cabinet painting preparation

Before any cabinet painting we always follow these steps in this order.

If  you do not follow these steps, the chances paint will chip easier, crack away from the wood are greater.

There are no short cuts to how we finish cabinets. Its all about preparation.

Preparing the wood

1. Scrape and remove any grease, crud you find and that includes tight to the corners and grooves. 
2. Use a cleaning solution (NEVER TSP) to clean after you scrape. We recommend Spray 9 and sometimes solvent, Acetone, lacquer thinner but generally Spray9 works the best.
3. Sand the entire piece until you do not see any gloss finish. Its paramount the entire piece of wood doesn't have shiny lacquer. The finish must be dull. We generally sand further than just the surface and will usually sand into the bare wood where the pulls and corners get the most handling of years. The deep paint goes into the wood, the better the bond. Its as simple as that.
4. Air blast and vacuum the entire piece. The less dust including deep into the corners the better.

Removing the old Pulls (handle) impressions from the old pulls in the wood.

I you don’t sand these out, the impression from the old pull (which happens from over tightening) will show in the new finish, Especially if the cabinet’s are refitted with updated pulls.

Preparing kitchen cabinets for painting

Sanded cabinets, cleaned, racked and ready for spray painting.

Drawer fronts and edges are sanded down to the wood grain prior to painting.