# I Am Amazed...



## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

... that about 75% of what people see on their kitchen cabinets when they want them "refinished" is actually just plain old grime and food residue. I mean cmon' people, clean off the faces of your cabinet doors, drawers, and boxes once in awhile. Or... don't, and pay ME nice change to make em' look spiffy again. :yes:


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## Rbriggs82 (Jul 9, 2012)

It goes for a lot in this business, think about how many doors you've painted that after cleaning prior looked completely fine.


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## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

Rbriggs82 said:


> It goes for a lot in this business, think about how many doors you've painted that after cleaning prior looked completely fine.


True. And baseboards that are virtually black on the top edge but then look _almost_ pristine after a good preparatory cleaning.


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## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

Pretty sure I posted these before but what the hey...

Some before and after pics of a job I did a few years back. Now not all of what you see was dirt and grime but probably about 70% of it was. Trouble is, even after cleaning, there was a fair amount of work involved just to restore the damaged wood to an acceptable state. 

The owner admitted she hadn't cleaned the cabinets in over twenty-five years of living there. She was selling the house and figured anyone buying would gut the kitchen sooner rather than later, hence the retaining of the old pulls and hinges. 

And BTW, the house sold in one day for full price.


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## PACman (Oct 24, 2014)

RH said:


> Pretty sure I posted these before but what the hey...
> 
> Some before and after pics of a job I did a few years back. Now not all of what you see was dirt and grime but probably about 70% of it was. Trouble is, even after cleaning, there was a fair amount of work involved just to restore the damaged wood to an acceptable state.
> 
> ...


Were those shellacked? They looked like my mothers old cabinets after i moved back to Ohio after I was gone for 14 years. She never cleaned them. I just took a Scotch-brite pad and some Krud Kutter and worked them over, then a quick coat of shellac and they looked like new. They were shellacked back in the early sixty's when they were new. Doesn't hold up great but very easy to clean and recoat.


It's also interesting to note that the wood and/or veneer has been grain matched. The wood on the doors in the top set of pictures obviously came from the same piece.


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## Repaint Florida (May 31, 2012)

RH said:


> ... that about 75% of what people see on their kitchen cabinets when they want them "refinished" is actually just plain old grime and food residue. I mean cmon' people, clean off the faces of your cabinet doors, drawers, and boxes once in awhile. Or... don't, and pay ME nice change to make em' look spiffy again. :yes:


here you go starting trouble again RH :whistling2:

i guess soon we can start reading the post from all us cabinet painters cussing HO
for cleaning cabinet with Murphy oil soap 

.


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## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

Repaint Florida said:


> here you go starting trouble again RH :whistling2:
> 
> i guess soon we can start reading the post from all us cabinet painters cussing HO
> for cleaning cabinet with Murphy oil soap
> ...


Yeah, totally agree. CLEAN THEM - but *not* with Murphy's. It's as big a pain when refinishing as it is when painting them.


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## Wolfgang (Nov 16, 2008)

I did a kitchen once that the owner was having a hard time deciding on a stain color on her cabinets. I took one of the doors, took it to the shop and just cleaned it really well. Brought it back to her and she loved the color. Asked me where I got that idea for the stain color.

Kind of a touchy situation to be in..... Do you tell them you just cleaned off years of grime, grease and oils? I just told her "we'd try a cheaper alternative for her than what was quoted". Cleaned everything, touched up a few areas and shot 2 coats of clear. She was happy. It was easy shop work for us and very profitable.


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## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

PACman said:


> Were those shellacked? They looked like my mothers old cabinets after i moved back to Ohio after I was gone for 14 years. She never cleaned them. I just took a Scotch-brite pad and some Krud Kutter and worked them over, then a quick coat of shellac and they looked like new. They were shellacked back in the early sixty's when they were new. Doesn't hold up great but very easy to clean and recoat.
> 
> 
> It's also interesting to note that the wood and/or veneer has been grain matched. The wood on the doors in the top set of pictures obviously came from the same piece.


Really can't remember what they were. I do remember that cleaning took the most time and that several sessions of it were involved before I could proceed with sanding. 

When done, grain matching is always interesting and impressive. Just completed a job yesterday with a set of hickory cabinets that were installed new about six years ago where everything was grain matched as well. Really beautiful cabinets with very interesting coloring.


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## Stonehampaintdept (Jan 10, 2013)

I'm wondering why the laundry stain remover (oxi-clean spray) is in the kitchen. :detective:


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