Painting Old Kitchen Cabinets- Part 1

Painting your old kitchen cabinet doors could be a great way to spruce up your kitchen without spending too much money. And given that it can usually be a very labour intensive project, if you are prepared to do it yourself it could save you even more. But hold on there a minute! Make sure you understand the ins and outs before you start work.

What is the existing finish? The process required to refinish the cabinets does depend on what finish is on the cabinets at the moment. Identifying the existing finish is not easy, but the result can usually be divided into two common paint types which I shall call “Factory finished”, or “Hand finished”.

All mass-produced kitchens will have factory finished type surfaces, even kitchens that were installed by a local installer who has bought-in the cabinets. It could be a fast-drying paint or varnish that, because it contains toxic solvents, was sprayed under controlled factory conditions. Or it could be a plastic ‘foil’: a thin sheet of plastic stuck to the surface of the Furniture.

Hand finished. It is likely that only the more expensive hand-made kitchens that were painted on-site when installed will have traditional household paints on them. If you did not install the kitchen, and think it looks like it might be hand made, then do a simple test for household type paints. Get hold of some lacquer thinners, put some rubber gloves on, dip a cloth in the thinners and rub an unobtrusive corner of the cabinet and see if any colour comes off onto the cloth. If it does then it is only more likely to be at a household paint.