There is no nicer feeling than having a brand new kitchen – everything is so perfect and shiny; you want to clean it every moment of the day; you vow to always keep it as pristine as it is in this very moment! It is a wonderful feeling, but for most of us, try as we might, it is impossible to sustain permanently. Life happens, and as careful as we try to be accidents and wear and tear will occur.

Fortunately there are lots of things we can do to care for our beautiful new kitchens to keep them looking fresh and functioning well for years to come. There are even some almost magical things you can do if damage does occur to your cabinets or worktops.

Of course, prevention is better than cure so we recommend always using the right cleaning agents for all elements of your kitchen, including the cupboards and appliances, but if you find yourself with an issue, it certainly isn’t a lost cause.

Here are our essential tips for caring for your kitchen to keep it as lovely as it is today, always!

Clean your cabinets

The cabinets are the thing we most agonise over when choosing a new fitted kitchen, so it makes perfect sense that you’ll wan t to keep them looking their pristine best, long after the kitchen fitters have left. Whether you’ve gone for a modern or traditional kitchen, matt or gloss we recommend a bit of good old Fairy Liquid (other washing up liquids are available, of course!) mixed with warm water for a nice gentle clean.

Using a nice soft cloth to avoid scratching the surface, simple give your cabinets a wipe over with the soapy solution. None of our kitchens use vinyl wraps, so you shouldn’t have any issues with moisture causing staining or warping, but we still recommend drying the cabinets immediately after washing to get that beautiful streak-free shine – especially on high gloss doors, which really benefit from a good buff up.

Touch up Scuffs

No matter how careful you are with your new fitted kitchen, in time the inevitable will happen and you’ll notice a dreaded scratch or dent on one of your cabinet doors. Kitchens are typically high-traffic, high-use areas which are prone to this sort of damage – things get dropped, or you rush around cooking dinner for the family and the cupboards or drawers get knocked, resulting in a chip or scratch. Fortunately as all our kitchen doors are made from either wood or MDF, those small bits of damage can be easily repaired at home.

We provide a touch up paint kit with all of our new fitted kitchens, to allow for exactly this sort of scenario. The paint we provide is a perfect match for your units, meaning you can fill and disguise any imperfections, leaving everything looking as good as new! If your kitchen didn’t come with touch-up paint, why not try getting a pot colour matched at a DIY shop?

Repair Damage Like Magic

It may be unimaginable, but sometimes harder to repair damage can occur in a kitchen. A chipped worktop, a cracked sink, or broken tile… absolute panic stations! Well, it really doesn’t need to be these days. In fact, there is a growing set of skilled tradespeople who are trained to restore exactly this kind of damage, to a standard that really does leave it almost impossible to spot.

If this sort of damage does occur in your kitchen it is always best to have it dealt with promptly, to avoid the problem getting any worse and harder to remedy. Contact a company such as Surface Repairs Ltd (https://cnsurfacerepairs.co.uk/kitchen-worktop-repair-oxfordshire/) or head to www.checkatrade.com to find skilled repairers in your area.

Go Gentle

When it comes to keeping drawers and cupboards running smoothly, easy definitely does it. Being too forceful when opening drawers, or slamming cupboards puts a lot of unnecessary strain on the hinges leading to wear and tear and annoying quirks like clunky drawer runners or wonky doors. Of course that’s all well and good in theory, but is tricky to remember to do when you’re rushing around getting breakfast for everyone before the school run. That’s why we strongly recommend using soft close hinges, which take the force out of harsh drawer or door shutting. We love them so much that we actually include them as standard on all our new fitted kitchens, but you can also add them retrospectively should you wish.

To keep things running smoothly it’s also a great idea to periodically dust drawer runners, as a build up of dirt and grime can make even the most perfectly fitted drawer a little clunky over time.

Wipe Away Spills

All kitchen worktops are designed to withstand a certain amount of spillage. It is inevitable in the kitchen, particularly if you have teenagers or rowdy dinner party guests in the vicinity! They are not indestructible however and it’s always best to mop up spills as quickly as possible to avoid them soaking in and staining. This is particularly the case if your worktop is wooden. Wooden worktops are a thing of beauty, but they are porous and susceptible to liquid damage so it’s important to treat them with care, including oiling them every three months or so.

