For many people, buying new cabinets is not an option, and sometimes, you simply love your cabinets so much that you would rather not rip them out. Cabinet refinishing, whether through painting, varnishing or staining them, is the perfect solution. It’s not just friendly on the pocket, it is also better for the environment. Here’s what you need to do to refinish your cabinet.
Table of Contents
Cover Surfaces
Before you start, you want to cover surfaces with plastic sheets, building paper, or canvas cloths. Look out for floors, countertops, furniture, and appliances, and any other exposed surfaces you want to protect from the dust.
Remove the drawers and doors, labelling them so you know where they belong, and then cover them up, including the backsplashes.
Prepare Your Surfaces
Once you’ve removed the doors, and hinges, you should also remove the handles. Clean the surfaces with soap so that you get rid of dirt and grease. Sand the surfaces with fine grit paper, just lightly enough to clean and smooth them. Sand the surface along the grain, otherwise you’ll break up the texture.
Clean the drawers and doors by scrubbing and washing them with synthetic steel wool and soapy water, to get rid of the most stubborn grease.
Clean the Hardware
Clean the handles and hinges as well, by placing them in hot, soapy water for half an hour. Scrub them gently to get rid of any remaining dirt or grease. Rinse and dry and polish if needed.
Strip Your Cabinet
Ventilate the kitchen by opening the doors and windows. If possible, take the drawers and doors outside to dry. Check the finish used on the cabinets, and then select the appropriate stripper agent. Most times, a varnish remover is all you need to strip the finish.
Then, repair damage to the cabinets, whether it’s holes or just scratches.
Sand Your Cabinets
Sandpaper the cabinet by hand, or, sand with a sponge, remove any residual finish. Use 15-grit or low-grade 100 sandpaper. Use a dustbuster hand-held vacuum to clear up any dust, and if necessary, wipe down the surfaces you have sanded, with mildly damp microfiber cloth.
If you don’t want to sand your cabinets, you can apply mineral spirits instead, and use a sponge in order to clean and smooth the surface.
Refinish the Cabinets
This is the best part of cabinet refinishing. Refinishing is exciting because it’s a chance to dramatically change the feel of your kitchen. If you select the right finish, you can not only make your kitchen look brand new, you can also make your kitchen look really different, in the best way possible. You have to pick a finish that’s appropriate for your cabinet, and the look you’re going for. For instance, if you have wooden kitchen cabinets, you might want to accentuate the grains and color of the wood.
When you have applied the finish, and everything is dry, you can fit in new handles, or put the old ones back on, and reattach the drawers and doors.
Learn more about various kinds of wood that is used to design cabinets, on this website: www.betterhomeguide.com
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