When it comes to painting your cabinets, you've probably heard about cabinet painting. These paintings are small - typically no more than two feet in width or length - and are often much smaller. They're usually full-length figures or landscapes on a smaller scale. There are a variety of techniques and products available to make your Cabinet Painting experience a smooth one. In this article, I'll walk you through the steps of painting a cabinet, from selecting a paint to selecting the right materials.

Water-soluble waterborne paint

If you plan to paint your cabinetry, you'll want to choose water-soluble waterborne paint over oil-based or latex paint. Both of these types of paints contain synthetic resins and solvents, but waterborne paints are faster to cure than their counterparts. For example, Behr's hybrid paint is comparable to high-quality latex paints, but has the benefits of water-soluble paints. It dries to a durable finish and can be cleaned with plain water while oil-based paints require turpentine to clean. For example, you should always use high-quality tools to apply the paint, which will prevent any loose strands from blemishing the finish.

Oil-based paints have many advantages, such as the fact that they cover wood very well and are easier to apply in single coats. They are also more stain-resistant and washable. However, they also tend to fade after a long time. Oil-based paints also require cleaning with mineral spirits and turpentine to prevent them from becoming contaminated. Another disadvantage to oil-based paints is that they produce strong fumes during application.

Oil primer

If you're painting a cabinet, you'll first need to select the correct type of primer. You don't want to use an oil-based primer if your cabinet is greasy. Oil-based primer will not adhere to porous surfaces, peeling paint, and rough spots. To avoid problems with adhesion, you may want to sand the surface with sandpaper before applying primer. Once the surface is smooth, you can use oil primer, shellac-based primer, or waterborne primer. Apply a primer to both sides and wait 30 minutes before painting the first coat, and about an hour before painting the second one.

Apply the primer with a smooth-surfaced mini roller, following the grain of the cabinet. To prevent paint from hardening, use plastic bags before beginning. Apply primer in the direction of the wood grain, following the grain of the wood. This will create a smoother finish. Use a foam roller brush or paintbrush to smooth any drips. For the next layer of paint, apply a second coat. This coat should cover all areas of the cabinet, except for light or thin areas.

Brushing Putty

When painting cabinets, you'll need to use a primer that provides superior filling power. Brushing Putty is an interior paint primer that provides a glass-smooth finish and is recommended for open-grained wood. It is also suitable for restoration work and has five times the filling power of ordinary primer. For the best results, you should sand the wood surface lightly, so it is not too rough.

Oil-based primers work fine on tight-grained woods, but they tend to sink into open-grained wood. Brushing Putty is a primer that fills in the wood grain. Apply it with a quality nylon-polyester brush and let dry overnight. Once it's dried, flip the cabinets over to see if it's adhered evenly. Brushing Putty will not become level as it dries, so assiduous sanding will be needed to smooth it out.

Scuff-X

When choosing a paint for cabinet painting, you may be wondering if you should choose Scuff-X. The answer is yes, it is water resistant, and it works perfectly for kitchen cabinets. After all, the kitchen is the busiest room in the house, and the cabinets there are bound to get dirty often. This makes it important to choose a paint with a good water resistance, especially in areas where there will be a lot of use of the cabinet.

One of the most impressive features of Scuff-X is its resistance to scratches and abrasion. The paint isn't as resistant to marks and scuffs as two-pack water-borne polyurethane. But that's not to say that it's not scratch resistant, either. It's hard to tell how good Scuff-X is if you can't rub a metal tin repeatedly over the surface of a painted cabinet.