Sand Paper vs Liquid Sander for cabinets OR both?

[jeromedawg]

Hey all,

We *finally* started painting our kitchen cabinets and are doing it in phases (top first) because of our two young kids where we don't want to remove the bottom doors and have them start rummaging (which I'm certain they will be tempted to do). Now that my in-laws are retired, they have been coming more frequently and staying a couple nights once or twice every couple weeks. My FIL was able to start helping prime the upper doors today. I am wanting to get started on prepping the upper front frames/faces of the boxes in the kitchen but we have a bunch of stuff on the counter that there's not much space to store if we clear otherwise. I have a thing of liquid sander which I know isn't as effective as straight up sanding, but I'm wondering if I could use a combination of both where I might lightly sand the front frames of of the boxes with 220 grit and then apply the liquid sander/deglosser with a sponge before we proceed to paint. I'll probably just clear what we can on the counters and then lay a plastic drop cloth over. I want to try to spend the *least* amount of time in the kitchen with the prep-work just because we're constantly using it etc.

Oh I almost forgot one other question regarding the liquid sander stuff - are you supposed to prime over it while it's still a bit tacky? Or are you supposed to let it fully dry before applying primer on top? I've heard cases for both and was curious if it's better one way versus the other.

Just wanted to get any suggestions you all might have. I've roughly been following Frugalwoods' process for doing this whole thing (http://www.frugalwoods.com/2014/05/03/how-to-refinish-kitchen-cabinets-part-2/) But I'm using Zinsser BIN and have the Benjamin Moore Advance in Super White to paint over that - I actually spent a lot of time cleaning, then manually sanding and finally applying the liquid sander/deglosser on the upper cabinets but it feels like that was overkill.

[Papa bear]

Why don’t you take the doors off and prep them properly?  You need to get the old finish off for the primer to stick on to this.  It’s the most important piece of this process.




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[jeromedawg]

Why don’t you take the doors off and prep them properly?  You need to get the old finish off for the primer to stick on to this.  It’s the most important piece of this process.




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I've done that part - I removed the doors and degreased, sanded and also applied liquid sander.

What I'm specifically inquiring about is the frame of the actual cabinets. I've degreased those but would like to avoid actual sanding of them since I'd prefer not to have particles/dust settling all over the place in the kitchen. Or if I have to, I'd like to keep it minimal if that works in conjunction with applying the liquid sander.

[Papa bear]

Orbital sander and a shop vac should keep about 99% of the dust down.




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[lthenderson]

I've never used liquid sander when it comes to painting cabinets. I just degrease them, sand them and begin the process of painting. For doing the carcasses attached to the walls in a still functioning kitchen, I prefer to sand by hand with a block and sandpaper to minimize dust but a sander with a good vacuum attachment would also work probably just as well. Either way, you are still going to want to wipe your plates and glasses for awhile before using.

[MasterStache]

I painted our kitchen cabinets over 2 years ago. Had very good success with using a degreaser, then liquid deglosser/sander, a good primer (ie. Zinsser Bin), and then painted them with Benjamin Moore Advance. Trying to sand everything was way too daunting.

[jeromedawg]

I painted our kitchen cabinets over 2 years ago. Had very good success with using a degreaser, then liquid deglosser/sander, a good primer (ie. Zinsser Bin), and then painted them with Benjamin Moore Advance. Trying to sand everything was way too daunting.

Thanks! What was your process with applying the liquid deglosser/sander? Did you apply multiple coats of it? And how long did you wait before applying the primer? The most concerning thing to me is making sure the surface is properly prepped before putting the primer on. Hand-sanding seems to be the 'preferred' method but as I stated before, I really don't want to have to deal with the residue/dust since all our dishes are in the cabinets and I'd prefer to not have to clear our counters at the moment.

[MasterStache]

I painted our kitchen cabinets over 2 years ago. Had very good success with using a degreaser, then liquid deglosser/sander, a good primer (ie. Zinsser Bin), and then painted them with Benjamin Moore Advance. Trying to sand everything was way too daunting.

Thanks! What was your process with applying the liquid deglosser/sander? Did you apply multiple coats of it? And how long did you wait before applying the primer? The most concerning thing to me is making sure the surface is properly prepped before putting the primer on. Hand-sanding seems to be the 'preferred' method but as I stated before, I really don't want to have to deal with the residue/dust since all our dishes are in the cabinets and I'd prefer to not have to clear our counters at the moment.

I just did as the directions stated. Pretty simple really. Wax on, wax off ( :

You'll know it's working as the surface will actually feel rather sticky and rough. 

[jeromedawg]

I painted our kitchen cabinets over 2 years ago. Had very good success with using a degreaser, then liquid deglosser/sander, a good primer (ie. Zinsser Bin), and then painted them with Benjamin Moore Advance. Trying to sand everything was way too daunting.

Thanks! What was your process with applying the liquid deglosser/sander? Did you apply multiple coats of it? And how long did you wait before applying the primer? The most concerning thing to me is making sure the surface is properly prepped before putting the primer on. Hand-sanding seems to be the 'preferred' method but as I stated before, I really don't want to have to deal with the residue/dust since all our dishes are in the cabinets and I'd prefer to not have to clear our counters at the moment.

