How to Keep Kitchen Glass Splashbacks Looking New for Years

Most of the thinking that goes into kitchen glass splashbacks happens before they arrive, which makes sense given how much rides on the colour, the size and the finish you settle on. 

What tends to get far less attention is everything that happens afterwards, once the splashback is on the wall and your kitchen goes back to being a kitchen rather than a project. That second phase lasts a great deal longer than the first one, and it is where the difference between a splashback that still looks sharp in five years and one that has quietly gone dull gets decided.

The good news is that almost none of it is difficult, and glass genuinely does ask less of you than nearly any other wall covering you could have chosen. There are just a handful of habits worth getting right early, along with a couple of things you should avoid doing altogether, and understanding both is part of what makes glass such a practical choice for a working kitchen in the first place. 

Most of your effort goes into everything you weigh up when choosing a kitchen splashback, and yet it is the years afterwards that decide whether you stay happy with the one you picked.

Why Glass Ages Better Than Almost Anything Else

The reason glass holds up so well comes down to where the colour actually sits. On a coloured or printed splashback, the finish is applied to the back of the glass rather than the front, which means the surface you are wiping down every day is bare toughened glass and nothing else. You are never actually touching the colour, so it cannot scuff, fade or wear thin the way a painted or coated surface would.

Grout is the other half of the story, or rather the absence of it. Tiled walls tend to look fine for the first couple of years and then start ageing unevenly, because grout is porous and slowly absorbs everything a kitchen throws at it. 

Glass gives you one continuous surface with no joints to discolour, so it either looks clean or it needs a wipe, and there is no in-between state where it looks permanently tired no matter what you do. 

That combination of low upkeep and a finish that holds its appearance is a large part of why kitchen glass splashbacks work as both a stylish and practical choice rather than a compromise between the two.

Everyday Kitchen Glass Splashback Cleaning Tips That Actually Work

Cleaning a glass splashback is straightforward enough that most people work it out without instructions, but there are a few specifics worth knowing, particularly around what to use and what to keep well away from it. Getting into a sensible routine early will save you from having to deal with anything stubborn later on.

What to Clean Your Kitchen Glass Splashbacks With

A non-abrasive microfibre cloth and a standard glass cleaner will handle almost everything a normal week of cooking produces, and warm water with a mild detergent does much the same job if you would rather not keep another spray bottle under the sink. 

White vinegar diluted with water is a genuinely good alternative too, and it works particularly well if you are in a hard water area where limescale spotting tends to show up around the sink. 

The one thing that makes any of these noticeably more effective is simply doing it while the marks are fresh, since oil that has been baked on by a warm hob for a fortnight will always take more effort than a splash you wiped away the same evening.

What Will Damage the Surface Over Time

Abrasive cleaners and scouring pads are the main things to avoid, because while toughened glass resists scratching far better than acrylic or painted surfaces, it is not completely immune to being scrubbed with something harsh enough. 

Harsh chemicals are worth steering clear of as well, especially around the edges of the splashback where the backing is closest to the surface. If something has properly hardened on, the answer is to soften it with warm water and give it a minute rather than to reach for anything more aggressive, and that patience is really the only technique you need. 

It also helps to remember that the 100mm gap between your hob and the bottom edge of the splashback is not just an installation detail, since keeping direct flame away from the glass protects it long term as well as at the moment of fitting.

The Kitchen Glass Splashback Finishes That Need a Slightly Different Approach

Not every splashback behaves identically once it is up on the wall, and the finish you chose will influence how often you notice marks in the first place. Some finishes are more forgiving than others, which is worth factoring in if your kitchen sees heavy use or gets a lot of direct sun.

• Gloss coloured splashbacks show fingerprints and water spots most readily, though they also wipe clean fastest, so they suit anyone happy to give the surface a quick pass every few days.
  

• Matt finishes hide marks and fingerprints far better, which is one of several reasons matt kitchen splashbacks have become such a strong option in kitchens that get a lot of daylight.
  

• Mirrored splashbacks are the most demanding of the lot, since reflections make every smear obvious, and anyone drawn to the depth and drama a toughened mirror splashback brings to a kitchen should expect to clean them slightly more often.
  

• Printed designs with busy patterns are the most forgiving of all, because the image itself breaks up any light marking before your eye registers it.
  

• Darker colours across every finish will show dust and water spotting more than pale shades, which is worth knowing before you commit to a deep navy or charcoal.

Ready to Choose a Kitchen Glass Splashback That Lasts?

Once you know how a glass splashback ages and what keeps it looking its best, the whole decision becomes a lot less daunting, because you are no longer choosing something that will need managing for years. You are choosing a surface that mostly just gets on with it, provided you keep the abrasives away and wipe it down before anything has a chance to set.

Picking a finish is where most of that comes together, and seeing how colour glass splashbacks and toughened mirror splashbacks sit against your own cabinetry tells you more than any amount of deliberating over swatches on a screen. Where the splashback actually goes and how far it runs also wants settling before you get to that point, since coverage and measurements shape everything that follows. 

For anything you cannot find an answer to, whether that is finish advice, hard water concerns or a question about your particular layout, drop the team a line at info@directsplashbacks.com. If you’ve got a good handle on what you need, why not start browsing our online glass splashback store here?