I Tried Dozens of Cleaners for My Greasy Cabinets, but This “Magical” Trick Blew Me Away

As a writer who often covers kitchen cleaning and organization, I often field questions from family and friends about the best techniques or products. But my mother-in-law called recently with a question that had me stumped: “What do you use to clean your kitchen cabinets?”

Reader, I can give you every trick in the book about how to keep kitchen counters, range tops, sinks, and appliances clean. I can tell you how to organize a kitchen cabinet. But I sheepishly admitted to my MIL (and now to you) that I have not given much thought to cleaning the cabinet doors themselves. So, how dirty were they, really?

I ran a hand over the cabinet doors where our plates and dishes were. Seemed pretty clean to me. Same for the rest of the cabinets. Then I looked up to the cabinets above the stove range. Oh, no, I thought.

I took out the step stool and braced myself for the worst. I attempted to run my hand over the cabinet doors, but the layer of grease stopped me. How long had it been there? In my defense the cabinet didn’t look bad from far away, but now that I knew what was actually on it I realized something had to be done. Here’s my haunting close-up of it.

Dawn dish soap is usually touted as the best way to degrease just about anything in the kitchen, and The Kitchn’s testers found it to be a winner for cleaning greasy kitchen cabinets, too. But I wasn’t too keen on having to scrub, rinse, and then dry the cabinets while dripping soapy water all over my kitchen countertops.

I knew there had to be something in a spray form that could save me time and energy while giving me the same great results — ideally without needing to rinse. And a quick trip to my local The Home Depot proved me right. 

I previously thought that Murphy Oil Soap was only available in a formula that required dilution with water — which The Kitchn editors love, for the record — but I was wrong. And while the OG formula can be used to clean cabinets as well as floors, I didn’t have it in me to deal with buckets of water sloshing around my kitchen (remember my Dawn aversion?).

I was thrilled to see that this household go-to for wooden surfaces — seriously, it’s been around since 1910! — came in an easy-to-use spray now, too. And it’s under $3 for 22 ounces!

The instructions couldn’t be any simpler: Just spray a cloth and start wiping. I had to spray a lot on my microfiber cloth to moisten it enough to move it across my greasy cabinet. But after just a few seconds of scrubbing, I could feel the grease lift, and I had a smooth cabinet once again in no time. 

Although the spray is safe on finished and unfinished wood (and other surfaces), I performed a spot test on a small part of the door. Once I saw that it did nothing to discolor or otherwise harm the cabinet door, I bent the rules a bit and sprayed the stuff directly onto the cabinet. It was runny, just like Windex on glass, so I scrubbed quickly. This worked so well that I gave it another spray and finished cleaning the cabinet door in about a minute.

Of course, I tested my work: I ran my hand over the door and it felt smooth and clean. Even better, the cabinet door looked shiny. I sprayed the other door and had it looking just as clean in record time. I did have to scrub just a bit to get that layer of grease off, but it was by no means the arm workout I thought it would be. From now on, I’ll have no problem wiping them down with a quick spritz of Murphy Oil every month or so.

The cleaning spray can be used on other wood surfaces like floors and furniture, but it can also be used on non-wood surfaces, including vinyl, laundry stains, and ceramic tile. It’s made of 99% naturally derived, biodegradable ingredients, including natural orange extract which not only works to cut the grime, but also leaves a super-refreshing scent when you’re done cleaning. 

I flipped over the microfiber cloth and went to work next on my dining room table and chairs as well as the sideboard. I loved how it removed dust and shined the surface in one easy step — no rinse necessary.

Am I mortified that I haven’t been cleaning my kitchen cabinets? Absolutely. But this Murphy Oil spray restored them so quickly and effortlessly that I won’t dread keeping up with this chore in the future. 

Buy: Murphy Oil Soap Cleaning Spray, $2.98

This post originally appeared on The Kitchn. See it here: I Tried Dozens of Cleaners for My Greasy Cabinets, but This “Magical” Trick Blew Me Away