# Stripping and refinishing kitchen cabinets



## Micmouse

Hi All:

My house was built in 1969, and i have the original cabinets.  They are flat paneled oak.  I would like to strip and refinish them myself if I can.  The quote I got for someone to do it was $4300.00 - too much for me to spend.  I had no luck with Zip-strip or Formbys Paint and Poly remover.  Has anyone ever tried "Miracle Eraser"?  Or should I just sand first?  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Have a great day and be good to yourselves.

Mickie ; )


----------



## sallyfixit

you can do it yourself w/o stripping it
Just go to home depot and get a wood stain and darken them up going with the flow of the grain saves a TON of money that way!


----------



## HandyWoman

that is a aswesome idea!!!! MUCH Cheaper also!


----------



## fauxer

yes i do it all the time! they tell me what color they want in the cabinets and I just brush a stain over it giving them the color they want EASY and CLEAR COAT IT A MUST DO!!


----------



## jedwards

sallyfixit said:
			
		

> you can do it yourself w/o stripping it
> Just go to home depot and get a wood stain and darken them up going with the flow of the grain saves a TON of money that way!




And how is the stain going to penetrate thru the poly seal that is on top????


----------



## birch

You will have to sand off the poly finish and possibilly chemical strip that as well. You will have to use chemical stripper to take off the finish. At the local hardware store they should have a bunch of various types of strippers.


----------



## the dude

You could always paint the cabinets. Sometimes painting is more feasable than restaining and look just as good. Depends on the design of the kitchen though. We painted our cabinets and they look great.


----------



## Manuel Nunez

If these cabinets are painted with a lot of coats of paint over, try a heat gun to remove as much as possible coats of paint and then use the chemical remover to finish the removing steps.


----------



## mickmar

micmouse, you will have to "score" the finish with sandpaper before applying a stripper. I would use 150 grit sand paper. Don't see how applying stain to a finish would work, the finish should have sealed the wood. Never tried it so can't say it wouldn't work. Good luck.  Mick.


----------



## Ducttapeman

don't mean to hijack your post, but i have the same issue with our cabinets on a 58 house.
it was redone with new cabinets years ago.
maybe 20% of the drawers/doors are in need of refinishing
they are the particle(boise) board bodies, with the face frame and raised panel doors of solid oak.
they used a darker stain on them, and over the years the heavily used ones are showing a tremendous amount of wear.
also, we swapped out the handles, and some of the doors/drawers have black profiles of the old handles showing in the wood.
It seems this black staining occurs under the sink area, where moisture contact is likely the culprit. I don't believe it is mold.
Is there a chemical that will remove these black stains?
i don't mind stripping sanding and refinishing, but if only 20% of the drawer/door faces are in need of refinishing, i am concerned about the new finish not matching.


----------



## asbestos

Yup, it sounds like it's the water, water turns oak black for some reason. The stains can be removed with chlorine bleach, oxalic(sp?) bleach, or that A B two part bleach. I have not tried oxy clean or the like but that may well work. Of course don't mix these products and read the labels. The issue is you will take the black out but also take out some or all of the color of the wood, so your matching concerns are valid. By messing around with various shades of stains and such (try using just the liquid at the top and/or just some pigment at the bottom of the can) you may well be able to get a good match. just keep tring and remember if the color is not right you can wipe the stain off over and over. 
one note here, do not leave the rags with stain on them inside or anywhere where them catching on fire is a problem, this goes for many oil based finishes. again read the label.


----------



## milehigh_woodcrafter

pretty sure water doesn't turn oak black, it's water with contaminants that turn oak black, trust me i've dealt with it plenty.

as far as your job, you might be able to just sand them smooth with 150 roughing the existing finish.  depending on the existing finish carrier (solvent) it may or may not work with your new stain and finish combo (depending on the carrier).  It could be a whole nightmare, or rainbows and gumdrops.  Somtimes life's funny like that.


----------

