I'd contact IKEA. Don't they have a 25-yr warranty on their cabinets? In any case, they'll be able to tell you how to clean them.

Some white cabinets yellowing over 5+ years is the topcoat. Especially in direct sunlight. Unfortunately, I do not think there's much that can be done to remove the yellowing of a topcoat.

If wood or MDF cabinets, paint.

If foil, then new cabinets.

I agree to contact manufacturer to see if it's covered under warranty.

Best of luck with that.

Turns out you're not the only 1 with IKEA cabinets turning yellow. Here's a link with others & how they dealt with IKEA.

"IKEA white has yellowed. We have just started noticing this. Turns out they KNEW this problem. But we did our house in 2010 and they didn't know until 2013."

[https://www.houzz.com/discussions/white-cabinets-turning-yellow-dsvw-vd~2608502[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/white-cabinets-turning-yellow-dsvw-vd~2608502)

Thank you. I did read that thread. Their cabinets turned yellow sooner than ours. I will take everyone's suggestions and contact Ikea.

Hi, Avon Lady,

Here's another thread about some IKEA cabinets turning yellow.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/2608502/white-cabinets-turning-yellow

Hello Patrick,

Your email was forwarded to our Corporate office. We regret to inform that as per the care instructions included with the AKURUM warranty, yellowing is not considered a warranty related issue. They will not stand behind a known issue. I expected more but shouldn't have. Foolish me.

Greetings IKEA USA,

First off you have my apologies for contacting you at such an awful time for our world but I seem to have some time on my hands and my wife has asked me to finally do something about this. We have gone around and around with our local stores but have found no solution and we get the same look every time so I do not know what to do or where to turn.

Over the past 10 years we have purchased 4 separate Ikea kitchens and had them all installed by your more than capable installers. The kitchen set up of major concern was installed 7 years ago. We’ve been trying for 3 years to get this resolved but I just keep hitting walls and give up. I just don’t have the time and have told my wife to live with the yellow cabinets, it’s not life threatening.

We own 4 rental properties in addition to our home and we always go with IKEA cabinets because of the quality of your hardware, as well as the fact that if a door gets banged up by a renter we can just go out and buy its replacement from your store. The existence of IKEA has made our life better. I have been shopping with IKEA since 1986, started in Conshohocken in my younger days as an undergrad at The University of Delaware.

Two things have happened recently that have caused us much concern. One is that we can no longer buy replacement doors/cabinets because you’ve changed your dimensions and two, the White Lindigo cabinets are now yellowing and its embarrassing to have paid for a kitchen that had such a limited life. White cabinets are supposed to be white. They just look awful. It’s not just the kitchen set of Lindigo doors, it’s also the laundry room too. The kick plates and cabinets are not matching up, the white porcelain sink no longer matches the cabinets and no matter how hard we try to clean the surface the yellow is embedded into the surface. The ceiling paint has not changed colors over the years nor have the cabinet trim so our kitchen looks like a mellow yellow mixed with white accents.

We have met with the Schaumberg and Bolingbrook, IL customer service teams and they all say the same thing. If you ask in the right way you probably, might get new cabinets. IKEA knows it’s an issue but the solution is not easily attained. You have to keep pushing and continue to push and then maybe you’ll get your situation resolved. What does that mean? How enjoyable is it to spend your weekends walking in circles?

Understanding that this is not a new issue and you’re very much aware of the issue what are our options? I detest attorneys. We looked into painting them grey but have been warned not to do this because the paint won’t stick.

Did you ever get a response? We put white Lidingo cabinets in 5 years ago and I can see a distinct difference in the color of the cabinets compared to the crown which was painted white in 2015.

Yes. With receipts and photos, they offered 50% in cash or 100% in store credit.

Hi Karen, I’m in a similar situation. Can you share your photos of the yellowing cabinets? Did you decide to get another ikea kitchen? Wondering if they addressed the issue in their current line? I’m grateful that you posted this.

You can see the difference between the moulding we painted to match and the cabinet. The moulding isn't yellowing like the cabinets. We installed the original kitchen ourselves and don't really have the energy right now to do it again. The cabinets are starting to look really bad though. They are getting less and less resistant to stains. We might try having the doors repainted. I wish that we could use the new doors on the old boxes but that won't work.

After our 2015 remodel using white Lidingo cabinets, they look yellowed and some of the paint is chipping off the bottom. They still look ok if you don't look too hard, but I am so disappointed. Apparently, this problem is unique to the Lidingo white cabinets. These companies make cabinet doors that supposedly fit IKEA cabinet boxes.

Superfronts

Reform

Semihandmade

I will post once I have done some investigating.

