MOVING

[Judique]

I line all my kitchen drawers and shelves with roll of plastic shelf liner sold at Ikea. I've also found a huge roll recently at Costco for less money. It's not sticky contact paper.

My glass front kitchen cabinets that have glass shelves, I do not line.

You can clean this product but if it gets ugly I throw it out. It's much easier to clean a drawer with this liner in it. Pick it up and the drawer is clean - wash it or toss it and cut a new piece.

 

[pjlla]

My mom always did and in older houses I can see why. Shelves I think were made of bare wood. Newer homes seem to have drawers and shelves that have a finish coat on them. Or they are the wire type. No liners needed.

Our cabinets are 40 years old, so we do use contact paper on them (just redid all of it this winter).
If I had nice new cabinets with a coating on the wood, I would not cover with contact paper.
The contact paper on old wood shelves is much easier to wipe down.
We had to buy contact paper online, local hardware stores no longer stock it.

Agreeing with these (and maybe more.... no time to read everything). Older cabinets had rough, unfinished wood shelves.... there was a definite NEED for shelf liner. But most newer cabinets, closets, shelves have finished wood surfaces... super easy to wipe down (IMHO anyhow) and no need to clutter the planet with plastic shelf liner trash.....P

 

[barkley]

I've never really understood how kitchen cabinets that are for the most part kept closed 99% of the time can get 'grungy' sticky shelves. I could kind of understand it with the ones above/adjacent to the stove top in an older home we had b/c while there was an old vent above the stove it was nothing like the kind of venting/fans available for the last 20 or so years.

that said-I've never seen the need. I wipe down bottles before I put them back into cabinets so no residue to transfer, and the only kind of 'lining' I do is a piece of aluminum foil on the shelf I keep my oils and vinegars on (easier to remove and replace vs. contact paper).

btw-one of the best things I've found for cleaning crumbs and such out of cabinets and drawers is one of those 'lint lizard' attachments they sell for vacuums to clean a dryers lint trap. those suckers reach about 43" beyond the end of a regular vacuum hose so they are plenty long AND b/c the end is small in order to get into a lint trap-it's ideal to get into corners of cabinets (or if you're like me and have pull outs in some-underneath the pull outs).

 

[Judique]

I've never really understood how kitchen cabinets that are for the most part kept closed 99% of the time can get 'grungy' sticky shelves. I could kind of understand it with the ones above/adjacent to the stove top in an older home we had b/c while there was an old vent above the stove it was nothing like the kind of venting/fans available for the last 20 or so years.

that said-I've never seen the need. I wipe down bottles before I put them back into cabinets so no residue to transfer, and the only kind of 'lining' I do is a piece of aluminum foil on the shelf I keep my oils and vinegars on (easier to remove and replace vs. contact paper).

btw-one of the best things I've found for cleaning crumbs and such out of cabinets and drawers is one of those 'lint lizard' attachments they sell for vacuums to clean a dryers lint trap. those suckers reach about 43" beyond the end of a regular vacuum hose so they are plenty long AND b/c the end is small in order to get into a lint trap-it's ideal to get into corners of cabinets (or if you're like me and have pull outs in some-underneath the pull outs).

Some finishes and varnishes or paints by their nature will get sticky and grungy because you use water or a cleaning agent to wipe them down. This will happen over time.

Combine that with what is not being captured by the room cleaner, exhaust fans, your vacuum cleaner and dirt will happen just about anywhere.

But everyone is free to do whatever they choose, lay paper or plastic, or put your utensils and dishes directly on the surface. I personally prefer to have a removable sheet of plastic that I can keep or ditch if it becomes dirty. In my house things do get grimy over time.

 

[KarenAylwood]

Not a shelf liner person here although I know what you mean. My grandma lived in a house built in 1952 and she had shelf liners. I put shelf liners in when I was in an older apartment because the shelves were wood and not easy to clean. Since then I've lived in newer houses and have never needed to. My husband bought a house in 2007 and we moved last year. In 8+ years of living there, the shelves were super easy to wipe down without shelf liners when we moved. Now we're in a new house and I see no need for shelf liners anywhere other than possibly the wire shelves in the pantry but that's more about things falling through than cleanliness.

The sound of 7500 square feet makes me tired. But congrats on the move up!!

 

[HM]

I put shelf liners in my prior two houses. I did not add them in my current home.

