I am going to be painting some laminate kitchen cabinets. They are in a home that I own that I will be renting out.
My plan is to clean the cabinets, probably lightly sand the surface, then prime with Zinsser B-I-N shellac-based primer. After that, paint with either latex-based or oil-based paint.
The Zinsser B-I-N shellac-based primer says to not clean the cabinets with TSP. One website I found suggested cleaning them with Xylol. Any suggestions on what to use for the cleaning part?
I assume that oil-based paint would be better and would result in a harder and more durable finish than latex-based paint. Is that correct?
Any other suggestions or thoughts on how to go about doing this?
There is a lot of misinformation and assumption about both "TSP" and anything Zinsser, assigning almost magical qualities. I think Zinsser originally became popular for it's stain-blocking properties, but there are other brands just as good. Since TSP no longer contains phosphates, I'm puzzled that people are so devoted to using it. I would clean laminate, first, with a good, all-purpose household cleaner. Rinse well, dry. Wipe with denatured alcohol to get the last greasy residue. Sand...the more tooth, the better. I used Zinsser water-based primer on laminate cab. in our bath, followed by alkyd semi-gloss paint. We are retired couple, so not much wear and tear, but it is fine after 4-5 years. No sign of poor adhesion of paint. I recall using some Zinsser primer .. probably shellac base .. that was pretty thick and left brush marks. If that occurs, let it CURE well and sand lightly. Follow label instructions - usually there for good reason.
If there is any caked-on greasy crud on cabinets, use a razor-blade scraper first.
Thanks. All good suggestions. I already bought a quart of the Zinsser shellac-based primer yesterday and the instructions say it dries to the touch in 15 minutes and can be recoated in 45 minutes. So, maybe the fast dry times is what makes it get gunked up. Maybe I'll test it on something else first.
I thought I had read somewhere a while back that TSP doesn't go well with shellac for some reason -- I don't know why. Maybe that's why the instructions say to not use TSP with it.
I'm glad to hear that your paint job from 4 or 5 years ago seems to have held up okay. If mine holds up anywhere near that long, I'd be satisfied. I've been tempted to replace all of the cabinets anyway, but they are all made of very strong solid wood throughout and in good shape. I've been overdoing the fixup of the rest of the house so I need to stop somewhere and get it rented.
Do you happen to know why you chose alkyd paint or what it is about alkyd paint that would make it a better choice? I'll probably do a Google search on alkyd paint and see what it says it is used for etc.
What I said about Zinsser was not to discourage using it. Great brand. I would allow more time to recoat, esp. if using water based paint...gotta make sure all fumes from primer are gone or you could get blistering or peeling (true of any finish coat).
Never heard that...ANY cleaner should be well rinsed and dried. Trouble spots (I have found) are woodwork where people tend to hold on, around light switches. I painted a neighbor's condo few years ago .. whoever did the previous paint job did no washing, didn't even remove food splatters or dirty fingerprints. Spent two weeks peeling nasty latex paint off their unprepared woodwork and doors...I didn't make money on the project :o)
Our baths and kitchen cabinets are all plywood, built in place 35 or more years ago. We refaced kitchen, new doors and drawers in kitchen, painted interior. Cost a lot but didn't want to sink a lot of money into something of less quality.
I tried gloss enamel in a bath once...awful. It tends to be too thick out of the can and doesn't brush out easily. Ben Moore is my fav. brand of paint, but all mfgs. have changed formulations to get away from nasty fumes. Sad day for painters :o(
Gladly...and some argue with my reasons...but it is much more durable than latex. I use only alkyd semigloss for kitchen and bath walls and ceilings and for doors and trim. Latex stains easily from lipstick, ballpoint ink, some other oily stains. On doors and woodwork, it is awful to try to sand when it is time to repaint...it doesn'sand, it just peels.
Cabinets can he hard to paint and make it work because the grease from hands gets imbedded in the finish. A plastic laminate? Plastics can be hard to bond to even clean. I would go to a real paint store and talk primers. XIM is plastic primer, I would probably after washing the cabinets remove grease with Laquer thinner or similar. There could be nothing worse than having a finished job where the paint comes off with your fingernails around the knobs
I've gotten good results by just a light 600 grit sanding, really not more than a minute of sanding per door. Then I clean the dust/grease off with some naptha or mineral spirits. Then I paint with Rustoleaum oil-based enamel and a mini foam roller (those new foam rollers that look like a cigar tube). The trick is to get evrything painted quickly so that any lapping is over really wet areas. If you let anything dry, even for a minute, then lap over it you will cause a mark. I use this method because there is nothing I hate doing worse than spray painting, the foam rollers worked great with oil enamel. Oil based enamel will bond to laminate well.
ransley wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@a6g2000yqm.googlegroups.com:
I don't know about on plastic but that XIM stuff appears to be the bomb. Appropriately pricey.
Some may recall but early last summer I had posted that I had to repaint some metal garage doors that bake in the afternoon sun in the south. Eventually went to Sherwin Williams and asked them about it. They gave me XIM. TSP'd with scrub brush, primed and painted it with 100% acrylic latex. Today it looks like the day it was painted with no signs of fading, peeling, etc.
For plastic XIM is the first product SW or anyone that knows products would recommend, plastic is what the original XIM was made for, XIM is pricey but even the cans show a maybe 6 month shelf life, they made a product that works. A Laminate in a kitchen is a risky job as its likely greasy plastic.
I bought some TSP at Home Depot and some ammonia at a supermarket (As someone mentioned, Home Depot and Lowes don't sell ammonia -- duh).
My plan was to clean the cabinets first with TSP (which I never used before) and then do a final cleaning with ammonia to get the TSP residue off before painting with the shellac-based Zinsser B-I-N primer.
Well, after cleaning with the TSP, I couldn't believe how good the cabinets look. They look so good that I don't even need to paint them, so I can skip that altogether. The "before" cabinets were covered with grease and crud and looked awful. But, the "after" cabinets look fine as is.
I had no idea that TSP would work so well. It just seemed to dissolve the grease and crud like it was a perfect solvent for both. Amazing.
Yep, I got it at Home Depot in the paint department where they have all kinds of solvents and cleaners.
The strange thing is that they sell all of that strong stuff, but they don't sell ammonia -- even in their section for household cleaners -- but I can buy ammonia in any supermarket. Yet, Home Depot sells Zinsser B-I-N which is a shellac-based primer and which says on the label to use ammonia for cleaning brushes and rollers after use.
"Jay-T" wrote in news:hhnf5a$3da$ snipped-for-privacy@news.eternal-september.org:
I guess they don't wanna sell, or maybe store, ammonia and fertilizer in the same place? Isn't that what's used to make an explosive? Could be way off on that. Just a thought.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.