Expert: Eileen Cronk - 6/15/2007

Question
QUESTION: I have many very high quality 40 year old maple kitchen cabinets. They have touch catches instead of hardware and are in wonderful condition except for the door corners that have been damaged - probably by body oil or water over the years. These corners have a rough feel to them. I have tried TSP and other cleaners with some success. Is it possible to somehow repair the finish only in the damaged areas to restore the smooth finish? I'd love to avoid refinishing the entire set of cabinets.

ANSWER: Hi Dianne
Nice to hear from you.
You did not say if the damaged areas are a different color than the undamaged area. In other words is the underlying stain worn away.
If not this would be easy to fix.
Once again the cabinets must be free of grease to do this.
The TSP again LOL
Then just try rubbing the areas with some tung oil on a rag.
The low luster or high gloss tung oil depending on the current finish.
Always do a test area, but if this fails its only 3.99 for a small can of tung oil.
Also consider wipe on poly.
Its going to take a bit of fiddling to get this correct so try both.
Also consider doing the entire cupboards with the tung oil. It really freshens cupboards up and lasts a long time.
Good Luck
Regards
Eileen


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks so much for your reply. The color of the cabinets where they have been touched, is fine. The appearance isn't really any different from the rest of the cabinet. In other words, you really can't see the damage. It is the rough surface you feel when you touch the corners - probably from many years of touching and cleaning those areas. Do you think the oil will solve that problem? I will give it a try but I am wondering if the poly might camouflage the problem a little better? Thanks again,
Dianne

Answer
Hi Dianne
You are correct that the poly will better hide the problem.
And you could try the wipe on poly.
I would just wipe on a couple or three light coats with a rag. You may have to lightly "sand" with fine steel wool between coats. Do not use sandpaper.
I was glad to hear the color is fine underneath.
But get this fixed pronto as the color will be the next to go.
Regards
Eileen