Perk up your kitchen cabinets for less than $10

Welcome to my new series of home improvement, D.I.Y. and housekeeping posts! We are doing projects on a budget, happily applying common sense and a healthy dose of elbow grease. I hope you’ll stop by often to see what we’ve been up to.

Kitchen Cabinet Help on a Budget:

Are you tired of your drab kitchen cabinets? Wish you could replace them? That’s where we are too.

When we bought this house several years ago, it was our plan to update the whole house starting with the kitchen and baths. My husband is a professional cabinet maker/woodworker, so finding the right person for the job isn’t the problem. Time and money is.

With company coming soon, I decided to do something about my kitchen cabinets.

First I borrowed my husband’s Formby’s Lemon Oil furniture treatment and one of his soft cloths. He said it was the best choice for what I wanted to do. He's the pro, so I knew our cabinets wouldn't get damaged.

As you can tell by the label, this stuff has been used and around for a while. It has a nice, mild lemony scent and isn’t real greasy.

After reading the simple directions, I squeezed a small amount on my cloth and set to work.

You can barely make out the little yellow spot in this picture.

This is a before picture of my 1^st cabinet:

As you can see, the cabinet doesn’t look dirty, just a bit drab.

But the cloth after applying the Formby’s on this one cabinet tells a different story:

I keep a pretty neat and tidy home if I do say so myself, so I wasn’t prepared for this yuckiness! I got back to work, applying a liberal amount of enthusiasm to the task. For me there is just something elemental and comforting about doing a task with my hands that allows my mind to work on other stuff. That’s called being in the zone and I like it.

See how shiny the cabinet door looks?

I am very pleased with my new shiny, clean kitchen cabinets! Formby’s even shined up the hardware without making it greasy to the touch. I smile each time I walk in the kitchen.

This is such a quick and inexpensive way to brighten up your kitchen.

Total project cost = Zero, because we had the Formby’s on hand. I found several companies selling this product online for less than 10 dollars!

Total project time: To complete 13 upper and lower cabinets, inside and out plus drawers = 2 hours.

I hope you will try Formby’s on your kitchen cabinets too and stop back by and let me know what you think. I’ll be doing the bathroom cabinets next.

What are you working on around your home?

19 comments

laceyoneMay 15, 2013 at 1:57 PM
This is great! We use Olde English Lemon for wood, however I've been a bit disappointed the last few times I've done the kitchen cabinets. I most definately will try this!

Thanks very much for the review and sharing your beautiful results!
Linda A KinsmanMay 17, 2013 at 8:34 AM
Hi Penny,

I am glad you found this helpful! I know you will like the results.

Have a great day!
Buzz4MommiesMay 17, 2013 at 10:32 AM
Wow that worked great! They look terrific!
UnknownMay 17, 2013 at 10:59 AM
that looks great, I hope I can repair some water damage on our cabinets, thanks for the post
JamieMay 17, 2013 at 11:09 AM
Beautiful - I need to try that out on mine..they are looking a bit dingy! :p
UnknownMay 17, 2013 at 12:29 PM
I am not working on any home jobs but now I have an idea! lol Thanks for the information.
Mom Knows BestMay 17, 2013 at 12:32 PM
Its amazing what a good cleaner can do to your cabinets
Linda A KinsmanMay 20, 2013 at 10:18 AM
Hi Heidi,

Formby's really did work great and thank you!

Have a great day.
Linda A KinsmanMay 20, 2013 at 10:19 AM
Hi Maria,

Water damage is the worst to fix. I wish you good luck on that project.
Thanks for stopping by busy lady!
Linda A KinsmanMay 20, 2013 at 10:19 AM
Hi Jamie,

Yes, please do try it! You will be amazed at how much better your cabinets look. :-)
Linda A KinsmanMay 20, 2013 at 10:20 AM
Hi Victoria,

You are welcome. Thanks for stopping by for a visit.

Happy Monday!
Linda A KinsmanMay 20, 2013 at 10:21 AM
Hi Tara,

It really is amazing. I am a believer in Formby's for sure.

Have a happy day!
UnknownFebruary 3, 2016 at 12:46 PM
I just purchased a similar product to clean my white kitchen cabinets. It works great getting off the grease and dirt, really makes them look new.
sohamolinaFebruary 3, 2016 at 3:22 PM
That is a great idea. Just to spruce up a faded look.
UnknownFebruary 8, 2016 at 6:07 PM
I have not heard of this brand before but love the results.
UnknownApril 13, 2016 at 8:49 PM
Wow this is a neat idea thanks for sharing :)
JJAY100October 11, 2016 at 3:04 PM
Wow Those cabinets look amazing. You did a great job.
Tracie CooperApril 26, 2017 at 2:47 PM
These are great tips and I would love to use them with my kitchen remodel!
mcraig49047June 9, 2017 at 8:53 PM
I can not find this on any store up in Michigan, wondering if it is on Amazon