I think I can only speak for my white cabinets. I have Dura Supreme Cabinetry. Stains wipe off with water. Sometimes my husband will spot a coffee stainthat has dripped and they just clean off easily and I don't know how long they were there. I asked when I bought my cabinets and this is how I was told the clean up would be. Can you ask where you are buying what they say about cleaning your specific cabinets?

i had honey stained maple in my last kitchen and when we were moving i found a streak of green paint that had splattered the cabinets four years prior. in that time i never saw it ...and it really pissed me off because no matter how hard i scrubbed, the paint wouldn't come off.

this time around i ordered my white kitchen. it's not installed yet, but i can tell you i'd rather know about splatters and wipe them up then keep them hanging around to discover after it's too late.

Even tho white cabinets show all splatters/spills, I prefer it because its gets cleaned up as soon as its noticed. Splatters can remain on stained cabs a looooong time because its not as noticeable. Now to some, that's ok - out of sight, out of mind. But I'd rather see the spills/splatters and clean them up NOW. I had stained cabs at my other house, and the grease build-up was awful - but couldn't really see it. Now, a little Kool-aid gets spilled - wiped up! And then, once/month or so I go over all my cabs with a Mr Clean pad. Am I a neat freak? no!!! just like my kitchen cabs to look nice and clean.

All that being said - do I have PAINTED white cabinets? no. mine are a product of the 90's and are the "inexpensive" thermofoil cabinets. Not a lot of painted cabs available in my area back then, and what I wouldn't give to have that now! (Painted cabs were not advised then as I was told they would "yellow" over time) But my cabinets do wash down easily and still look new after 12 years!

(forgive me for rambling - 3 glasses of wine=drunk posting LOL!

Is drunk posting worse than drunk dialing? Seems there's more of a record...:)

Anyway my painted white cabs don't get the spills wiped off them very soon but seem to be doing OK. Since you already have white, you know what you're getting into and how long you leave the red sauce on before you get around to it. Best thing to do is get a sample door from the particular company you're using and test it out.

Unlike thermofoil, you can paint over red stains on a painted cabinet.

Two words. Magic Eraser.

I had stained cabinets in my first home. I don't know if it was because I was young and didn't realize that I needed to keep them wiped clean, but I realized they were covered in grime on year 4.

I have had white cabinets since then and I love them. But, if I wanted stained cabinets, I would go for it and try to remember they need cleaning too!

OMG! Magic Eraser is what I meant! Where'd I get Mr Clean???? see? drunk posting....

the stains come off easily, it is the nicks and scratches that bother me

I don't regret my white cabinets (Brookhaven). I have a wood finish island and hutch and I don't consider either to be better or worse than the other.

I love my white cabs and I agree with Mountaineergirl.
The spills show up and it is easier to clean them when you
can see them.

I have not had any stains that could not have been
cleaned. And we are a clumsy family that eats messy foods.
Thick juicy tomatos, red win'e, grape juice, or melted
velvetta cheese, chocolate cak.e mix spinning around
a mixer, foods that fly around the kitc'hen because some
fool forgot to put the top on the blender.
And with my wonderfully disordered clan we have had not
stains on our painted cabinets.

Get the kitch'en you love and you will find you don't
mind cleaning up the messes when you love your space.
~boxer