How To Clean White Washed Maple Cabinets

Download Article

In the past, the whitewash process for cabinets involved mixing ordinary white paint with a thinner to create a white stain, creating inconsistencies in the cabinets' colour.^[1] Today, whitewash woods stains are commercially available and like shooting fish in a barrel to apply. The look of whitewash cabinets can brighten a room without using paint and allow the forest'southward natural grain to show through. Certain wood types, similar pine, are amend suited to whitewashing techniques, just cabinets made of oak tin can also be whitewashed through a process called pickling. Regardless of the wood type, the central to a successful whitewash is thoroughly preparing the wood and allowing for sufficient drying time of the stain and protective coat. Here are the steps to create whitewash cabinets for your dwelling house.

1
Determine what type of wood your cabinets are fabricated of. Whitewashing is best suited to a soft wood similar pine.^[two]
- A wood like oak will crave pickling, a technique of whitening wood. Pickling is considered a method, not a finish, and though y'all tin pickle pine and other soft woods, wood similar oak and ash are the most common type of wood you can pickle. You can create your ain pickling stain for oak and ash wood^[three], or you tin purchase pre made pickling stains^[four].
2
Disassemble the cabinet doors. ^[five] Taking off the doors will make them easier to whitewash and give you easier access to the cabinet frames. It's besides a good idea to work on the cabinetry and the doors separately.
- Employ a drill to remove the doors. When yous store the screws, label them and so you can tell which door they came from. As the hardware is already fix to a item door, labelling the screws volition prevent any confusion subsequently when putting the doors back on.^[six]
Advertisement
3

Clean the doors. ^[vii] Earlier you lot showtime treating the wood, use rags and a heavy duty degreaser to clean the doors. Apply the degreaser to the front and the back of each cabinet as well equally to the frames. Wipe down and repeat these steps as necessary until the chiffonier and frame are very clean.^[eight]
4

Strip the old stain from the doors. Whitewashing requires a blank sail for the woods stain to have. Paint strippers will practise the chore, simply these harsh chemicals require first-class ventilation (or a respirator), rubber goggles, neoprene/latex gloves, and a drop cloth to protect your floor.^[9] Apply one coat of paint stripper with steel wool, then wipe with a rag one time the finish has dissolved. Most paint strippers are flammable, so dispose of the steel wool and rag in a sealed metal saucepan.

Alternatives:
Furniture re-finisher: This more mild product may work if there are merely ane or ii previous coats on the cabinet.
Other paint strippers: if yours is ineffective, endeavor a more powerful option. From weakest to harshest, these are varnish, lacquer, pigment, and polyurethane removers.
v

Sand the cabinets. ^[10] You tin sand the surface past hand or by using a ability sander. The goal is to uncover the natural color of the wood cabinets. When sanding, always motion in the management of the forest grain, rather than against it.

Sanding by manus: fold a quarter of a sheet of 120 grit sandpaper into thirds to make a pad that fits your palm. Wrap it around a block of forest to become a sharper edge to piece of work into bevels and corners.
Sheet sander: cheap ability tool, sand in stages to 180 grit to avoid marks.
Random orbital sander: fast and powerful, just requires purchasing more expensive sanding disks. Sand to 120 dust, and be careful not to nick cabinet edges.^[11]
vi
Condition the wood. If your cabinets are fabricated of a soft forest like pine, it'south important to condition them as these woods can sometimes appear blotchy when stained. Conditioning also raises the grain of the wood. You lot tin use a pre-stain conditioner for this step.
- Employ the conditioner to the cabinets with a clean brush designed for latex paints and then let them sit for 30 minutes. Follow up with a light sanding of the cabinets using the 120 grit paper once again. This final sanding will ensure the cabinets have a smooth surface to absorb the stain.^[12]
Dewaxed shellac is an alternative selection, if heavily diluted and wiped off fairly speedily. This is a risky method, so experiment on flake lumber outset. Alternatively, employ dewaxed shellac to the end grain to prevent over-staining that area. Wipe off unabsorbed excess, then sand lightly.^[13]

Advertisement

ane
Choose a whitewash wood stain. Different stains will create warmer or darker tones to the cabinets, so consider your preferred tone and choose a wood stain that will work well in your home. Brands such as Minwax have a multifariousness of different woods stains to cull from.^[14]
- Water-based wood stains produce fewer fumes, dry fast and clean-upward easier than oil-based forest stains, but the colour may fade quicker. Just use oil-based stains in a well-ventilated area.
2
Test the stain earlier you use it. Whenever you are applying stains of whatsoever type, it'south a adept idea to test the stain on a sample of scrap forest of the aforementioned woods-type as the piece you'll be working on.
- Shake the tin of stain thoroughly before you open up the tin and examination the stain. This volition mix in any pigments that have settled at the bottom of the can.
- Apply the stain to the scrap wood with a paintbrush and let information technology set for 2 to iii minutes. Ensure yous are happy with the results before moving on to the next footstep.
3
Use the stain to the cabinets. Using a clean rag, utilise the stain with long, smooth strokes in the same direction and piece of work the stain into the wood. Follow the line of the grain while accentuating whatsoever knots in the wood. Wipe away backlog stain with another clean rag or a soft cotton material that you've folded into a pad. The more pressure y'all apply to the rag or the pad, the more than the forest grain will show through the stain on the concluding production.^[fifteen]
- If you lot are pickling oak cabinets, apply the pickling stain with a castor and wipe the stain confronting the grain. Due to the large pores and the natural grain design of oak, wiping against the grain is essential to working the stain down into the pores of the forest. In one case y'all've worked the pickling stain into the pores of the wood, use a clean rag to wipe abroad whatsoever excess.^[16]
- If your rag becomes tacky equally you are staining the cabinets, replace it with a clean rag.^[17]
iv

