Expert: Greg Scholl - 5/18/2011

Question
QUESTION: My kitchen cabinets are 50 to 60 yrs old, the are a built in place cabinet with pine face frames and solid pine doors. I really have no idea if they were stained or left natural. They appear to have a clear matte finish on them that is starting to crackle and flake off in spots. What I would like to do is to remove the finish and re apply a matte finish that would protect them, but I don't want to lose the nice patina that has developed over the years. Basically I just want to spruce them up. How do I tell what is presently on them. How do I get the results that I'm looking for.

Thanks, Scott

ANSWER: Hey Scott, that's a loaded question...there are many techniques to refinish them, but they are likely finished with a varnish,you really have to just take into account the time in History when they were finished to guess what's on them, and there really is no way to keep the "look" of the surface, unless you leave the old, failing finish on them.Often, those type of cabinets were unstained and over time, through UV exposure, oxidation, etc..they take on a nice dark amber color. An Alkyd varnish, the likely choice, would have been fairly glossy, (depending on the type applied), and over that amount of time will have chemically broken down, likely developed a film of grease, grime, etc. on them,which dulls the finish, and if they are crackling and flaking, it needs to be removed and refinished. Usually, trying to remove this old varnish/shellac is a gooey, stickey job, and difficult to do carefully so as not to scratch or otherwise change the appearance of the aged Pine.The only way to know what to do is to experiment on a drawer front or perhaps the back of a door if they were finished as well...(although that area would not be identical because it was shielded from the kitchen environment)...hope that helps a little - post back if need be- regards- Greg

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QUESTION: Thanks Greg, I was thinking of starting with Formbys Furniture Refinisher.
What do you think.

ANSWER: That product is a very thin, quickly evaporating liquid stripper, and I wouldn't recommend it for a soft wood like Pine, as Pine is a soft wood that will tend to soak that up, and you will use a lot of it, and be subjected to a lot of vapors... I would recommend a paste type stripper, thick bodied, slow evaporating, and a better choice for varnish/shellac of that era....I use Citristrip almost exclusively now, but it takes longer to work and is not quite as thorough as a methylene chloride stripper. It is however, safer to use and smells like Oranges...Ace brand or Jasco paste varnish remover is a good product of the MC type, and available at Ace hardware stores...as with all of these chemicals, read, understand, and follow all the directions and precautions on the product label, and let the stripper do the work, don't rush it and either should work fine...post back if need be- Greg

http://www.citristrip.com/

http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3587950&cp=2568443.256844

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QUESTION: Thanks again Greg, I started in today with the Citristip and was pleased with the results, following mfg directions I followed up with odorless mineral spirits to get the remaining residue. Planning on doing a light sanding before finishing. I've used Zinsser's Quick 15 before and liked the results, any thoughts, any tips? Thanks Scott

Answer
Spraying is really the ideal way to apply a cabinet finish for a couple of reasons...the Quick 15 may dry too fast to level and flow out well, how were you going to apply it? There are many choices out there, but it also matters what your skill level and application methods are....