How to Refinish Kitchen Cabinet Doors
Refinishing kitchen cabinets is a substantially less expensive way to update the look of your kitchen, as opposed to installing new cabinetry. Before beginning, think about the overall design aesthetic you want to achieve. Refinishing cabinets takes a significant portion of time, but is moderately easy.
You need
- Screwdriver
- Drop cloth
- Mineral spirits
- Rags
- A detail sander (optional)
- Sanding block and sandpaper, medium and fine
- Tack cloth
- Rubber gloves
- 2-inch foam brushes
- Can of wood stain or paint
- Can polyurethane sealant
- Stir stick
- Use the screwdriver to remove doors from the cabinets. As you remove them, mark the coordinating locations. Even if the doors look identical, replacing them in the same location works best, there may be small variations in doors.
- Remove drawers, drawer fronts and hardware. Number the drawers.
- Place a drop cloth on a flat surface. Put the fronts and cabinet doors on top. Work in a ventilated area.
- Clean the doors thoroughly using rags and mineral spirits. Allow to completely dry.
- Sand the old finish off the cabinets. Use a medium sanding block or a detail sander if you have one available. Sand with the wood's grain to avoid scratches. Any areas you can’t reach with the sander or block, such as curves and details, need to be sanded by hand. It is important to remove all traces of the previous stain, or the new stain will not adhere well. This is the most time consuming step, so be patient.
- Wipe down the doors and drawers. Clean the dust from the drop cloth as well; the dust can contaminate the finish.
- Stir the stain with a stick. Use a foam brush to apply stain, with long and even motions in the direction of the grain. Let the stain soak in for 10 to 15 minutes, then wipe off excess--in the grain's direction. A second coat may be applied if a darker color is desired, but allow each coat to dry four to six hours before applying another.
- Apply polyurethane to seal. Use a clean foam brush and apply in the direction of the grain. Use the same long sweeping motions you did to apply the stain. Let the sealant dry completely. Apply at least two coats of polyurethane, but three coats provide best protection. Several thin coats work better than one thick one. Lightly sand the surface between coats with fine sandpaper and remove any dust with clean tack cloths.
- Reattach the cabinet and drawer hardware, and then the drawers and cabinets using the numbers and marks.