I hated my drab, boring cabinets. They were finished in a honey oak. I
love the look of cherry, so I stripped them and used a stain/varnish
all in one product.
My
problem is that it does not look good. It's hard to get smooth and even
and it is already chipping off. What can I do? Should I have just
stained and then varnished? Please help. I don't know what to do now!
aimeeloans
Aimee,
I have run into this problem quite often. I think on some new
unfinished wood projects, and all in one stain/varnish can work, but I
still am not crazy about it because for me, I just can't control it in
the same way I can using a separate stain and a separate finish.
Now
you have a real problem, because to be able to really get it even, you
may need to strip or sand off the old finish and start from scratch.
This can really be time consuming.
However, there are some pretty
good products out there that might make life a little easier for you if
you are going to strip off the old finish. One of them is made by a
company called SoyClean which uses only all natural products. Their
paint stripper product is safe for the environment, cleans up with
water, non toxic and the list goes on.
If you want to try this product just go to the following link: SoyClean
You
can also contact your local paint store for other products that will do
the trick. You will have to use so muscle to get the job done.
If
you decide to go the sanding route, you will need a good orbital sander
with a few different grits of sandpaper. Depending on how thick the
finish is, that will determine what grit you will need to use. You may
have to start with and 80 grit, but I would prefer a 100 grit paper
first and then work your way down to finer grits of paper. You want to
be able to get the finish off but at the same time you don't want to
put big groves in the wood that will give you a bad finish.
For
the doors and drawer fronts, there is an easy alternative, but it will
cost you a little money and that is you can have them professionally
dipped. Once this is done, when you get them back the finishing job
will go a whole lot easier.
Some states may have banned some of these products do to enviornmental
reasons, but there are alternatives. Be sure to check with your local
paint store for more infomation in your area.
I hope this helps. Maybe someone else out there can give us some more of their time tested ideas. Rick