If you have wood kitchen cabinets, staining them isn’t too hard of a job to undertake and the results are fantastic when done properly. However, there are some things you’ll have to know about staining kitchen cabinets, especially if you haven’t done it before. Here in this guide I’ll explain to you all that you need to know about performing the job, including materials you’ll need, setup, safety precautions, as well as tips and procedures on how to get the best stained look onto those kitchen cabinets of yours!
There is a shopping list. Here are the materials you’ll need to perform an adequate staining job on your kitchen cabinets...
– Good quality oil based wood stain in the tint of your choosing.
– Stirring stick
– Latex Gloves
– Terry Cloth Work Rags
– Pair of sawhorses
– A level.
– Ground cover such as drop cloths or cardboard.
– Sandpaper (Fine grit possibly medium).
The first step in preparing your kitchen cabinets for staining is to remove them from the walls if needed, then take off the doors and hardware. If you are doing a job where the kitchen cabinets are pre-existing where they have the doors already attached, then you’ll want to number each one with a piece of masking tape so you won’t have to drill new pilot holes and fill in the old ones later. Now if you are lucky enough to have all of your kitchen cabinets unfinished already for whatever reason, all you really have to do is check the surfaces to be stained to make sure that they are smooth to the touch and not in need of any further sanding. But if you just took them of your walls, there is probably going to be lacquer on them that will need to be stripped off. Try a bit of the fine grit sandpaper on a spot to see if that handles the task of stripping off the existing lacquer rather easily. If not then you try moving up to medium grit sandpaper to strip, then back to the fine grit to get all the surfaces smooth. With all of the pre work done, it’s almost time to move on to actually staining your kitchen cabinets!
You won’t want to get stain all over you, nor will you want to have a bunch of vapors hanging around; so before staining your cabinets ensure that you are in a well ventilated workspace and that the ground is well covered with whatever you’ve chosen to use. Set up your ground cover and sawhorses on top of that. Next put a board across the sawhorses and use the level to make sure it’s not sloping too much to one side. If it isn’t level, then adjust the sawhorses appropriately. You want your kitchen cabinet surfaces as level as possible so that you don’t get any runs in them from excess stain that could show up as a darker mark.
Now stir the stain thoroughly somewhere over the ground cover. Stain needs to be mixed up well like paint as it separates while sitting in the can as well. You can use a stirring stick, but I actually use a paint mixer attachment that you can get for a power drill as they do an excellent and quick job. You just want to go easy on the drill trigger or you’ll have stain splashing up everywhere.
Now put on your latex gloves and grab a terry cloth rag and dip it into the stain. I’ve heard some people recommend carpet fragments because they’ll get into nooks and crannies well, and that is probably the case, but carpet can actually be pretty dirty and gritty even when it’s brand new. Besides, terry cloth has little flanges on them as well that will get into little spots and will also provide a more even feeling job as it soaks up and retains excess stain better than carpet. Just wash them before you use them to stain and you shouldn’t have any problems with a bunch of dirt getting all over your surfaces. You will want the rag wet with the stain, but not sopping soaked as you could get excess runs and drips that might show up darker on the wood. So give the rag a good squeeze over the can. Then simply start rubbing it into the wood by following the grain up and down in a stroking motion, and when you need more stain just repeat on a bare area of the wood, and again beware of excess stain building up. If and when it does, just go over it as you notice it with the rag, and spread it out across the wood surface. It won’t take too long for the wood surface to have a uniform stained appearance to it. Don’t overdo it! Just allow it to completely dry in the ventilated space.
Once dry you’ll want to add a protective finish to each kitchen cabinet part EXCEPT for the hardware. The finish will give the stain an attractive sheen and will also protect your kitchen cabinets from moisture and humidity found in kitchens as well as guarding against the kind of stains that you definitely don’t want.