Let the cabinets dry completely. This should accept about 1 to 2 days. If the surface is tacky to the touch, the wood stain is not completely set and will need more than drying time.
5
Finish the cabinets with a pinnacle glaze. While whitewashing enhances the wood grain, information technology does not offering whatever woods protection. To terminate the cabinets, employ not-yellowing protective top glaze that will penetrate the wood's pours and protect the forest from within, such as a water-based lacquer, clear acrylic or natural Tung oil.
- Apply the top coat with a high quality brush that is designed for latex or water-based products, so that devious bristles don't end upward on your meridian coat. Use overlapping continuous strokes to finish the surface, a process called "hitting off." ^[18]
- Allow the first coat to dry for about 4 hours, and and so lightly sand the cabinets 1 last fourth dimension with 220 grit sandpaper. Use a tack material to wipe abroad whatsoever excess reside left backside by the sandpaper, and so apply a second and final glaze to the cabinets.^[19]
- When you end the lesser of the chiffonier, place the cabinet on a minor cake or shims so that the polyacrylic doesn't stick to the surface of your work area.
- Avoid using oil-based protective finishes over whitewashing or pickling as these finishes have a yellowish look that will detract from the white coloring of the whitewash look.^[20]
vi

Re install your whitewash cabinets. Hang the cabinets back in their exact positions, using the labelled screws and hardware.^[21]

Advertisement

Add together New Question

Question

How do I brand my ain pickling?

Use regular latex, h2o-soluble business firm paint and dilute information technology with water to the desired consistency. So, apply it to the well-sanded and make clean cabinet with a sponge or brush; wipe any excess away. Repeat until the desired results have been achieved.
Question

How can I remove polyurethane from forest cabinets that were never stained?

You'll demand to sand them down. A power sander will make the job much quicker.
Question

Should I sand the whitewash earlier finishing with polyurethane?

You don't have to. Information technology depends on what texture you want.
Question

Tin I whitewash cabinets if they've been dyed?

Mark Brickey

Customs Answer

No, as dye colors the wood past soaking into it while stains sit on the surface. I have successfully used white varnish (Diamond by Minwax) to whiten a dyed maple cabinet, merely that's a surface coloring, then it gives more of a painted/plastic look instead of the woods grain.

Ask a Question

200 characters left

Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.

Submit

Advertizement

Using an oil-based protective end over whitewashing can get out a xanthous tint so avoid these finishes.

Things You'll Need

Steel wool
Clean rags
Metallic bucket
Gloves
Drib cloth
Paint remover or article of furniture re-finisher
120-grit sandpaper
220-grit sandpaper
Power sander (if available)
Whitewash wood stain (h2o or oil-based) or a pickling stain
Scrap forest
Paintbrush (high quality, fabricated for water/oil based stains)
Water-based lacquer, articulate acrylic, or natural Tung oil

About This Article

Article Summary 10

To whitewash a woods cabinet, start endeavour to determine what kind of wood you lot're dealing with. If it'due south a difficult, porous forest, like oak or ash, you'll demand to use a special pickling finish. Otherwise, you can but use a regular oil or water-based whitewash. Before yous starting time applying your whitewash, remove the chiffonier doors and set aside the screws in a labeled container. Next, strip off any pre-existing finish using a paint stripper and steel wool. Once the finish has dissolved, wipe the forest down with a clean rag. Throw abroad the steel wool and rag in a sealable metallic bucket to preclude any burn down hazards. Adjacent, employ a power sander or a piece of 120 grit sandpaper to sand downwardly the wood, ever moving in the direction of the forest grain. If the cabinets are made of a soft wood, such as pine, apply a forest conditioner and let it sit for 30 minutes. And then, lightly sand the cabinets a second fourth dimension to smooth the woods down and assistance it blot the stain improve. Once y'all've chosen an appropriate whitewash stain, examination information technology on a piece of bit wood of the same type every bit your cabinet to make sure information technology looks the style you lot want it to. Allow information technology set for 2 to iii minutes so y'all'll know how information technology appears equally information technology dries. Once yous're satisfied with the stain, apply it to your chiffonier with a clean rag. Use long, smoothen strokes and move in the management of the wood grain. Nonetheless, if y'all're using a pickling stain, move confronting the grain instead. Use a clean, dry out rag to wipe away any excess whitewash then it doesn't puddle or run. Allow the cabinets dry completely when yous're washed. This should have 1 to 2 days. Then, utilise a brush to apply a clear, protective topcoat, such as lacquer, acrylic, or Tung oil, over the stain using continuous, overlapping strokes. Permit the topcoat set for almost 4 hours, and then lightly sand the cabinet again with 120 dust sandpaper earlier adding a 2nd coat. Once the 2d layer of topcoat is dry, y'all're ready to reinstall your whitewashed cabinets. For tips on stripping abroad old stain from the cabinets, keep reading!

Did this summary assist you lot?

Thank you to all authors for creating a page that has been read 206,013 times.