Hi, Sars –
In light of "Keeping It Clean," I direct this question not to you, but to the readers.
My kitchen is kind of a nightmare from a cleaning perspective — it has matte paint, virtually no closed storage, and no range hood, so that a layer of nasty sticky greasy food dust adheres to almost everything in the room. Thank goodness I've got a couple of steel-topped carts that serve as my food-prep area, because those I can keep clean (along with my most commonly-used dishes), but I cannot figure out how to remove the sticky dust from the rest of the kitchen.
The affected surfaces include lots of wooden shelves, some painted and some just polyurethaned, the top of the fridge (plastic? enamel? something white and textured, anyway), the back of the stove, the covers of cookbooks, chrome kitchen items, painted knick-knacks, and the linoleum floor tiles.
Hot water on a rag plus elbow grease doesn't cut it. Simple Green cleaner doesn't cut it. Windex doesn't cut it. Despite my mom's insistence that it would work, vinegar has no effect on the dust. Hot soapy water works a little bit, Goo-Gone works a little bit, but I do not have the endless arm strength, twenty zillion hours, and (in the case of Goo-Gone) enough money to afford all the bottles of cleaner I think it would take to rely just on those.
If anyone who has conquered his or her own nasty sticky kitchen dust can recommend any product(s), technique(s), or combination thereof that would increase my chances of reclaiming my kitchen, I would be most grateful!
Dirty girl
Dear Dirty,
I know just the substance you mean, and I've had some luck with a cheap, scrapey paper towel barely dampened with either Windex or hot water. For the non-book surfaces, upgrade to a Brillo pad (test it on a hidden corner of the fridge first to make sure it doesn't take the surface off). You might also try the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.
And if you own your home, it's probably time to invest in a range hood (or, if you're renting, make the landlord do it) and save yourself the time and effort on the front end.
Readers?