Quartz worktops are incredibly popular at the moment as they are very hard-wearing and durable, however they are not totally immune to staining. Panic can indeed still set in when you realise your Saturday night takeaway has turned your white quartz worktop a nice shade of yellow (we speak from experience), but thankfully it’s nothing a little cream cleaner can’t fix – phew!

Look after your machines

Lots of us choose to splash out on modern new appliances when investing in a new fitted kitchen, but we’re often just a little guilty of taking them for granted. Our dishwashers and washing machines in particular are now seen as essential and much used appliances, yet not many of us give a lot of thought to them or looking after them appropriately.

When purchasing new appliances, as boring as it sounds, do read the instruction manual (you may even discover cool features you didn’t know about). Be careful not to overload your washing machine, make sure you remember to clean your tumble dryer filter, and treat your dishwasher to the salt and rinse aid it asks for! All these things sound very basic, but are regularly overlooked when we’re caught up in the busy day-to-day of our lives. Taking care of your appliances in this way will not only help to ensure they continue to work effectively, but will also help to extend their lifespan, saving you money in the long term.

Make it Shine

If you live in Didcot, Abingdon, or any of the nearby towns or villages in Oxfordshire, you are living in a hard water area. Hard water can cause limescale to build up, particularly around your sink and taps which looks unsightly and dulls the surfaces in your kitchen. Add food waste into the mix, which clings to the surface of the limescale and it really isn’t pretty. Luckily this problem can be easily remedied. Some of our customers opt to install a water softener, which filters out the hard water deposits, making your water softer and solving your limescale issue.

Alternatively, and much more inexpensively, you can use natural acids such as lemon juice to neutralise limescale and remove the deposits from your worksurfaces, sink and taps. Simply rub a cut lemon over the problem area, leave it soak and scrub away with the rough side of a sponge. Cream cleaners such as Cif and Bar Keeper’s friend also work really effectively for this problem. If you’ve got a severe limescale issue on your taps, with significant build up this can be removed by gently rubbing a two pence coin on the affected areas – you won’t find a cheaper solution!

Take Pride in your Oven

Whether you’ve opted for a range cooker, an eye-level double oven, or something in between, there’s no getting away from the fact that your oven is often one of the most expensive appliances in your kitchen, so it makes sense to look after it. Lots of modern cookers come with self-cleaning settings now, which we love, but if yours doesn’t we recommend giving it a good scrub with a specific oven cleaner. It’s really important to use an oven cleaner for this as some popular household cleaners can damage the heat-proof coating on the glass, with disastrous and dangerous results.

One of our top tips when cleaning the oven is to remember to care for your extractor fan. These hard working appliances collect a lot of grease and fat from the environment and can get pretty dirty, which ultimately impacts how effectively they work. It’s always worth checking your manual first, but most can be popped in the dishwasher regularly to avoid getting a nasty build up.

If you’re looking to replace your kitchen with something you’ll take real pride in, we’d love to hear from you. Whether you’re looking for a brand new fitted kitchen, or a cost-effective kitchen makeover, we’re sure to be able to help.

Why not get in touch today to book your FREE home design visit? We cover the Oxfordshire and Berkshire areas, including, but not limited to Didcot, Abingdon, Radley, Oxford City, Wantage, Wallingford, Benson, Berinsfield, Goring, Pangbourne.

With Kitchenroom you can always be assured of:

1. First class personal service from start to finish

2. 18 mm Rigid (assembled) wall and base units with doors already fitted

3. 10 cabinet colour options (so not just white / ivory or oak) to match the colour of the kitchen

4. 2 mm ABS edged cabinets

5. Soft close Blum doors & drawers that come with a lifetime guarantee

6. 25 year guarantee on our units / 10 years on Solid wood kitchens / 7 years on MDF kitchens

7. A typical lead time of 3-4 weeks

8. We can supply only or supply and arrange to fit your new kitchen where we will take care of the whole project from start to finish

Want to know more?

Why not take a look at some of our recently completed kitchen installations?

Click here to see our range of fitted kitchens.