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.

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• Easy Repairs
• Home Repair
• Kitchens

Fixes 1 & 2: Cutting Board Repair; Cabinet Scratches

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.

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