15 Kitchen Repairs That Take 15 Minutes or Less

From a stained cutting board to chipped porcelain, these quick fixes will have your kitchen looking clean and new.

From The Family Handyman

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1. Clean a yucky cutting board

If you love the convenience of your pullout wooden cutting board but don't use it because it's stained and grungy, try this chef-approved, two-step process. Simply scour the board with a lemon and a pile of kosher salt, then apply mineral oil. The coarse kosher salt is an excellent abrasive, and the citric acid kills bacteria. When the stains are gone, rinse the board and let it dry. Mineral oil helps prevent the wood from absorbing stains.

1. Scour the cutting board with a lemon and kosher salt until the board is clean.

2. Apply mineral oil to the board and wipe off the excess. After a few hours, apply a second coat.

2. Touch up nicks and scratches

If you have shallow scratches or nicks, hide them with a stain-filled touch-up marker. Dab on the stain and wipe off the excess with a rag. But beware: Scratches can absorb lots of stain and turn darker than the surrounding finish. So start with a marker that's lighter than your cabinet finish and then switch to a darker shade if needed. For deeper scratches, use a filler pencil, which fills and colors the scratch. If the cabinet finish is dingy overall and has lots of scratches, consider a wipe-on product like Old English Scratch Coat. These products can darken the finish slightly, so you have to apply them to all your cabinets.

3. Adjust hinges on misaligned doors

If your cabinet doors are out of whack and you have European-style hinges, you're in luck. Euro hinges are designed for easy adjustment. Don't let their complex look scare you; all you have to do is turn a few screws, and any mistakes you make are easy to correct. The Euro hinge shown here adjusts in three directions. Others adjust in two directions. Either way, it's a trial-and-error process: You make adjustments, close the door to check the fit, then adjust again until it's right.

If the door isn't flush with the doors next to it, adjust the depth screw. This screw moves the door in or out. Some depth screws move the door as you turn them. But with most, you have to loosen the screw, nudge the door in or out and then tighten the screw. If your hinges don't have depth screws, start with the side screws.

If the door is crooked -- not standing parallel to adjacent doors or square with the cabinet -- adjust the side screw. This moves the door from side to side. In some cases, you have to loosen the depth screw slightly to adjust the side screw.

If the door is flush and parallel with other doors but too high or low, use the mounting screws to raise or lower the mounting plates. Loosen the screws at both hinges, slide the door up or down and tighten the screws. So m e mounting plates adjust by turning a single screw.

1. Tighten the door screws and the mounting screws before you make any adjustments. Then adjust the depth screw and side screw.

2. Check the fit of the door after each adjustment. With double doors like these, perfect the fit of one door first, then align the other door.

4. Clean your microwave

It's easy to clean baked-on food and spills from your microwave! Partially fill a measuring or coffee cup with water and add a slice of lemon. Boil the water for a minute, and then leave the door closed and let the steam loosen the mess. After 10 minutes, open the door and wipe away the grime.

5. Adjust or replace bad latches

Most newer cabinets have self-closing hinges that hold the doors shut. Others have magnetic or roller catches. A catch that no longer keeps a door closed is either broken or out of adjustment. Catches are fastened with two screws, so replacing a damaged catch is simple, and it costs less than $2. Adjustment is just as simple, but you might have to readjust the catch a couple of times before you get it right. Loosen the screws, move the catch in or out, and tighten the screws. If the door doesn't close tightly, try again.