Cleaning Painted Unfinished Wooden Cabinets

[twilitemoon]

I wanted to clean the inside of the dirty cabinets in my apartment. The wood is painted, unfinished wood -- very poorly painted. I was advised by several people to use an all purpose cleaning spray, so I did. Later, I realized that that was probably not a good idea, since unfinished wood is porous. The cabinet still smells strongly of the cleaner. I am concerned because I am pregnant, and I do not want to contaminate my dishes. If anyone can tell me how great of a concern this should be, how much of the cleaner can get on my dishes -- I followed the directions for the cleaner, and let it sit for ten miniutes before cleaning -- and if applying contact paper will suffice in preventing a barrier between the wood and my dishes. Thank you!

 

[JohnD]

I don't see much problem. The dishes will be touching the cabinet only with the underside of the bottom one on the stack. there will be no contact with the surface you eat from.

You could give the cabs a scrub with clean water and sponge dry if you want to remove more of the residue.

If you place a layer of aluminium foil on the shelf, and cover it with thick paper, it will form an impenetrable layer. However this will delay the wood drying out so let it dry first.