Here are some tips to aid you in the process of refinishing your kitchen cabinets.

Thorough cleaning of cabinet surfaces that will accept paint or finish.
This is one of the most important steps during a kitchen cabinet refinishing project. The very first thing to do is remove all the grease and grime to see what have to work with. Most kitchens have some grease in the air from cooking and it settles on the cabinets. This grease and grime attracts dirt and dust.

Degreasing Solution

There are many cleaners that remove grease and grime, simple green works great.

The first thing that has to be done is remove the cabinet hardware. This includes pulls and hinges. Also remove the drawers, if you are going to refinish the drawer boxes it may be a good idea to remove the drawer guides as well.

Spray all the cabinet surfaces with simple green or your favorite degreasing cleanser. A box of heavy duty paper towels works great, and is much better than a rag that can end up smearing the grime around.

Prep for Painting

Depending on the new finish of your cabinets you may want to lightly sand all cabinet surfaces to ensure good adhesion to the primer or paint. Various abrasives can be used to lightly rough up the surface. Steel wool works good although some water based finishes can make any fine particles left behind start to rust so keep that in mind. Synthetic steel wool pads such as scotch brite type pads work well too. Another handy abrasive is sanding sponges, these work fast and are great for moulded areas like crown moulding and detail areas. If you have any holes or imperfections, fill them with wood putty and let them dry. Use fine sandpaper to smooth out the surface. If you have any areas where the previous layers of paint has chipped away, use sandpaper to feather the edges and then prime the bare wood. After priming if your surface is a bit rough or has some fuzz this would be a great time to do a very light sanding with the fine sanding sponges to get a super smooth surface.

Masking the Cabinets

Once all the kitchen cabinet surfaces, cabinet doors, and drawer fronts are thoroughly clean and lightly sanded, now it is time to mask off any areas where you do not want paint to go. If you will be spraying the cabinets you will most likely need masking paper. I recommend investing in a hand masker that applies the tape to the paper, please don’t use newspaper its has poor masking properties and can have a lot of bleed through, not to mention the time it takes to unfold and attach the tape to. Some of the masking tapes are solvent resistant, usually it is the green colored paper. If you need to cut a clean line use easy release tape, typically the blue tape. Read the labels carefully as they have various times that they are effective. I always recommend removing the tape as soon as the finish is dry enough. If left on too long you may damage the finish when you go to remove it. Spread out drop cloths to prevent splatters on your countertops and flooring. If applying paint by brush start by doing the cut in area painting where you have applied the masking tape and any other hard to access areas.

Once the cut in work is complete, you can turn your attention to the cabinet face frames. A short (4- or 6-inch) foam roller works great for this part of painting your cabinets. Having a short nap roller will minimize lift and your finished paint job on your cabinet surfaces will be much smoother.

Painting The Cabinet Drawers and Doors

Some people like to paint the doors off of the cabinets and is always recommended if feasible. Ultimately spraying cabinet doors and drawer fronts is ideal. You can lay them out on long strips of wood or 2 x 4s and spray several at once. If spraying is not an option then it is best to work on a comfortable workbench to paint each door and then lay them out on strips or 2 x 4s to allow them to dry. Preferably paint the backsides first then the front side.

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