Hi there. I just installed these cabinets and found the best product to use are the mister clean magic erasers. They’ve removed our grease stains, food stains, dirty finger stains and they make the cabinets look great.

Magic Erasers are essentially very fine sandpaper.

I’m sorry to hear this about the Axstad doors. They are a new product, and being a matte finish, also relatively a new finish type for IKEA non-wood doors.

I would take a door off and experiment with applying different oils/ fats, then cleaning with known fat busters ( 409, tide etc). The horizontal position will give you a better view of what is happening.

A phone call to your IKEA kitchen department may be next.

I'd call Ikea before trying different methods. You want to know how they recommend cleaning these types of stains. Be a shame to attempt something that might void their warranty.

No magic erasers for anything and especially a finishe cabinet door. They are also not good for the environment.A call to Ikea is the first step

I’m commenting to follow. I’ve only used this door once in a clients laundry room and they’ve had no issues but it’s two empty nesters so the room doesn’t really see hard use like a kitchen would.

If you get a response from ikea I’d like to know what they say. I’ve presumed they were fine on thermofoil cabinets since I’ve used it for years on a previous brand and never had any issues. Though my axstad are only a few months old, I’ve yet to see it ruin the thermofoil.

I’m heading to Ikea tomorrow to ask a kitchen expert. I’ll keep you posted

Laura what have they said. Had mine for a year and the stains are driving me crazy sooooo disappointing

I usually try Dawn for any kind of greasy stain. sometimes directly, sometimes diluted. heck - we clean the grease off the race car with Dawn.

Hoping so one knows about whether IKEA has improved the white axstad door by getting rid of the white little bubbles around the inner trim? I was in there last week and I saw it myself. I was going to go this route but now I’m feeling very concerned as it looks like a defect.Has anybody else seen this?

Colette yes I installed some earlier this year and the bubbles as you say (probably fuzz from the mdf telegraphing through the finish) was not great. I was using them in a laundry room where it was absolutely fine but I would probably have found it annoying in a kitchen.

I have Ikea Axstad cabinets as well. They were professionally installed about one year ago. Impossible to keep clean and grease stains do not come off. I have tried Dawn dish soap and the stains are still there. Now what?

Christi I use diluted white vinegar in a spray bottle or vodka. One time I had tomato sauce not come off so I used spray and wash- pulled the stain right out.

I've still been using my magic eraser and I've gotten them clean when the grease and stains begin to show up. It can be annoying to see the marks, but it gets me to clean them on occasion to keep them looking great.

So I have struggled with keeping my white Ikea cabinets clean since they were installed. They say do no use vinegar or magic erasers or anything containing certain active ingredients or it will erode the finish over time and the warranty won't cover this. So, I started using Dawn dish soap and wiping them down, and drying with a towel. Didn't work. I tried something new and it worked great! Wiped them down with hot soapy Dawn detergent water, wiped them down with a clean wet washcloth and water then dried them with a microfiber towel. A lot of work but they look great! Finally!

Just mineral oil them like you would soapstone. If you can’t get them clean without extraordinary effort, then go with the flow, and get them all oily enough to not have clean patches show through. 🤷🏽‍♀️

I do see a few oil spots on one door. What kind of oil? Do you wipe them off afterward?

Ho boy… We have made the decision to use this product for our kitchen, laundry room, 3 bathrooms, and hall closets… So I’ll be following this thread… It is so hard to make decisions for a whole house renovation, I’d hate to have to start over! The color of these cabinets is driving all other decisions as we want to match the trim and doors to this shade of white. That then drives the choices for tile, counters, paint, etc… I don’t have to tell all of you!

I do have a small drawer front that I picked up from the IKEA 2nd’s bin (or whatever they call it). It’s a mess! But it was that way when I bought it and I didn’t really give it a 2nd thought… Now I will try to clean it…

The idea to oil them was not serious… Right???

I have been researching on have found nothing on oiling painted cabinets but wood and butch block countertops. The white cabinets are beautiful when clean. I do have two teenage kids and keeping the cabinets clean is a job. I am wiping the cabinets down once a week or every other week. The microfiber towel is a huge difference.

@jeri - yes, experiment, including with things that you may cook/spill/etc. often. I did a bunch of tests on both a white and a navy Axstad door with foods/drinks/dog slobber and did not ultimately have issues getting the stains off (including bitters, which we use in wisconsin often for our state beverage), but many things required considerable effort to get off. Effort that I didn't want to put forth on a constant basis, so we ended up selecting one of the painted surfaces (Bodbyn), which cleans much easier. Dish soap (mrs. meyers) on a hot dishcloth and elbow grease worked the best.

@User I sort of tried that (Pledge Extra Moisturizing- worked great on the stainless fridge!) on the navy, and while it covered up the previous prints, it re-smudged where I held them to rub it in (and the cats made the cutest little pawprints on it that afternoon)!

Someone mentioned in the Kungsbacka thread that Krud Kutter worked well on theirs.

I originally posted this thread. Dish soap will remove the food stains but it will not remove grease stains caused by hands, fingers touching the cupboards. I have found that wiping the cupboards down with a soapy dish cloth and then applying pressure with a Norwex cloth to dry the cupboards works the best I usually scrub them when natural
Light is shining on the cupboards because you can easily see the prints. I’m learning to live with it. Hope this helps

That is about it. "learning to live with it" This is a lot more maintenance than I thought.

