Expert: Greg Scholl - 1/19/2011

Question
Greg, I saw a previous post about a white film on maple cabinets.  We have the same problem.  Our maple, glazed cabinets were installed 2 years ago.  We have noticed the same problem as the previous person.  We wipe it off and then it reappears several weeks later.  It is on the inside and outside of the doors and drawers.  The company is telling us they have never seen this before and blame it on something in our house.  We have no other furniture with this problem, though.  Was wondering if you have any ideas about this.

Answer
Hi Cindy, I would be suspicious of the finish, ...and the company that applied it, if they're telling you it something in the house...did this problem start immediately? To me it sounds like a problem with one of the finishing steps. A glazed finish uses several processes and materials, sealers, glazes/washes and then a clear finish to protect the effect. If one of those steps is somehow not compatible with one of the others,or even wasn't allowed to dry properly before the next coat was sprayed on.. then you might experience an issue like this.It is HIGHLY unlikely that it's the fault of your house/kitchen/environment.Has the company come to your house and seen the film? If so, were they offering ANY remedy, or to take a drawer and perhaps investigate more thoroughly?(the film could be chemically analyzed)They should warranty the finish, and they should definitely be willing to figure out what's going on...but by playing dumb, (Gee lady, it must be something in your house), they can buy time, and maybe stall you off....is this a big cabinet company? The Cabinet finishing industry has been going through MAJOR changes in finishes and chemistry, because of the new VOC regulations and the development of new waterborne Acrylic Urethane technologies developed in Europe, and during this transition of a few years, it's very possible that they have been moving to new finishing products and supplies, which may not have been full implemented yet...and may also have reacted with, for instance, the glaze they have always been using....or something like that...so it may not be entirely their fault either, but they should definitely be making an effort to figure this out on 2 year old cabinets...it's their responsibility in my opinion, however they may not agree, of course.....