Furniture, Wood and Cabinetry Finishing - Gel stain for kitchen cabinets?

We have dark stained kitchen cabinets from the 80s. I would really love to have lighter cabinets, but we have gone the paint route in a previous home and did all of the right things, but the paint chipped and was a pain in the rear.

I thought of gel-staining the cabinets black (if black is available). Is gel-stain okay for kitchen cabinets? I have never used gel before, but my sister loved it. I guess it is not possible to stain wood a lighter color is it? Can you put gel stain over something that already has stain on it?

We would like to sell our home next year and the kitchen cabinets really need an update. This is all we could think of to do, but we are open to other suggestions if you have them.

We want to tile the kitchen countertops and back splash in a white tile if we paint the cabinets black. The kitchen flooring is two years old. It is a beautiful white with small black diamonds.

Thanks.

Your previous paint failure was probably a combination of improper prep and wrong primer for the job.

It is hard to restain previously stained wood. Once sealer [poly/varnish/laquer] is applied it isn't possible to stain.

Personally I don't like gel stain but then I do have yrs of experience with the regular thin stains - can't teach an old dog new tricks :p

Would just freshening up the cabinets with a fresh coat of poly help? It won't change the color but the new finish will reflect light better making them appear slightly lighter. Painting would be my 2nd choice. To strip them and stain lighter would be a lot of work.

Now I think I am offended! :) We primed the cabinets properly. We used Zinsser primer and did all of the things I have seen moderators in this section tell people to do. We did a great amount of research before we began and we followed the instructions to the letter.

Painting is just not "perfect".

I will take your advice to heart when we are making our decision about what to do.

Thank you.

*Any gel stain users out there who can offer advice? And may I ask Mark what it is about gel stain specifically that you don't like?

Now I think I am offended! :) We primed the cabinets properly.




The reason I said maybe improper prep is that along with the wrong primer is the #1 reason for paint to chip off of previously stained/poly surfaces. There are other causes also, just not as common.

I apologize for any remark that you may have taken the wrong way.

Not a problem Mark. If I had truly been offended I wouldn't have used the smiley face! :)

your problem with the paint may not have been your process at all. Painted cabinets do not hold up well to time. the problem comes from the film thickness on a surface that moves in different angles. Ultimtely painted cabinets chip. so it may not have been you at all.

this being said, you cannot realy put gel stain over a finished surface and expect it to stand up to abuse. the stain has little in it for adhesion and it does not take much in the way of chemicals (water) to take it off. your best bet is to strip them and try to recoat them with stain or paint.

Painted cabinets do not hold up well to time.






I respectfully disagree, If cabinets are prepped well and coated with the correct primer and paint, chipping should not be a problem. I have repainted numerous cabinets in old houses that had no problems. I have a set of kitch cabinets in my shop that came out of a house that was being torn down. They where painted when I got them 3-5 yrs ago and other than being dirty the paint is in great shape.

I don't recomend that cabinets be painted with latex. Oil base or waterborne enamels are a much better choice.