Cat Polishing ?!

Our cat often polishes with his front paws (not sure what else to call it but if we fitted dusters to his paws he would be able to do all my house work !) as this can go on for at least 20 to 30 minutes at a time. He goes around the kitchen doing this action to all cupboards, the floor, glass doors and the wall. It drives us mad ! Does anyone know why he is doing this ?

I wonder if he's putting his scent on the house?
It sounds cute though

Either he smells something that he's trying to cover up, he likes the way it feels, he's obsessive/compulsive or he's just weird. I've seen my own cats do the same thing from time to time. I've honestly no idea why they do it. In the case of your cat could you give him something to distract him like a new toy? I know what you mean about the noise being irritating.