Expert: maura macaluso - 3/25/2009

Question
I have nice cherry cabinets. They are about 15 yrs old and in good shape. The varnish has become tacky and lightly scratched up. How do I revarnish the cabinets without hurting the finish.

Answer
Hi Jeff,

Unfortunately there is no easy answer here.  You can attempt to very lightly sand off all the old varnish without going too deeply so as not to mar the surface stain and you may even have success but the odds are not in your favor. You must go easy and be meticulous. Of course the right way, would be to sand them completely then reapply the stain and the varnish.  However,I am one of those people that never says never(unless it will cause an explosion-lol).  First remove all handles and showing hinges (if any), wash down all your cabinets with a non abrasive cleaner to remove any oils,dirt or grime.  You can get a very high grit sand paper, 400-600 should be adequate and do a light sanding over the varnish and the scratches.  It will be important that you do this over the entire front of any areas that are showing.  It will look terrible when you begin doing this and you will think that you have ruined things, but continue on until you have completely marred all showing surfaces.  Next step is to remove all dust that the sanding has left behind. The easiest way to do this is with a tack cloth. Then you can reapply the varnish.  If these are kitchen cabinets I recommend you use polyurethane as it is a plastic coating which will  protect against the humidity and cooking accidents of a kitchen.  You should apply 2 coats allowing it to thoroughly dry first, and then sand between the coats.

I suggest you try this first, on an interior section of your cabinet so that you can gain the confidence in what you are about to do.  You can determine how well it comes out and decide if you would like to tackle doing all of the outsides.  Good Luck with your project and thanks for the question.