How to paint MDF kitchen cabinet doors?

Hello to this wonderful community. This is my first post.

We are planning to facelift kitchen cabinets by painting the cabinet doors. We are going to remove existing lamination from MDF cabinets (lamination is chipped at several edges and cannot be repaired). After watching several youtube videos, I am bit confused as to what is needed i.e.

- Do we need a sealant first to seal the MDF before using Primer (I have heard of issues of swollen MDF with water based primer)?

- What Primer to use (Stain blocking or something else? Oil based, Water based or Shellac based)

- Which paint to use and do we need a final coat of enamel?

- Which type of Paint brush/roller and sandpaper would be needed?

We are interested in white gloss finish or bone white finish.

I was wondering if I can have list of products required to do the flawless job.

Find more posts tagged with

Tools and Materials

Painting

Accepted answers

All comments

Dave-1

Evening @Imran24

I d like to offer a warm Welcome to the community 🙂 I think you will be able to find a bunch of ways to get the doors you want.

First step tho would be if you could post some photos of your existing cabinets, with some shots of where they are chipped. It will help us give some ideas on ways forward. It will also show us what the doors are coated with at the moment.

An overall shot,

Chips shot,

Lamination shot (I am a little confused by what you mean "remove the laminations")

Dave

EricL

Hello @Imran24

Allow me to welcome you as well to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's sensational to have you join us, and thanks for sharing your question about painting your kitchen doors.

It would definitely help us give you a more comprehensive recommendation if we could see the state of your kitchen doors. Has there been water damage or large chunks of it that has been accidentally removed? Are the hinge holes and hinges still in good working order?

These are just some of the things we'll be looking for when you post your photo. We'll also be looking at the overall state of alignment of the doors.

If you need a hand posting the photos, please let me know.

Eric

Imran24

Thanks Dave & Eric. Here are a few photos available at this stage. We are going to move in last week of Jun. so we are trying to plan before the move day.
overall condition of hinges, hinge holes looks good. The damage to lamination is probably because of aging. As can be seen, lamination is damged at about 4-5 locations.

hope this clarifies my question a bit.

Dave-1

Evening @Imran24

Ahhh Now I get you. 🙂 Thanks for the pics.

The lamination of the cabinets cant be removed without destroying the cabinet doors to a point of a huge task to repair. Thats the bad part..

Good Part! 🙂

I have used laminate paint on some grey laminated bookshelves I reconditioned and they came up beautifuly. I followed the directions On the paintcan to the letter. Bookcase retrofit to create a garage library is the project where I reconditioned the laminated bookshelves.

With the edges of the doors that have been chipped I would see how attached the lamination is to the timber still. Then would use something along the lines of a buiders bog Selleys 550g Tradie's Bog - 550g to fill the missing sections before sanding back. I would also investigate what type of hardware you want for the handles, the existing screw holes probarly wont matchg up with the holes you have. You can fill these in with teh same builders bog.

When thinking of the type of handles consider the type of paint for the doors. I will let someone else offer what types of paint as I wouldnt class my knowledge high in that area 🙂

Dave

EricL

Hello @Imran24

Thank you for sharing those photos of your kitchen. I agree with @Dave-1's suggestions about painting your existing laminate doors. They are still in good condition and using builders bog to patch the damage is a sound idea.

But if you are truly keen on removing the laminate cover, it can be removed using a heat gun. You can literally cook the laminate off the surface of the MDF doors. Please note that once you begin, all the doors and panels must be stripped in order to have a uniform surface.

If you decide to repair and paint the laminate surface, I suggest looking at Dulux Renovation Range. It is specifically designed to go on laminate doors and benchtops including tiled splashbacks.

In regards to what paint to use on MDF, I suggest using Dulux 4L White Prepcoat 1Step Oil Based Primer Sealer And Undercoat and for the topcoat the Dulux 4L Super Enamel Paint High Gloss Vivid White. Both are oil-based products and will not harm the MDF panel.

Here is a link for ideas and inspiration: Painted kitchen cabinets by @Aaina

Here is a handy step-by-step guide: How to Paint Laminate Kitchen Cabinets

I also suggest having a look at this featured project - Budget kitchen refurbishment using paint by @Shirld. There are excellent examples of revamped kitchens using paint.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric

Imran24

@Dave-1 thanks a lot for sharing this idea of Tradie's Bog. Given that the damage is not too much, I will try to patch and paint one door first and see how it goes.

@EricL thanks for sharing details Eric and the products to be used.

I am thinking to repair the patches and paint on existing lamination. If patch work is not successfull, then will for lamination removal and paint direct on MDF.

I will keep posted.

Dave-1

🙂 @Imran24

Sounds like a good plan, would love to see some pics whichever way it goes.

Dave

Imran24

Hey Eric, need more advice pls.
so I have painted cabinet doors with a coat of Primer and two coats white SATIN paint this last Saturday (did comprehensive sanding and cleaning before applying primer).
But wife didn’t like the level of gloss with SATIN. Question is, can I now apply 3rd Coat with WHITE Gloss paint over the current SATIN to get the glossy finish? If yes, can Gloss Coat go direct on Satin or I will again need to apply primer first and then Gloss coat?

@Dave-1 Tradies Bog was a super hit. The patch repairs went very well. Thanks for sharing. I will be uploading photos soon.

MitchellMc

Hi @Imran24,

The gloss coat can be applied over the satin, but it would be best to lightly sand the doors with 240-grit to dull the surface and remove any sheen.

Mitchell

Child Item