirtier than colors-other-than-white kitchens. It is just that you get to see the dirt, and so you can clean it now instead of in six months when there is much more dirt. :-)

[Dynamite5]

I had white cabinets at our old house when my kids were little.  I just wiped them down occasionally with Simple Green.  This product works so well on white cabinets and baseboards.

Thank you!