Vinyl wrapping a bathroom cabinet

[endecotp]

Dear Experts,

I’m going to make a bathroom wall cabinet. Maybe approx 700 x 400 x 120 mm. I’m upcycling some good timber from an old wardrobe.

I’m debating how to finish it. The obvious choice is white gloss paint. That’s easy enough in principle, though whether I can make the large flat front look respectable is another matter. (I don’t have a sprayer.) So I am considering using vinyl wrap, as is done on kitchen unit doors.

But what would I do on the cabinet side panels? Is it possible to vinyl wrap the cut timber and then drill for e.g. dowel joints? Or would I join it all together and then vinyl wrap the whole thing? Or do I only wrap the outsides of the panels, and paint the inside?

Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

[foxhole]

Buy one .

 

[mrrusty]

Sounds like a load of unnecessary hassle. Find your local BA Components supplier, order the doors and side panels in any size colour finish you want. Their Bella and Zurfiz ranges are fully size customisable. The cost will most likely be under the vynil wrap cost even if it could be done.

 

[slawit]

Or find a local sprayer and get it finished properly.

 

[GhostIntMachine]

So I am considering using vinyl wrap, as is done on kitchen unit doors.

But what would I do on the cabinet side panels? Is it possible to vinyl wrap the cut timber and then drill for e.g. dowel joints? Or would I join it all together and then vinyl wrap the whole thing? Or do I only wrap the outsides of the panels, and paint the inside?

Sorry to say it, but manufactured vinyl wrap doors require a large industrial spray rig and a heated vacuum press. The vacuum part is necessary to achieve a smooth finish at places like corners, and to pull the vinyl into grooves and detailing. Those presses are megabucks (circa £100k and up, I'm told). Even if you could source the appropriate vinyl sheet in small quantities (unlikely), as well as the appropriate type of door blanks (MDF with a melamine facing on one side only), it just wouldn't be feasible to make a proper vinyl wrapped door at home - even small to medium industrial woodworking shops generally can't manage it (I do know one place with 30 odd employees, but all they do is make doors - but they won't touch high gloss which has an added level of complexity because every speck of dust trapped between the vinyl and the MDF creates a highly visible pimple in the finished door).

I think the material you may be thinking of is the "sticky back plastic" (self-adhesive vinyl) so beloved of Blue Peter aficionados. That isn't the same stuff. It is actually much softer and considerably thicker than the material they use for producing vinyl wrapping doors. The adhesive used on sticky back plastic is also a lot softer than the sprayed on PUR (heat-activated polyurethane resin) used commercially, and it melts at a much lower temperature.

This all adds up to a wrap material which will bunch up at the corners of doors, is too thick to pull into details like faux paneling on the fronts of the doors, which won't wear as well (because unlike wrap vinyl the colour is printed on, not solid colour, so it will abrade more easily, and being softer it won't wear as well for that reason too), and the poorer quality adhesive will probably lead to bubbling or detachment from the doors in steamy environments - like a kitchen

Oh yes, and trying to drill vinyl attached to any surface can be a little tricky (it is doable, though I am referring to vinyl wrap when I say that)

I recommend you find another approach such as buy-in doors, or even make your doors from edge banded MFC or Contiplas with mirroring applied (our bathroom cabinets all have mirror fronts - seems pretty standard and is useful for the missus to trim her beard/moustache/eye brows)

 

[^woody^]

I've wrapped furniture and doors its easy and gives good results. You need care with the spreader and heat gun. It's well worth it and an easy way to improve old and tired furniture

The vinyl is thinner and not as tough as melamine, so be mindful about the chances of knocks - especially on edges, and when the surface being covered is a high contrast colour to the vinyl.

 

[endecotp]

So I've gloss-painted it for the time being; I'll revisit this if I decide it's not good enough!