Your options are limited for a number of reasons. Cost is #1 - the makers who retrofit ikea cabinet sizes are 2-3x in cost. Even if all you want to replace is the facing. You can’t buy a new kitchen either since dimensions are different & you’d have to throw out your existing granite counter tops & kiss your old fittings & cabinets goodbye. Your only option is a $4,000 repaint job from a really solid pro. That’s it. IKEA really goofed on this one & their warranty is worthless. They want you to sue them & that is your only legal remedy.

Thank you for clarifying. I just spoke to them and you are correct. What did you do?

I am having the same issue and hoping to get a credit at minimum for new cabinets. I looked into this when it first started yellowing and didn’t get anywhere, though discoloration has progressed a lot since then! I’m going to push harder this time!
*Please update us on this thread of any solutions or progress had with this issue & I will do the same.

I bought my Ikea kitchen 2013! Trust me after alot of emails and back and forth they will NOT stand behind their warranty. They told me its normal wear and tear. Anything that spills on my cabinets will stain them. I can not believe their isnt a class action lawsuit! This is whats happening to ALL my cabinets plus yellowing! I dont have small kids I am immaculate. The cabinets are crap. I have a ton more pics.

We ended up repainting the Lindingo cabinets, yes they can be repainted, and they look great now but we spent a lot of money on a repainting job that never should've been necessary. Again, they no longer make the cabinets in our original dimensions. We like our kitchen as is. Not only would you have to change the layout of your kitchen but also all the inner cabinets, shelves, hinges, accessories etc.... rip out labor, new granite counter tops necessary too because the cabinets are now different sizes. They did not offer to help me with the cost of repainting but we now love our cabinets once again and do not miss the grease-stained looking yellow that they were. They call the yellowing 'normal' wear and tear and that is not covered by their lifetime warranty. Translation, they messed up and can't admit it and would rather roll the dice and have you see them in court.

My cabinets look exactly like Brandy Nellis'. I bought the kitchen at the end of 2010 and will write ot IKEA to see what's up. Happy to hear that they can be repainted but I'd like to see if IKEA will refund me something on the yellow doors.

For those of you that repainted, can you explain how you did it? Did the cabinets need to be sanded? What type of paint was used to cover them? Is it sticking pretty well? Did you have the cabinets painted, sprayed, or dipped? Thanks.

pdiffy, can you share the process ox repainting them?

Quick update - I wrote to IKEA - they didn't respond until I sent emails to the CEO, country head and head of customer relations. They agreed to replace all fronts - doors and drawers and the moulding below and above. They replaced them with Lillbyn which is the closest thing that they have to Lidingo and used my original handles.

Wi Fan, can you post begore and after?

Tried but it won't upload the photos even after I reduce the file size. Will find a way to share.

Omg they replaced them!? can you share what you wrote and to who?

Before

After

Do you think the yellowing was the reason they replaced yours?? Mine is starting to yellow but more importantly it is staining with any liquid that happens to get on them. Plus peeling

I think it was the yellowing that was easiest for me to demonstrate but your staining and peeling are pretty obvious.

@aviatrx21 The only problem that I had was the yellowing and so that was the basis of my complaint. I made a point of stating that it was not wear and tear or user damage - since the guarantee does not cover this. If I were in your shoes, I would ask for the replacement doors stating a faulty finish. I could prove this by showing the change in the fronts vs no change in the cabinets or fringe. If you can, then use that as well. Goodluck.

Awesome thank you!!

I got nowhere with Ikea so I found a thread about painting them & this primer is the key. It is the only thing that will work and hold up. I actually was pleased with the color the primer came out alone. I didn’t end up painting white, just used this primer and a clear topcoat and I found the doors matched the white of the rest of the cabinet. I also did not sand before primer, I used a good degreaser to clean then painted. I did 2 coats of primer with a quality cabinet paint roller allowing 24 hrs dry time between.

Here are the before pics in case you didn’t see my post back in the thread. I probably could have done one more coat of the primer and gotten rid of the very slight yellow tinge seen in the after pic above, though the camera & lighting makes it look worse than in person. In person, I don’t see any yellow now.

We bought our kitchen in 2009 and shortly after that they started going yellow, and Ikea replaced the doors no problem (I'm in the UK) but, after that the stains started and when I contacted Ikea about that, they said it was normal wear and tear, and wouldn't do anything. So now we're stuck because Lidingo is out of stock and the new doors they do don't fit - but the units themselves are absolutely fine. Very, very frustrating. Thanks so much for the painting tip.

The good thing about Ikea is you can bring back the parts and they will replace them for you. They are warrantied for 15 years!

Has anyone heard whether other types of white IKEA cabinets one might buy to replace discolored cabinets also turn yellow?