Renovating kitchen cupboard doors

[oldhenry]

I have an oak kitchen, solid wood doors and door fronts. They are now looking tired with lot of finger marks near the knobs, some scratches, spills.
Cannot make out what finish they have, but would like to make them look 'new' again. What advice has anyone for such a task?
Thanks all

 

[Scrit]

Unfortunately if they're factory-made doors they're likely to be spray lacquered with something like an acid catalysed lacquer which is impossible to repair in situ. It is, however, possible to clean the doors by removing them from the cabinets, taking off the handles and hinges then simply cleaning with a cloth dampened with either a warm sugar soap or soda crystal solution then wiping off with a clean, damp cloth. At least then you'll see how good or bad they really are. It is very difficult to apply any sort of finish over acid cat, so the only refinishing possible really involves keying the surfaces by flatting back with fine emery cloth then sealing with something like Zinsser BIN primer before painting. Stripping and respraying is likely to cost almost as much as actually replacing the doors

Scrit

 

[oldhenry]

Thanks for this, not good news, I have tried cleaning them with wood soap.
so there is no 'sanding down 'that would work.?
They are quite a few different sizes too. I have 23 doors, 5 drawer fronts and 4 end panels to deal with, don't really want to buy new ones

 

[Scrit]

...so there is no 'sanding down 'that would work.?
They are quite a few different sizes too. I have 23 doors, 5 drawer fronts and 4 end panels to deal with, don't really want to buy new ones

Even if they are simple shaker-style doors sanding down and refinishing is going to be a huge amount of effort as much of it will need to be done by hand. If they have more complex shapes, like cathedral arches or incorporate fancy mouldings then the amount of work will be much, much more. Any sanding will need to be done with care as there is huge potential to leave cross-grain scratches if you are inattentive. That's why I suggested priming and painting - from the point of view of a tradesman it's probably the only affordable option which can be offered.

There is a possibility that you could have them all stripped - standard caustic doesn't work on catalysed lacquer (the stripper needs to use a special stripping compound) but that risks the joints disintegrating and you're still faced with the task of hand sanding then refinishing with something more repairable, such as an oil finish.

If you've already cleaned-up the doors about the only other option is to try to disguise the scratches with coloured wax sticks like those from Briwax range. These can cover-up small scraches, but not major ones

Scrit

 

[oldhenry]

yes, I have cathedral doors, with many mouldings, obviously machine made but solid oak.
Thanks again for your detailed response.

 

[foxhole]

Clean, then they can be easily primed with ESP for painting.