Expert: Jamie Yocono - 7/24/2008

Question
We have oak cabinets & want to stain dark brown.  The cabinets are from 1991.  We are not sure, but there may be some sort of coating of varnish or something.  How do we prep & proceed.
thanks
Calgary AB

Answer
T & T,

If you want to apply a stain to your cabinets, then you need to ensure that they do not have any existing finish on them. That means that you'll need to strip them of whatever finish is on them - it's probably a polyurethane, shellac or lacquer.

You can buy stripper in the paint department of any hardware store. I read somewhere that the ingredient that acts as the stripping agent is heavy, so if you see a lot of choices in strippers and don't know which to buy - you should choose the heaviest can for the best price. An old-timer told me that tip.

As for stripping, it's messy, but effective for removing the finish. Paint it on, let it sit and work, then scrape or wipe it off. The longer you let it sit, it will just dissolve the old finish, and you won't have to work so hard. You'll need lots of rags or paper towels, and if your cabinets have intricate detail, a small wire brush will help to scrub those areas clean.

Once stripped, make sure the wood gets a final good cleaning with plain water to remove any residue of the stripper.

Let the wood dry thoroughly, maybe a couple of days. Then apply the new stain of your choice.

I have a suggestion, there are two types of finishes - penetrating ones, and surface ones. Surface ones sit on the top of the wood, protecting it from anything that might try to seep in. Penetrating finishes soak in, so the wood feels like wood, instead of that plastic feel with surface finishes.

I use to use a penetrating finish called Watco Danish Oil, it's very easy to use and quite forgiving for the novice to apply. The reason I'm mentioning it to you is because it's made in different colors. So if you purchase the Watco Dark Walnut Oil, you can stain and protect at the same time. Otherwise, if you want to stain and use a surface finish, you will have to stain first, then let it dry and then varnish second.

But oil finishes are not quite as protective as varnish would be. So it depends on you - if you don't want to worry about your cabinets, then by all means, stain and varnish them. But if you are more of a wood lover, and enjoy that nice feel of real wood, then Watco might work really well for you.

I put some videos on my woodworking blog about Watco, you might want to look at them and see how easy it is to use. Here's a link: http://wooditis.blogspot.com/2008/05/watco-danish-oil-come-oil-and-laugh.html

I hope this helps, if you have more questions after reading this, please feel free to write back and I'll try to help.

Jamie Yocono
Wood It Is! Custom Cabinetry
Las Vegas, NV
www.wooditis.com