I just did as the directions stated. Pretty simple really. Wax on, wax off ( :

You'll know it's working as the surface will actually feel rather sticky and rough.

Does it stay tacky/rough like that after days of letting it sit? Or do you pretty much have to start priming as soon as it gets to that consistency? I tried putting the stuff on when I did the cabinet doors and it didn't feel sticky or rough at all. I ended up just hand sanding the doors to rough them up. I dunno...maybe I didn't put enough of the liquid stuff on - this time I'll probably use a sponge rather than a rag. It felt like you had to douse the rag with the entire bottle just to do a single door.

[MasterStache]

I painted our kitchen cabinets over 2 years ago. Had very good success with using a degreaser, then liquid deglosser/sander, a good primer (ie. Zinsser Bin), and then painted them with Benjamin Moore Advance. Trying to sand everything was way too daunting.

Thanks! What was your process with applying the liquid deglosser/sander? Did you apply multiple coats of it? And how long did you wait before applying the primer? The most concerning thing to me is making sure the surface is properly prepped before putting the primer on. Hand-sanding seems to be the 'preferred' method but as I stated before, I really don't want to have to deal with the residue/dust since all our dishes are in the cabinets and I'd prefer to not have to clear our counters at the moment.

I just did as the directions stated. Pretty simple really. Wax on, wax off ( :

You'll know it's working as the surface will actually feel rather sticky and rough.

Does it stay tacky/rough like that after days of letting it sit? Or do you pretty much have to start priming as soon as it gets to that consistency? I tried putting the stuff on when I did the cabinet doors and it didn't feel sticky or rough at all. I ended up just hand sanding the doors to rough them up. I dunno...maybe I didn't put enough of the liquid stuff on - this time I'll probably use a sponge rather than a rag. It felt like you had to douse the rag with the entire bottle just to do a single door.

The cabinets I just recently did, the doors went from smooth to somewhat "sticky" instantly. I just wiped the stuff off with a lent free rag and started to prime away.  I am sure I could have waited but it wasn't necessary. It could depend on the deglosser being used as well as the topcoat on the wood. You could always try a small test section, say on the back of a door, and see how that turns out.

[jeromedawg]

I painted our kitchen cabinets over 2 years ago. Had very good success with using a degreaser, then liquid deglosser/sander, a good primer (ie. Zinsser Bin), and then painted them with Benjamin Moore Advance. Trying to sand everything was way too daunting.

Thanks! What was your process with applying the liquid deglosser/sander? Did you apply multiple coats of it? And how long did you wait before applying the primer? The most concerning thing to me is making sure the surface is properly prepped before putting the primer on. Hand-sanding seems to be the 'preferred' method but as I stated before, I really don't want to have to deal with the residue/dust since all our dishes are in the cabinets and I'd prefer to not have to clear our counters at the moment.

I just did as the directions stated. Pretty simple really. Wax on, wax off ( :

You'll know it's working as the surface will actually feel rather sticky and rough.

Does it stay tacky/rough like that after days of letting it sit? Or do you pretty much have to start priming as soon as it gets to that consistency? I tried putting the stuff on when I did the cabinet doors and it didn't feel sticky or rough at all. I ended up just hand sanding the doors to rough them up. I dunno...maybe I didn't put enough of the liquid stuff on - this time I'll probably use a sponge rather than a rag. It felt like you had to douse the rag with the entire bottle just to do a single door.

The cabinets I just recently did, the doors went from smooth to somewhat "sticky" instantly. I just wiped the stuff off with a lent free rag and started to prime away.  I am sure I could have waited but it wasn't necessary. It could depend on the deglosser being used as well as the topcoat on the wood. You could always try a small test section, say on the back of a door, and see how that turns out.

The cabinets frames themselves I think are solid wood (pine I'm guessing?) that appear to either be varnished and stained. The doors I think are mostly MDF but with laminate surfaces to 'mask' that which also appear to be varnished and stained in the same manner. After wiping the doors down with the deglosser/sander it didn't *seem* that sticky but maybe I wasn't paying close enough attention.  I guess I'll give it a shot with part of the frame that I've wiped down using degreaser.

[jeromedawg]

So I applied the liquid sander/deglosser after applying the degreaser. The finish maybe has gotten slightly roughed up but overall it sorta feels the same as the rest of the parts of the cabinets that didn't have the liquid sander applied. I'm not sure if this is normal or what. I did notice that after a little while the liquid sander stuff does get tacky, so wondering if *that* is the time (and only time) to start applying the primer. If so, that's a pretty short time window I feel.

[MasterStache]

So I applied the liquid sander/deglosser after applying the degreaser. The finish maybe has gotten slightly roughed up but overall it sorta feels the same as the rest of the parts of the cabinets that didn't have the liquid sander applied. I'm not sure if this is normal or what. I did notice that after a little while the liquid sander stuff does get tacky, so wondering if *that* is the time (and only time) to start applying the primer. If so, that's a pretty short time window I feel.

I wouldn't sweat it. If you did as the instructions stated and use a good quality primer and paint, I'm sure it will be fine.