Stip or Sand Kitchen Cabinets

[EggRaid]

Hello All,

I have some kitchen cabinets in my new home that are original. (1978) We decided to paint these cabinets white and I did a test run on one of the doors today just to see how it would work. I sanded it down with my trusty black and decker orbital, wiped it down with a tack rag, then painted.

Now that we decided this refinish would look good, (rather than buying new), should I use stripper to remove the old varnish, or is it okay to just sand these bad boys down to bare, then prime, then paint?

Thanks for your thoughts.

Oh, by the way...I have no idea what type of wood these are. They seem fairly run of the mill, in fact, the middle of the doors seem like "fake wood paneling," however the majority of the door is a light wood. AND, I am going to have to do the frame attached b/c I cannot find any type of screws that hold the cabinets to the wall.

ER

[edee em]

Save yourself a lot of work and do neither! A good primer will cover and prep nicely. There are many out there for just this purpose.

[SQLit]

I was going to do the same thing. I got a quart of StripEze and used it on one small door. After 3 applications and the whole quart the stain remained. I replaced the cabinets.

I would lightly sand and clean the surfaces with TSP. Getting the grease, oils and 30 years of crud off will be important for the lasting beauty of the new finish. Consider oil based paint. Cleans better over time. IMO.... Primer, sand and then 2-3 coats of final paint. Light coats with plenty of time to dry.

[nospambob]

[Baron]

There is no need to strip them. Give them a quick cleaning to get the obvious dirt and grease off and then seal the cabinets with at least one coat of a pigmented shellac stain sealer like the one made by Zinnser. If it is too intense in odor, they have some that are less unpleasant but take longer to dry and you might need more than one coat. It is important that the cabinets be completely sealed. Once the sealer is dry, you can paint them as you like.

Good Luck.