Washing the inside of a cab - suggestions?

Tornadoboy

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Washing the inside of a cab - Suggestions?

Here's a really dumb question but I thought I'd ask anyway:

What's the best way to clean out the filthy inside of a cabinet to remove dust and kill mold without wrecking the wood? Just plain soap and water with a sponge? Use Mr Clean? Any thoughts?

I just got a bunch of cabarets that have been through hell internally, major yuck factor here. :p
 
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bleach water.. if nasty enough..


most i just either vacuum out with a vac that has a brush attached or blow it out with compressed air.. most of the time i prefer those methods because getting a cab clean at the cost of swelling isnt worth it imho..


if the cabs solid plywood then thats a diff story wash her up!
 
Unless it's plywood, I wouldn't get it wet. I had good luck cleaning the inside of a mouse poopy cocktail cabinet with Pine Sol and a stiff brush. Scrub, rinse with wet rag, repeat, until clean. It might raise the grain a tiny bit, but I'd then hit it with a sander with 220 or so grit, then vacuum out.

If particle board, presswood, etc..I'd vacuum out, wipe out with slightly damp rag, then sand to clean. Vacuum again.


Joey
 
They're all plywood so I imagine they'd handle moisture better than particle board, although I wouldn't try to drench them either, so I'd probably give them a quick sponging down and crank of the dehumidifier of the basement they're in. They're so dusty it's tough to tell how much mold there is, but I can tell there's at least some.
 
Sanding the inside of the cabinet is a technique used on pinball cabinets sometimes. Quick to do and makes the wood look very clean.

Joey
 
Thanks for the feedback everybody! Sanding sounds like a good idea, they're all cabarets so it wouldn't take too long, I'll give it a try!

Simple green on a rag, wipe it down. Sand the inside of the cabinet with 220 grit and then apply Minwax Polycrylic to seal it (Good idea Wadelanham)
 
Thanks for the feedback everybody! Sanding sounds like a good idea, they're all cabarets so it wouldn't take too long, I'll give it a try!

Make darn sure you've got a good mask on - you don't want to breath any mold! I actually just use a respirator because I can never get the disposable masks to seal properly on my face, but YMMV.
 
Sanding the inside of the cabinet is a technique used on pinball cabinets sometimes. Quick to do and makes the wood look very clean.

+1

I do this on every cab I work on. Low grit sandpaper makes things look like new very quickly. Vacuum it up and you're good to go.
 
+1 on the sanding, I use a DeWalt radial orbit sander that I've duct taped a Shop Vac hose to the dust collector on it.

It works great at removing dirt with almost no dust, but I still wear a good respirator. A few years ago I had been working on a bunch of really dirty cabs and got pneumonia so bad I ended up in the hospital for 3 days. It might have been the dust, or working too long hours, but either way it's never good to breath that crap.
 
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