Expert: Jamie Yocono - 9/11/2006

Question
I have recently moved into a house with kitchen cabinets built in 1978 of plywood. I'm sure they were nice in '78 and still look pretty good. My budget will not allow me to replace them, however I would like to freshen them up. I don't want to paint them because there is lots of other woodwork in the house that matches-library paneling, built in shelves, molding and trim, etc. Would it be possible to clean them really well with something such as Murphy's Oil Soap and then freshen up the top finish to ease out worn spots and scratches? I thought I might be able to brush on a coat of poly or something but don't want to make them worse than they are.Thank you for any response.

Answer
Hi Kay,

I'm glad you don't want to paint your cabinets, even if they are plywood. Even plywood can look nice with a little TLC.

It sounds like your cabinets are in bad shape, and you'd like to freshen them up. I'm going to recommend a Formby's product in a minute, but first, you need to think about the grease buildup. That is the usual culprit in the kitchen. If they are REALLY greasy, you should probably give them a good scrubbing with something that's going to cut the grease. There are a few products- like TSP, which comes in powder form and really strips grease. TSP is available in the paint section of any hardware store. Mix it with water and wear gloves.

If the grease is bad, but not wicked, you could try something with an ammonia base, like Ajax liquid, which is a good grease cutter too. It's harsh on the wood, but works better than those Citrus/Orange Glo products, and (I think) better than Murphy's Oil Soap, too.

It really just depends on the severity of the grease. If you can scrape it with your fingernail- you need something strong. You're going to use the same final finish either way, but the cleaning part is what's different, depending on the level of grease.

OK- if you've decided that the grease isn't that bad, go right into this next part. There is a product made by Formby's called Formby's® Conditioning Furniture Refinisher.  It's sort of an all-in-one product, as it dissolves the old finish, and reconditions the wood all at the same time. If you cut and paste this link in your browser, you can see what they have to say about it on their website:

http://www.formbys.com/products/refinisher.cfm

Now normally, these products don't give you the same result as what a deeper stripping and refinishing job would do. But I think, from what I hear in your question, this product will work just fine for your cabinets if they're not too bad.

So- to be clear- if the cabinets are really bad, scrub the grease off with a heavy duty cleaner, and then use the Formby's product. If the grease isn't so bad, just use the Formby's by itself.

Good luck, I hope this helps. Please feel free to write back if you have any further questions after reading this.

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