 

[pigletto]

I've never really understood how kitchen cabinets that are for the most part kept closed 99% of the time can get 'grungy' sticky shelves. I could kind of understand it with the ones above/adjacent to the stove top in an older home we had b/c while there was an old vent above the stove it was nothing like the kind of venting/fans available for the last 20 or so years.

that said-I've never seen the need. I wipe down bottles before I put them back into cabinets so no residue to transfer, and the only kind of 'lining' I do is a piece of aluminum foil on the shelf I keep my oils and vinegars on (easier to remove and replace vs. contact paper).

btw-one of the best things I've found for cleaning crumbs and such out of cabinets and drawers is one of those 'lint lizard' attachments they sell for vacuums to clean a dryers lint trap. those suckers reach about 43" beyond the end of a regular vacuum hose so they are plenty long AND b/c the end is small in order to get into a lint trap-it's ideal to get into corners of cabinets (or if you're like me and have pull outs in some-underneath the pull outs).

I was just going to say the only place I wish I had used any kind of liner is the shelf where I keep cooking oil and olive oil. There's a few rings on the shelf from oil being on the outside of the bottle. Otherwise, it feels/looks cleaner to me to just clean the actual white shelf. I can see any dirt or residue easily.

It wasn't the same in the bathroom though. I ended up buying a roll of the non slip matting you put under carpets (best way I can describe it) and cutting it to size for all the drawers and putting baskets in. My messy teen dd was staining the drawers with all of her potions/lotions/colours/powders/creams etc. I finally had it when I was trying to scrub something neon pink out of the drawer and lined them all.

 

[brockash]

We're moving from California to Georgia. While we were house shopping, I was surprised how many homes did not have any shelf liners. Not in the kitchen, linen closets or bathrooms. Of course, the house we purchased has none either. Generally not that big a deal but we're going from a 1500 square foot house to over 7500 square foot house and the thought of putting all that shelf lining is daunting. Just want to put it out there....is shelf liners a must for you?
Thanks everyone!

We're military so we move often, and we've never bought a house that had shelf liners. I put them in in our first house (the cheap rubber ones) and they were more of a pain than anything else, so after that I just leave them and don't worry about them. I don't think we've bought a house with any kind of shelf liners and we now just don't use them.

 

[ravenclawtrekkie]

I honestly had never heard of a shelf liner before this post.

 

[leahgoogle]

I only use shelf liners on cabinets/drawers with unfinished wood.

 

[dylans mommy]

We're military so we move often, and we've never bought a house that had shelf liners. I put them in in our first house (the cheap rubber ones) and they were more of a pain than anything else, so after that I just leave them and don't worry about them. I don't think we've bought a house with any kind of shelf liners and we now just don't use them.

We are military also and to me its almost to much work sense we move so often that I find it unnecessary. I already have to scrub the house down when we move out and move in (just a habit of mine, you never know how clean the previous people were or how long the house has been empty for).

I do put contact paper in the fridge though to make the cleanup easier.

 

[dylans mommy]

Sorry double post!

 

[mco65]

Shelf liners get dirty too...
anyway.. I think we got 'em but they probably need replacing.

BTW... Welcome to Georgia.. just a short drive to WDW!

 

[LizzyS]

I line certain shelves/drawers with liner, but it's that type that doesn't adhere to the shelving.

 

[amylevan]

My mom lined the shelves of our house growing up (and I even had contact paper on the insides of my dresser drawers) but in newer homes I've never seen the need.

I do use trays where ever I keep cleaning supplies (under bathroom sinks and in laundry room closet shelves). The trays keep the chemicals from dripping and destroying the shelves and I can just wash them when they get grungy. So if lining the shelves in your 7,500 SF house seems daunting (holy heck that is too much house...) you can use that route here and there.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I have never used shelf liners.

The painters finally scheduled my kitchen painting.

I'm currently emptying every cabinet, drawer and cupboard in my kitchen since it's going to get painted on Tuesday and the only area that could have used a shelf liner is where I keep my vinegars/oils. So once everything is painted I'll put some tin foil down in that section.

And a bit off topic - but as much as I love my big kitchen with it's tons of cupboards, it sure is a pain emptying everything out. I don't even want to think of putting it all back - makes my back, knees and head hurt just thinking about it. I think it's time for a major kitchen supply clean out.