Kitchen care
Plain maintenance guidance — what to use, what to keep away from a finish, and when a small thing is worth a phone call. Written as general guidance for kitchen materials, not as a condition of anything.
or ask us about your own kitchen — free, no obligation
GENERAL CARE GUIDANCE / 10-YEAR WRITTEN WARRANTY / Hettich and Blum HARDWARE AS STANDARD
Every day
A kitchen is not kept by deep cleaning it twice a year. It is kept by what happens in the thirty seconds after something spills.
Nearly everything that damages a kitchen is water, oil or something acidic that was left sitting. A spill dealt with in the moment is a wipe; the same spill found the next morning is a stain, and at a panel joint it can become a swelling.
Spraying a cleaner straight at a cabinet puts liquid into the edges, the joints and the hinge cups, which is exactly where you do not want it. Dampen a soft cloth instead and work from the cloth.
A second pass with a dry, clean, soft cloth is the single most useful habit on this page. It takes off the film a damp cloth leaves behind and it stops water standing anywhere it can soak in.
This holds for kitchen furniture generally, whatever the finish. If you are dealing with something stubborn, more time with a soft cloth beats more force with a harder one.
By surface
What follows is general guidance for each material type, not a statement about what is on your kitchen. The finishes actually fitted to yours are named, line by line, on your itemised quotation — and if you are not sure which you have, ask us and we will tell you.
Display
The most forgiving of the finishes and the easiest to live with. Its weak point is not the face of the panel — it is the edges and joints, where water can find a way in and sit.
| Do | Avoid |
|---|---|
| Warm water, a soft cloth and a drop of mild dishwashing liquid | Scouring pads, steel wool and scouring powders |
| Dry the panel afterwards, edges and the underside of handles included | Bleach, thinner, acetone and nail-polish remover |
| A trivet under hot vessels rather than the panel or the edge | Water left standing along a joint, an edge or a cut-out |
A mirror finish shows everything, so the enemy here is grit rather than dirt. Most marks on a gloss shutter are put there by dust dragged across it on a dry or reused cloth, not by the cleaner.
| Do | Avoid |
|---|---|
| A clean, soft microfibre cloth, rinsed often | Circular scrubbing, which is what leaves swirl marks |
| Mild soapy water, then a dry microfibre cloth in straight strokes | Abrasive creams, powders and solvent-based polishes |
| Lift dust off first, so nothing gritty is dragged across the face | Reusing the cloth that just did the hob or the floor |
A matt surface hides fingerprints beautifully and shows patchiness instead. The trick is to clean the whole panel face rather than the one spot you noticed, so the finish stays even across it.
| Do | Avoid |
|---|---|
| A soft damp cloth, blotting a mark before scrubbing at it | Alcohol-based sprays, solvents and strong degreasers |
| Cleaning the whole panel face, corner to corner, then drying it | Abrasive creams or hard rubbing on one spot |
| Testing anything unfamiliar somewhere out of sight first | Wax or oily polish, which leaves shiny patches on a matt face |
Glass shutters and back-painted glass clean up quickly, but the coating and the silicone joints at the edges are less robust than the face. Work inward from the middle and keep liquid away from the perimeter.
| Do | Avoid |
|---|---|
| A little warm soapy water, or a mild glass cleaner on the cloth | Blades, scrapers or anything that can chip an edge |
| A dry lint-free cloth to finish, so nothing dries in streaks | Ammonia-heavy cleaner on back-painted or lacquered glass |
| A soft cloth for anything stuck on, given time to soften first | Spraying near the edges, seals and silicone joints |
Counters take the acids: lemon, tamarind, vinegar, wine, turmeric and hot oil. Natural stone and engineered quartz are not the same material and are not looked after the same way — some natural stones want periodic sealing, engineered quartz generally does not.
| Do | Avoid |
|---|---|
| Wipe acidic and oily spills promptly, then rinse and dry | Descalers, lime removers, oven cleaner and bleach |
| Mild soap and water for everyday cleaning | Abrasive pads and powders on a polished surface |
| A chopping board for cutting and a trivet under hot vessels | A hot pan set straight down, or cutting on the stone itself |
One rule covers all five: try anything unfamiliar somewhere it will not be seen — the inside of a shutter, the back of a cabinet door — before you take it to the front of your kitchen.
