How do I refinish solid wood kitchen cabinets that have a factory white painted finish?

Question

I have white kitchen cabinets that have started to chip and are getting scratched up, I would like to refinish cabinets that need it and not the ones that don't. Is this feesible and how do you go about matching that factory paint job? Can you just sand a small area and paint it insted of the whole cabinet? Please Help....I'm sick of looking at ratty cabinets!!

Answer 1

It is very difficult to match new paint to old as the old paint has  oxidized with time and grease build up.  

The best solution is to sand the old paint to get the grease and dirt off and to roughen the surface so new paint will adhere good.  Get an orbital sander that you can attach your vacuum cleaner to to keep the dust down.  Sand all the cabinets and refinish with two coats of paint.

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Answer 2

First make sure it's paint, not a thin laminate. If it's a laminate you can use a sharpened putty knife to scrape it off. If it is paint, get a paint remover solution and follow the instructions. Paint removing solution is ideal since it makes taking off paint off non flat trim and crevices. The paint will blister and get gooey. Scape it off with putty knife. Make sure you clean off the paint remover very thoroughly. VERY IMPORTANT. Let it dry thoroughly, then use a fine grit sandpaper to smooth the wood. Use a tack sheet to remove all fine wood dust. Then finally you can apply the finish of your choice.

Answer 3

It seems to me like you could do this easily. If you're really worried about the type of paint, you could always find the manufacturer of the cabinets and ask what paint was used and even if they could supply you with some. If not, get a couple paint samples from a hardware store and do a test area. It could even be on the inside of the cabinet so that you don't see it if the color doesn't match. Then just do your touch ups. It may not look as good as if you repainted it all, but it will come pretty close.

Answer 4

get some sand paper that is made to remove the finish. You can acquire this at any hardware store Lowes, Home Depot etc. then refinish the cabanits after all the previous finish is removed.