# Should I re-stain maple cabinets?



## chibear1986 (Aug 20, 2010)

My current kitchen cabinets are *maple* with a very light finish, I was seeking a cherry mahogany color. I've done some research and I've read anything ranging from stripping the current finish with paint stripper, to sanding, to just going over the current finish with a Minwax Polyshade and doing no prep work. Additionally, I've heard Maple doesn't stain well, is this true? If so, should I not attempt to do this? I've never done anything like this before (I can do general diy tasks, not sure about this), so can someone please help me out here and possibly reference a good tutorial, good stain brands, etc? 

Note: I'm not a sticklar for perfectly finished cabinets, but I don't want something that will look half ass. 



Here is my current kitchen/cabinets:









The color i'm going for (*something like this, probably lighter than this*):


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## jack warner (Oct 15, 2010)

you are correct maple does not take alot of stain. if your going to make cabs darker your best bet is to do a glaze method.
most cabnests today are done with a conversion varnish or lacquer. you need to clean well with dna and then aply a clear sanding sealer, spraying is allways the best method. i dont care for poly shades tends to come out blotchy,spesially if you brush it on. after you sand sealer you want to tone with cup gun untill you get the shade you want, gell stains work well for this aplication, cut stain about30%. let dry a good 1 to 2 days and lightly wipe down with 400g paper make sure not to break through your stain you just want to take off the dust and fuzy's. then top coat prefurably spraying


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