Display
Hinges and runners
Hettich and Blum hardware is fitted as standard on every ALEA kitchen. The guidance below is general to soft-close hinges and runners of that kind.
Moisture and air
Frying, pressure cooking and a humid monsoon put more moisture and more airborne oil into a kitchen than most cabinetry is asked to deal with anywhere else. General guidance, and the reasoning behind it, so you can judge your own kitchen.
Switch it on before the pan gets hot and leave it running for a few minutes after you finish. The sticky film that builds up on shutters above a hob is mostly cooking oil that never got extracted. Clean the filters and the oil collector as often as the appliance manual asks.
It is the most hard-worked cabinet in the kitchen. Look under it now and then for a slow drip at the trap or the connections, dry the counter edge and the shutter below after washing up, and do not park a wet mop or a wet cloth inside it.
Air the kitchen for part of the day, wipe condensation off shutters rather than leaving it, and dry utensils before they go back in. Angle a pressure-cooker vent away from a shutter or a tall unit — a swollen edge is almost always steam or water that sat somewhere for a long time.
When to call us
Small misalignments are easy to put right and easy to ignore until they are not. If you see any of these, tell us rather than living with it — and rather than forcing it.
Tell us what you are seeing and where — a photograph on WhatsApp usually saves a conversation.
Every ALEA kitchen carries a 10-year warranty, in writing. What it covers — and what it asks of you — is set out in the written document handed over with your kitchen at installation, and that document is the authority rather than this page. Keep it with your itemised quotation, which names the finishes and the hardware on your own kitchen. More about the warranty
Not an ALEA customer yet? Ask to read the warranty document on your free design visit, before you commit to anything, and have a look at what we make while you are at it.
Questions
As general guidance for kitchen cabinetry: a soft damp cloth, warm water and a drop of mild dishwashing liquid handles almost everything, and a second pass with a dry cloth finishes the job. Dampen the cloth rather than spraying the shutter, so cleaner does not run into edges, joints and hinge cups. Keep scouring pads, scouring powders, bleach, thinner and acetone away from cabinetry altogether. Different finishes want slightly different handling — the finish on your own kitchen is named on your quotation, and if you are not sure which you have, ask us and we will tell you.
As general guidance, no to all three on cabinetry. A steam cleaner drives hot moisture into edges and joints, which is the one place a panel is vulnerable. A scouring pad and a melamine foam eraser both work by abrading the surface, so they take the finish off along with the mark — on a gloss or matt shutter that shows immediately. A soft cloth, mild soapy water and a little patience will get further, and anything unfamiliar is worth testing somewhere out of sight first.
Start by clearing the runner track: crumbs and grit under a runner are the usual reason a smooth drawer starts to feel notchy or stops pulling itself shut. Brush or vacuum the track and wipe it with a dry cloth. Do not slam it and do not force it — a soft-close system works against you when it is pushed. Most household oils are the wrong answer too, because they collect dust. If it still does not close properly, call us rather than dismantling it: hinges and runners are adjustable and serviceable. ALEA fits Hettich and Blum hardware as standard.
Every ALEA kitchen carries a 10-year warranty, in writing. What it covers, and what it asks of you, is set out in the written document handed over with your kitchen at installation — that document is the authority, not this page. Keep it with your itemised quotation, which also names the finishes and hardware on your kitchen. If you have not received a kitchen from us yet, ask to read the warranty document on your free design visit, before you commit to anything. To raise something, call +91 95549 95449 or message us on WhatsApp.
Something not answered here? Get in touch — we would rather you asked than guessed.
Book a free design visit
Both visits are free and carry no obligation: a measurement at your home across Panchkula, Chandigarh, Mohali, Zirakpur, or a factory visit at Raipur Rani, Panchkula district where you can watch kitchens being built before you pay a rupee. Bring your questions about finishes and hardware — that is the easiest way to settle them.
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