A few posts have to do with painting kitchen cabinets. Ours were "refinished" by the previous owner and we'd like to get them back to their original color. It appears, from a little sanding & scraping, that they are covered with original light oak stain/varnish, then gel-type walnut "stain", then dark brown paint (yuk). Is there any product anyone could recommend that will efeectively work on all these with nice results? Or, should we plan on new cabinet fronts and veneer the sides/bottoms? The door will have to be replaced in either scenario?
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I would suggest you use the PEEL AWAY 7 paint/coatings remover for your project. It is available locally for you. Visit the web site at www.peelaway.com for more info
Any good chemical stripper will work well on the paint and varnish. I have tried the non-toxic citrus strippers from many different brands, and they simply do not do a good job. They have always taken several applications before I got frustrated and just finished the job by sanding the remaining finish/paint off. Toxic chemical strippers are more caustic and dangerous, but they work much quicker and better: well worth the bit of extra caution and equipment (masks, gloves, boots) needed.
The wood stain requires a wood bleach for removal, and those work with varying degrees of success depending on how deeply the stain orignially penetrated. You can re-stain over a lighter stain to get a darker color, but reversing it is tough.
If the stain is applied over a varnish, then it probably did not penetrate the wood, and, again, an ordinary stripper will work fine to just remove the varnish and whatever was on it.
The doors are 90-95% of what people will notice in your cabinets. I don't know if you were asking whether or instructing that the doors will go in any case. You do not need to throw the doors away. If you like the way they look, then you should focus most of your efforts on doing a clean strip job and then sanding them before you apply whatever finish/paint you choose.
If you don't like the way they look, then get new doors and don't worry too much about the interiors: paint them a color you would prefer (white is best for visibility inside the cabinets), and leave them alone. In that case, your main focus should be the visible frames (if you have framed cabinets), and, again, not bothering much about the interiors.
[This message has been edited by Lawrence (edited June 03, 2002).]
