diff --git a/include/cantera/kinetics/AqueousKinetics.h b/include/cantera/kinetics/AqueousKinetics.h
index 6775aa8a0f..f5d55460f8 100644
--- a/include/cantera/kinetics/AqueousKinetics.h
+++ b/include/cantera/kinetics/AqueousKinetics.h
@@ -39,9 +39,15 @@ class AqueousKinetics : public BulkKinetics
     virtual Kinetics* duplMyselfAsKinetics(const std::vector<thermo_t*> & tpVector) const;
 
     virtual int type() const {
+        warn_deprecated("AqueousKinetics::type",
+                        "To be removed after Cantera 2.3.");
         return cAqueousKinetics;
     }
 
+    virtual std::string kineticsType() const {
+        return "Aqueous";
+    }
+
     virtual void getEquilibriumConstants(doublereal* kc);
     virtual void getFwdRateConstants(doublereal* kfwd);
     void updateROP();
diff --git a/include/cantera/kinetics/EdgeKinetics.h b/include/cantera/kinetics/EdgeKinetics.h
index 164890b07e..1da38c4ca5 100644
--- a/include/cantera/kinetics/EdgeKinetics.h
+++ b/include/cantera/kinetics/EdgeKinetics.h
@@ -44,8 +44,14 @@ class EdgeKinetics : public InterfaceKinetics
     }
 
     virtual int type() const {
+        warn_deprecated("EdgeKinetics::type",
+                        "To be removed after Cantera 2.3.");
         return cEdgeKinetics;
     }
+
+    virtual std::string kineticsType() const {
+        return "Edge";
+    }
 };
 }
 
diff --git a/include/cantera/kinetics/GasKinetics.h b/include/cantera/kinetics/GasKinetics.h
index dfde9bb4ca..f7378ded14 100644
--- a/include/cantera/kinetics/GasKinetics.h
+++ b/include/cantera/kinetics/GasKinetics.h
@@ -37,9 +37,15 @@ class GasKinetics : public BulkKinetics
     virtual Kinetics* duplMyselfAsKinetics(const std::vector<thermo_t*> & tpVector) const;
 
     virtual int type() const {
+        warn_deprecated("GasKinetics::type",
+                        "To be removed after Cantera 2.3.");
         return cGasKinetics;
     }
 
+    virtual std::string kineticsType() const {
+        return "Gas";
+    }
+
     //! @}
     //! @name Reaction Rates Of Progress
     //! @{
diff --git a/include/cantera/kinetics/InterfaceKinetics.h b/include/cantera/kinetics/InterfaceKinetics.h
index 6291b74d1c..2cc362045d 100644
--- a/include/cantera/kinetics/InterfaceKinetics.h
+++ b/include/cantera/kinetics/InterfaceKinetics.h
@@ -74,6 +74,10 @@ class InterfaceKinetics : public Kinetics
 
     virtual int type() const;
 
+    virtual std::string kineticsType() const {
+        return "Surf";
+    }
+
     //! Set the electric potential in the nth phase
     /*!
      * @param n phase Index in this kinetics object.
diff --git a/include/cantera/kinetics/Kinetics.h b/include/cantera/kinetics/Kinetics.h
index 1b48970fd9..8beb6e3ea4 100644
--- a/include/cantera/kinetics/Kinetics.h
+++ b/include/cantera/kinetics/Kinetics.h
@@ -158,9 +158,18 @@ class Kinetics
     /*!
      *   Each class derived from Kinetics should overload this method to return
      *   a unique integer. Standard values are defined in file mix_defs.h.
+     *   @deprecated Use kineticsType() instead. To be removed after Cantera
+     *       2.3.
      */
     virtual int type() const;
 
+    //! Identifies the Kinetics manager type.
+    //! Each class derived from Kinetics should override this method to return
+    //! a meaningful identifier.
+    virtual std::string kineticsType() const {
+        return "Kinetics";
+    }
+
     //! Number of reactions in the reaction mechanism.
     size_t nReactions() const {
         return m_reactions.size();
diff --git a/include/cantera/thermo/mix_defs.h b/include/cantera/thermo/mix_defs.h
index d52df6ed69..c2608e66b0 100644
--- a/include/cantera/thermo/mix_defs.h
+++ b/include/cantera/thermo/mix_defs.h
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 //! @file mix_defs.h
+//! @deprecated All of the constants defined in this header are no longer used.
+//!     To be removed after Cantera 2.3.
 #ifndef CT_MIX_DEFS_H
 #define CT_MIX_DEFS_H
 
@@ -135,6 +137,7 @@ enum VPSSMgr_enumType {
 
 
 // kinetic manager types
+// @deprecated To be removed after Cantera 2.3.
 const int cGasKinetics = 2;
 const int cInterfaceKinetics = 4;
 const int cLineKinetics = 5;
diff --git a/interfaces/cython/cantera/_cantera.pxd b/interfaces/cython/cantera/_cantera.pxd
index abe0b90b3f..d9424a4140 100644
--- a/interfaces/cython/cantera/_cantera.pxd
+++ b/interfaces/cython/cantera/_cantera.pxd
@@ -42,12 +42,6 @@ cdef extern from "cantera/base/global.h" namespace "Cantera":
     cdef XML_Node* CxxGetXmlFromString "Cantera::get_XML_from_string" (string) except +
     cdef void Cxx_make_deprecation_warnings_fatal "Cantera::make_deprecation_warnings_fatal" ()
 