I am having the same problem with mine:( I have lots of grandkids running around and it seems like that’s all get done is wiping the fingerprint marks off my cabinets. I have tried just about everything I can think of but nothing takes the oil marks that gather around the drawer and door pulls. I guess I’m going to have to learn to live with it as well but it drives me a little bit crazy.

Try Clorox Disinfecting Bathroom Cleaner Spray without bleach. It removes the grease stains on Ikea Axstad cabinet doors. Looks like new! It also removes other stains as well.

Oh thank God it's not just me. I've tried Dawn. It does nothing. I'm wondering if baking soda would work. I've had my kitchen for about a year now. We have white Axtad tops with navy bottoms. At the time they were delivered my son was laid off from work. Four hours after delivery he was called back to work. We both put in a lot of time getting it finished on weekends. We were both working overtime.

If you've boiled a kettle, had steamy dishwater, or anything else near your thermofoil cupboards, there's nothing much you can do. It's the thermofoil, not Ikea.

I know this is an old post and I really don’t have any tips for cleaning grease from the Axstad doors because we haven't moved into our house yet. No cooking has taken place so no grease has accumulated. But I have a tip for keeping them clean. Full disclosure…try this at your own risk. Our white Axstad doors had become dirty just handling them as we are putting the kitchen together. I used a water dampened cotton cloth and rubbed fairly hard to get the clean. Once clean, I waxed them with Minwax paste finishing wax, softened a bit with mineral spirits. I figured, everyone waxes chalk paint, so why not wax these doors? And I figured I could always buy new doors if I ruined them. The nice matte finish barely changed. They still have the matte finish. And they feel nice too. We left one unwaxed as an experiment. You can't tell them apart unless you get very close and know to look for a difference. The unwaxed door is dirty again already, but the waxed ones are perfectly clean. The Minwax wax is very hard, so it's difficult to work with, so that’s why I softened it. I'm too cheap to buy the softer or liquid wax, so if you're not as much a tightwad as me, splurge on the softer wax. I believe you can even get it in white. But even with the Minwax being yellowish, it did not yellow the doors at all. I’m so pleased with the result, I'm thinking of waxing all the surfaces throughout the house. LOL.

Will be ordering my 3rd Ikea kitchen soon. The 2nd one was a Sektion kitchen with (Grimslov) white glossy shaker cabinet and drawer fronts that still look like new six years later.

For incomprehensible reasons (let's just blame the pandemic), Ikea has gotten rid of their (Grimslov) white glossy shaker cabinet and drawer fronts (the most popular look for ALL kitchen designers and cabinet makers) and offer *only* matte white, matte white with fake wood graining (or a couple of flat panel white panels that will make your kitchen look like a dentist's office).

As anyone who has ever cooked in a kitchen knows (much less people with children), a matte finish means fingerprints everywhere, but anyone ordering a new Sektion kitchen nowadays (raises hand) has to choose of one of equally awful options...or buy after market, in which case your cabinets will not have doors for a month or more and, even worse, your drawers will be cubbyholes that you have to reach into to get a fork or spoon.

Has anyone bought aftermarket doors?

I typically only design with aftermarket doors. Check out Embolden Designer Doors. Best prices, better quality and fantastic customer service! I've been very happy with all my projects doors!

I've had the blue axstad doors for 2 years now and the fingerprints are a constant bane, but I think I found something today that works. Of course use at your own risk, but The Pink Stuff cleaning paste worked wonders and didn't harm the finish. I fell for the hype over The Pink Stuff and am generally underwhelmed by it - just another cleaning paste, really, not miraculous - but used sparingly, scrubbed in gently, and rinsed well did clean up the fingerprints perfectly. I am nowhere near a spotless housekeeper, but it's a big relief to find something that works on these doors.

I was surprised and relieved to find The Pink Stuff cleaned up the fingerprints on my 2yo blue axstad cabinet doors. Apply it sparingly, rub gently, rinse well, and they really do disappear.

Terri Wilson, I don’t know if you’ll see this, but I’m so curious how the minwax paste has held up on your white doors? Still happy with them?

It held up very well, but....we expanded the kitchen with many additional doors and drawers that I have not waxed. After being completely moved in and using the kitchen full time, the unwaxed doors have not been a problem as I anticipated. I wipe spots off as soon as I seen them, and on a few tough ones...fruit stains, mysteries and old dog slobber, I've carefully used a DRY magic eraser without any issues. While installing the cabinets, I assume we were handling them with dirtier hands then normal, because they really got dirty fast. It scared me! So, does the wax protect them?....yes. Did it hold up?....yes. But it was time consuming to apply. I have 35+ doors and drawers. I just don't think it's worth my time now....and I'm tired. LOL. We will be adding a scullery, so I'll be transferring the waxed doors from the kitchen to that room and just replacing them with non waxed. Only because in certain light you can see the difference....a little. BTW, we're really happy with the Ikea Sektion cabinets. I'll post pictures after it is 100% complete. We still have a few finishing touches to complete and spring has moved us to outdoor projects.

This is SO helpful, Terri - really appreciate you taking the time to share your experience. We're going to be installing in June likely, and I was considering whether it's worth the extra work. I can relate to being tired and having to choose where energy gets spent! So your insights are very valuable. Looking forward to seeing the pictures - sounds like a great project!

Have you tried Dawn? Windex is another option. Just do one spot and see how it works.

I have a friend who waxed her cab fronts...end of problem with finger prints.