We moved in here almost 10 years ago and the cupboards have left something
to be desired ever since. They are the standard, cheap 1980's plain oak
look with the flat front with an edge around it. Very similar to this:

http://www.atgstores.com/base-kitche...Q&gclsrc=aw.ds

Ah, that's a pantry If only I had that. But... Anyway... They had begun
to look sun faded in spots and had weird streaks down some of them that
looked like someone had dripped water down them.

I had considered refinishing but really didn't want to do that. Then I saw
a post on Facebook to mix 1 cup of canola oil with 1/4 cup of apple cider or
white vinegar. Apply and that's it! No need to wipe as the oil will soak
into the wood.

What I learned is that this will not clean the wood. I did have to clean it
first to remove a few spots and the icky places where our fingers touch
because there is no hardware on there. Hmmm... That could be a project.
But... What it did was make the wood glow and it totally covered up the
fading and streaks! Almost looks like new cabinets. New crappy cabinets,
but still...

I have tried pretty much every product on the market for wood and none
worked better than this. Highly recommend!

On 7/21/2014 5:45 AM, Julie Bove wrote:
> We moved in here almost 10 years ago and the cupboards have left
> something to be desired ever since. They are the standard, cheap 1980's
> plain oak look with the flat front with an edge around it. Very similar
> to this:
>
> http://www.atgstores.com/base-kitche...Q&gclsrc=aw.ds
>
>
> Ah, that's a pantry If only I had that. But... Anyway... They had
> begun to look sun faded in spots and had weird streaks down some of them
> that looked like someone had dripped water down them.
>
> I had considered refinishing but really didn't want to do that. Then I
> saw a post on Facebook to mix 1 cup of canola oil with 1/4 cup of apple
> cider or white vinegar. Apply and that's it! No need to wipe as the
> oil will soak into the wood.
>
> What I learned is that this will not clean the wood. I did have to
> clean it first to remove a few spots and the icky places where our
> fingers touch because there is no hardware on there. Hmmm... That
> could be a project. But... What it did was make the wood glow and it
> totally covered up the fading and streaks! Almost looks like new
> cabinets. New crappy cabinets, but still...
>
> I have tried pretty much every product on the market for wood and none
> worked better than this. Highly recommend!

I use lemon oil on my cabinets. Cleans and preserves.

--
From somewhere very deep in the heart of Texas

On 7/21/2014 6:45 AM, Julie Bove wrote:
> I did have to clean it first to remove a few spots and the icky places
> where our fingers touch because there is no hardware on there. Hmmm...
> That could be a project.

When I first moved here my mother got interested in watching HGTV. She
noticed on shows about kitchens they were always installing hardware on
plain cabinets. So Mom decided she wanted handles on all her cabinets
and kitchen drawers.

When she saw the price of some of the *really* stylish handles she said
"What?!" She selected a very simple style. We bought them at a local
hardware store. But truly, the cabinets and drawers didn't need extra
hardware. They're very fine hardwood cabinets. Mom wanted door and
drawer handles for purely aesthetic reasons.

Jill

On 7/21/2014 2:17 PM, Sqwertz wrote:
> On Mon, 21 Jul 2014 03:45:20 -0700, Julie Bove wrote:
>
>> I had considered refinishing but really didn't want to do that. Then I saw
>> a post on Facebook to mix 1 cup of canola oil with 1/4 cup of apple cider or
>> white vinegar. Apply and that's it! No need to wipe as the oil will soak
>> into the wood.
>
> That's what gullible get for trusting Facebook. Never use vegetable
> (or animal) oils on wood. Mineral oil is what SHOULD have been used.
> Your cabinets will be sticky and attracting dirt a couple years.
> Enjoy!

Seems it'd've been the same had 'salad dressing' been used instead!
vegetable oil + vinegar = dressing. Definitely not a smart option to
treat wood of any sort. But then again, the OP was written by 'bovine',
so it is not a surprise that 'choice' was made.

Sky

"jmcquown" > wrote in message
...
> On 7/21/2014 6:45 AM, Julie Bove wrote:
>> I did have to clean it first to remove a few spots and the icky places
>> where our fingers touch because there is no hardware on there. Hmmm...
>> That could be a project.
>
> When I first moved here my mother got interested in watching HGTV. She
> noticed on shows about kitchens they were always installing hardware on
> plain cabinets. So Mom decided she wanted handles on all her cabinets and
> kitchen drawers.
>
> When she saw the price of some of the *really* stylish handles she said
> "What?!" She selected a very simple style. We bought them at a local
> hardware store. But truly, the cabinets and drawers didn't need extra
> hardware. They're very fine hardwood cabinets. Mom wanted door and
> drawer handles for purely aesthetic reasons.
>

I figured that it might prevent the dirt from getting on the cabinets at the
spots where we grab them when we open them. I do know that knobs aren't
cheap. The movers managed to loose the ones on one of our dressers and I
had to replace them.

"Sqwertz" > wrote in message
...
> On Mon, 21 Jul 2014 03:45:20 -0700, Julie Bove wrote:
>
>> I had considered refinishing but really didn't want to do that. Then I
>> saw
>> a post on Facebook to mix 1 cup of canola oil with 1/4 cup of apple cider
>> or
>> white vinegar. Apply and that's it! No need to wipe as the oil will
>> soak
>> into the wood.
>
> That's what gullible get for trusting Facebook. Never use vegetable
> (or animal) oils on wood. Mineral oil is what SHOULD have been used.
> Your cabinets will be sticky and attracting dirt a couple years.
> Enjoy!

We'll see.

"Sqwertz" > wrote in message
...
> On Mon, 21 Jul 2014 03:45:20 -0700, Julie Bove wrote:
>
>> I had considered refinishing but really didn't want to do that. Then I
>> saw
>> a post on Facebook to mix 1 cup of canola oil with 1/4 cup of apple cider
>> or
>> white vinegar. Apply and that's it! No need to wipe as the oil will
>> soak
>> into the wood.
>
> That's what gullible get for trusting Facebook. Never use vegetable
> (or animal) oils on wood. Mineral oil is what SHOULD have been used.
> Your cabinets will be sticky and attracting dirt a couple years.
> Enjoy!
>
> -sw

That's what I was thinking too. I don't see how cupboards would benefit from
cooking oil rubbed on them.

Cheri

"Cheri" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Sqwertz" > wrote in message
> ...
>> On Mon, 21 Jul 2014 03:45:20 -0700, Julie Bove wrote:
>>
>>> I had considered refinishing but really didn't want to do that. Then I
>>> saw
>>> a post on Facebook to mix 1 cup of canola oil with 1/4 cup of apple
>>> cider or
>>> white vinegar. Apply and that's it! No need to wipe as the oil will
>>> soak
>>> into the wood.
>>
>> That's what gullible get for trusting Facebook. Never use vegetable
>> (or animal) oils on wood. Mineral oil is what SHOULD have been used.
>> Your cabinets will be sticky and attracting dirt a couple years.
>> Enjoy!
>>
>> -sw
>
> That's what I was thinking too. I don't see how cupboards would benefit
> from cooking oil rubbed on them.

Well, they look wonderful today. We'll see.