# Restaining cabinets



## 6SpeedSD (Jan 21, 2011)

So my wife and I have been tossing around the idea of restaining our kitchen cabinets. We want a darker color to match our floors and countertops better. From what we were told years ago, the wood is White Oak, and you can see from the pic that the color is really light. 

My initial thought is that I'll have to sand down through the original stain, and start from scratch. But, I wanted a show today on DYI that just lightly sanded cabinets to remove some of the finish coat, then stained a darker color, and they turned out great. They used MinWax PolyShades stain (not sure if that makes a difference). Is it really that simple? Feeling my cabinets, they don't seem to have much of a top coat on them. They are kind of rough to the touch. Can I do it that way? Just sand a little and restain? It can't be that simple, can it?

Here is what I'm working with now...


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## Geoguy (Feb 22, 2008)

The MinWax Polyshades is a stain/polyurethane combo that can be used like a glaze (or another coat of colored poly) over the old finish without having to remove down to bare wood. It's worth a try if you can do a test area, maybe, inside a door or drawer, and make it look like what you want. It may not stick as well as going down to bare bood but it should stick as well as an additional coat of poly. I would think it's not a perfect remedy but certainly an easy one if you can make it look right.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Geoguy said:


> The MinWax Polyshades is a stain/polyurethane combo that can be used like a glaze (or another coat of colored poly) over the old finish without having to remove down to bare wood. It's worth a try if you can do a test area, maybe, inside a door or drawer, and make it look like what you want. It may not stick as well as going down to bare bood but it should stick as well as an additional coat of poly. I would think it's not a perfect remedy but certainly an easy one if you can make it look right.


+1. It's worth a try. Lightly sand with 320x (by hand with the grain) first. BTW, the cabinets could be Red Oak, with a white pickling finish. I've done those, and that's what they look like.












 







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## Brink (Nov 22, 2010)

Before sanding, I would use a scotch brite pad with some Green cleaner to clean away any grease or residue.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Brink said:


> Before sanding, I would use a scotch brite pad with some Green cleaner to clean away any grease or residue.


Good point, mineral spirits and a rag would work too, IMO.












 







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## 6SpeedSD (Jan 21, 2011)

As far as the species, like I said I'm just going by what we were told when we bought the house. 

I may give it a try. Won't take much effort to do the backside of a door just to see how it turns out. 

With PolyShades... Is it the same process as regular stain? Brush on, give it 10 mins then wipe off? Or so you just brush on and let it dry?


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

6SpeedSD said:


> As far as the species, like I said I'm just going by what we were told when we bought the house.
> 
> I may give it a try. Won't take much effort to do the backside of a door just to see how it turns out.
> 
> With PolyShades... Is it the same process as regular stain? Brush on, give it 10 mins then wipe off? Or so you just brush on and let it dry?


Your best bet is to see what the directions on the can say. I've never used it, and would have to experiment.












 







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## Brink (Nov 22, 2010)

It's essentially tinted poly.

Lay it on, like regular poly. Keep in mind that the more coats, the darker the finish will be. 

I've used it with great success, especially on woods prone to blotching.


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## Oldtimecarpenter (Feb 7, 2011)

Just as a suggestion, I'd clean the doors with denatured alcohol and a clean cloth. Let them dry for a good hour before applying a stain. From the picture it looks like they've been top coated with most likely lacquer. Unless you completely remove the lacquer, the stain applied will be on the surface of the top coat. That's called glazing. It can be done but is very tricky process with stain. Try a foam brush not saturated but just damp with stain. Take a natural bristle brush such as a chip brush and level the stain to a uniform shade. If it doesn't work, some mineral spirits will remove the stain you applied rather easily. Good luck!


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## Watsin38 (Mar 10, 2011)

6SpeedSD said:


> So my wife and I have been tossing around the idea of restaining our kitchen cabinets. We want a darker color to match our floors and countertops better. From what we were told years ago, the wood is White Oak, and you can see from the pic that the color is really light.
> 
> My initial thought is that I'll have to sand down through the original stain, and start from scratch. But, I wanted a show today on DYI that just lightly sanded cabinets to remove some of the finish coat, then stained a darker color, and they turned out great. They used MinWax PolyShades stain (not sure if that makes a difference). Is it really that simple? Feeling my cabinets, they don't seem to have much of a top coat on them. They are kind of rough to the touch. Can I do it that way? Just sand a little and restain? It can't be that simple, can it?
> 
> Here is what I'm working with now...


Color to be matched with floor is not necessary unless they look good. They should look more like cabinet than anything else. LOL


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## 6SpeedSD (Jan 21, 2011)

I'm not trying to make them match necessarily. We basically want a darker color, plain and simple.


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## jack warner (Oct 15, 2010)

polyshade is junk. if your not spraying your gonna get blotch city. the corect thing to do is strip and finish. the only attempt at a cover up in my proffesional opinion is to clean well with whatever. dna works, thinners work, just dont burn through the white wash. and use a gel stain. if you dont have spray abilities, you shouldnt attempt this project. unless you like the streaky, antique look.


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