Mask off the interiors with painters tape for a clean finish and sand only the front surfaces and visible edges of the cabinet face frames.
How to sand kitchen cabinets before painting.
Painting over stain without sanding.
Sand the finish from the cabinets trim and drawers with 120 grit sandpaper.
But you don t need to sand to bare wood.
Below are 7 paint projects i ve completed over the past couple of years where i painted over stain without sanding.
Special cabinet paints are available that provide a smooth finish but any high quality paint should work.
Choose a high quality paint.
Make sure you know exactly what you re getting into before you start this major diy kitchen.
Instead of sanding chris and lexi use mineral spirits and a rough scrubbing pad to clean the cabinets thoroughly before priming them.
Wood cabinets are ideal for painting but any surface that can be scuffed with sandpaper can be painted.
Depending on the condition of the cabinets we usually stick to the medium and coarse bristles.
You should sand cabinets before beginning your how to paint kitchen cabinet project to give the new paint a good surface to grip.
Laminate cabinets require a special bonding primer.
This not only cleans the cabinet paint doesn t go on well over grease but the scrubby sponge also roughs up the surface just enough to make the primer stick.
My hope is you will see how confident i am in not sanding before painting so you feel that you can do this on your own.
To clean grease off kitchen cabinets before you paint them we like to spray down all surfaces with krud kutter then scrub them really well.
If the cabinets are stained or coated with a single layer of clear finish you may not need to use paint stripper.
The laminate must be in good condition for best results.
General prep prior to painting.
If your cabinets have a factory finish sand lightly with 120 grit sandpaper or a sanding sponge.
To make it a bit easier we use brushes that you can attach to a drill or impact driver.
If your repainting project is just a facelift for the cabinets you don t need to sand and paint the inside of the cabinets.