Guests always notice when this one area of your kitchen is dirty – this is the quick 5-minute fix that’ll make it look brand new

Hosting friends and family at home can be a lot of fun, but it can also cause a lot of anxiety - especially when it comes to the cleanliness of your living space. And since the kitchen is the heart of the home, your loved ones will likely wander in and out, check out your space, and potentially judge it, too.

Of course, it’s important to clean a kitchen for hygiene and your own enjoyment. But when you spend so much time in a space, it's easy to become blind to your own mess and miss dirty areas prone to grime buildup. The one area people always forget? The kitchen cabinets. And even if you don’t spot the dirt, your guests will.

As Catherine Green, Sustainable Cleaning Expert at smol, explains, ‘Kitchen cupboard doors catch the light instantly and are also in visitors' line of sight, while their handles are prime territory for sticky fingerprints and a build-up of grease and dirt. So when they haven’t been cleaned for a while, it shows.’ So here is the 5-minute fix.

What you’ll need

5-minute kitchen cabinet clean

1. Start by dusting

It’s incredibly important to get rid of dust in a kitchen, as these particles provide the perfect resting spot for grease and grime - creating a thick, sticky residue that’s even harder to remove in the long run.

So, Catherine advises you to ‘give cabinet fronts a swift wipe with a dry microfibre cloth to remove loose debris so you don't drag grit across the surface.’ The ‘swift wipe’ matters here, as tougher dusting can potentially scratch your cabinets and leave them looking worse for wear.

While you’re at it, it’s also a good idea to dust the tops of your kitchen cabinets too, and you can use a high-reach, angled duster like this Joseph Joseph CleanTech Adjustable Microfibre High Reach Duster (£29 at Amazon) to do that.

2. Grab your washing-up liquid

The best cleaning products come in many shapes and forms, but one of the most underrated is sitting under your sink: washing-up liquid. When mixed with warm water, washing-up liquid becomes an impressive grime-buster that’s perfect for cleaning wooden kitchen cabinets. You do need to be careful, though.

Catherine says, ‘Wring out your wet cloth until it is barely damp, as this helps to prevent streaks and water marks. Cabinet doors, particularly painted wood, veneer or MDF, don’t like being saturated, so always avoid soaking the surface or letting water sit around joins.’

Then, use gentle circular motions to clean the cabinets, ‘making sure to pay extra attention to handles and edges where grease and fingerprints tend to build up,’ Catherine adds. For any nooks, crannies, or for cleaning underneath handles, you can also use a soft-bristled brush.

3. For glass, grab a different cleaner

If you have smudged glass-fronted cabinets, or just want to refresh them, it’s also worth adding another product to the mix. This could be a glass-specific cleaner, or a multi-purpose spray that’s been designed with glass in mind - like this Multi-Purpose Spray from smol.

Catherine says, ‘Less is more. Spray onto a lint-free cloth rather than directly onto the cabinet, so you have more control and avoid product collecting around frames and joins.’

‘Wipe in gentle circular motions, remembering to pay attention to the corners where dirt can gather. Dry down with another lint-free cloth to ensure a streak-free shine,’ she adds.

4. Tackle the grease

The area near your oven and hob typically gets much greasier than the rest of your kitchen, which is why you need to degrease your kitchen splashback regularly. But if you find that your cabinets near this area also have a thin (or thick) layer of grease on them, you should tackle this next.

Luckily, you don’t need any special products. Catherine says, ‘If you hit a particularly greasy patch, don’t scrub harder. Go over it again with your warm soapy cloth and give the washing-up liquid a few seconds to loosen the grease before wiping.’

Avoid harsh chemicals or cleaners at this stage, as chemical degreasers can remove paint and even damage wooden cabinets.

5. Buff dry

After you finish wet cleaning, there’s one last step. Catherine says, ‘Immediately follow up with a clean cloth to buff the surface dry. Buffing away the moisture straight away is the secret to preventing water marks and achieving a streak-free finish - perfect for a quick refresh.’

You should see a visible improvement at this point, but if it’s been a while since you last cleaned your cabinets, it may be worth repeating the steps above for a second clean.

If you tick this task off your to-do list, your guests (hopefully!) won't have anything to judge you for!