-cdef extern from "cantera/thermo/mix_defs.h":
-    cdef int kinetics_type_gas "Cantera::cGasKinetics"
-    cdef int kinetics_type_interface "Cantera::cInterfaceKinetics"
-    cdef int kinetics_type_edge "Cantera::cEdgeKinetics"
-
-
 cdef extern from "cantera/cython/funcWrapper.h":
     ctypedef double (*callback_wrapper)(double, void*, void**)
     cdef int translate_exception()
@@ -342,7 +336,7 @@ cdef extern from "cantera/kinetics/FalloffFactory.h" namespace "Cantera":
 cdef extern from "cantera/kinetics/Kinetics.h" namespace "Cantera":
     cdef cppclass CxxKinetics "Cantera::Kinetics":
         CxxKinetics()
-        int type()
+        string kineticsType()
         int nTotalSpecies()
         int nReactions()
         int nPhases()
diff --git a/interfaces/cython/cantera/kinetics.pyx b/interfaces/cython/cantera/kinetics.pyx
index 50950c054d..a849ce1da5 100644
--- a/interfaces/cython/cantera/kinetics.pyx
+++ b/interfaces/cython/cantera/kinetics.pyx
@@ -336,8 +336,7 @@ cdef class InterfaceKinetics(Kinetics):
     """
     def __init__(self, infile='', phaseid='', phases=(), *args, **kwargs):
         super().__init__(infile, phaseid, phases, *args, **kwargs)
-        if self.kinetics.type() not in (kinetics_type_interface,
-                                        kinetics_type_edge):
+        if pystr(self.kinetics.kineticsType()) not in ("Surf", "Edge"):
             raise TypeError("Underlying Kinetics class is not of the correct type.")
 
         self._phase_indices = {}
diff --git a/interfaces/cython/cantera/onedim.pyx b/interfaces/cython/cantera/onedim.pyx
index 1e604e5cb7..d62781a8ce 100644
--- a/interfaces/cython/cantera/onedim.pyx
+++ b/interfaces/cython/cantera/onedim.pyx
@@ -370,8 +370,7 @@ cdef class ReactingSurface1D(Boundary1D):
 
     def set_kinetics(self, Kinetics kin):
         """Set the kinetics manager (surface reaction mechanism object)."""
-        if kin.kinetics.type() not in (kinetics_type_interface,
-                                       kinetics_type_edge):
+        if pystr(kin.kinetics.kineticsType()) not in ("Surf", "Edge"):
             raise TypeError('Kinetics object must be derived from '
                             'InterfaceKinetics.')
         self.surf.setKineticsMgr(<CxxInterfaceKinetics*>kin.kinetics)
diff --git a/src/fortran/fct.cpp b/src/fortran/fct.cpp
index 7ee84de4cb..396d8c53ea 100644
--- a/src/fortran/fct.cpp
+++ b/src/fortran/fct.cpp
@@ -881,7 +881,7 @@ extern "C" {
     {
         try {
             Kinetics* k = _fkin(n);
-            if (k->type() == cInterfaceKinetics) {
+            if (k->kineticsType() == "Surf" || k->kineticsType() == "Edge") {
                 ((InterfaceKinetics*)k)->advanceCoverages(*tstep);
             } else {
                 throw CanteraError("kin_advanceCoverages",
diff --git a/src/kinetics/InterfaceKinetics.cpp b/src/kinetics/InterfaceKinetics.cpp
index 661307ae9c..f163a98dd4 100644
--- a/src/kinetics/InterfaceKinetics.cpp
+++ b/src/kinetics/InterfaceKinetics.cpp
@@ -103,6 +103,8 @@ InterfaceKinetics& InterfaceKinetics::operator=(const InterfaceKinetics& right)
 
 int InterfaceKinetics::type() const
 {
+    warn_deprecated("InterfaceKinetics::type",
+                    "To be removed after Cantera 2.3.");
     return cInterfaceKinetics;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/kinetics/Kinetics.cpp b/src/kinetics/Kinetics.cpp
index 90fc25bcc5..880245f536 100644
--- a/src/kinetics/Kinetics.cpp
+++ b/src/kinetics/Kinetics.cpp
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ Kinetics* Kinetics::duplMyselfAsKinetics(const std::vector<thermo_t*> & tpVector
 
 int Kinetics::type() const
 {
+    warn_deprecated("Kinetics::type", "To be removed after Cantera 2.3.");
     return 0;
 }
 
@@ -485,13 +486,7 @@ void Kinetics::addPhase(thermo_t& thermo)
     }
 
     // there should only be one surface phase
-    string ptype;
-    if (type() == cEdgeKinetics) {
-        ptype = "Edge";
-    } else if (type() == cInterfaceKinetics) {
-        ptype = "Surf";
-    }
-    if (thermo.type() == ptype) {
+    if (thermo.type() == kineticsType()) {
         m_surfphase = nPhases();
         m_rxnphase = nPhases();
     }