# Cabinet paint blistering



## dm1075k (Nov 15, 2013)

Hope someone can help. Repainting cabinets doors for a client. Underlying paint in pretty good shape so sanded with 220, fixed any dents and surface imperfections with wood fill, sanded back again and also cleaned with naphtha to remove any grease or oil. Sprayed bins shellac 2 coats all good. 1 st coat of cabinet coat ( dark tint). Let dry. Next day noticed localized blistering of the paint so I cut it out, sanded it back, filled what need to be filled and touched up areas by brush with bins. As I applied the primer by brush I noticed that it would bubble slowly like lava from a volcano. Let it dry and sanded the primer back, reshot the finish and got the exact same results in the exact same spots. The day I shot the paint was very hot and humid also I think the underlying cabinet doors are mahogany if that makes a difference. Have done about 50 kitchens and never ran into this. For full disclosure I have always used ppl breakthrough and tried to here but it sprayed so badly that I changed to cabinet coat which I don’t have a lot of experience with. One more thing of note, the designer called for white uppers and green lowers. Had no problem with the white colored uppers. Do not know if it was the heat and humidity or the dark tint or both any insight would greatly be appreciated. D.M.


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## cocomonkeynuts (Apr 14, 2017)

I wonder if it's a BIN pH issue...


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## Redux (Oct 27, 2018)

Are the eruption sites sticky by chance? If so, my my guess is that the cabinet doors could possibly be fabricated out of Spanish Cedar rather than Mahogany. If that’s the case, ~ 10% of all Spanish Cedar has a tendency to exude a sappy resin-like substance when finished in a hot environment or when painted a dark color other than white, if and when the dark color absorbs heat from sunlight. Just a small temperature rise due to a change in color can activate what appears to be a volcano-like exudation resulting in paint bubbling/blistering.


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## cocomonkeynuts (Apr 14, 2017)

Redux said:


> Are the eruption sites sticky by chance? If so, my my guess is that the cabinet doors could possibly be fabricated out of Spanish Cedar rather than Mahogany. If that’s the case, ~ 10% of all Spanish Cedar has a tendency to exude a sappy resin-like substance when finished in a hot environment or when painted a dark color other than white, if and when the dark color absorbs heat from sunlight. Just a small temperature rise due to a change in color can activate what appears to be a volcano-like exudation resulting in paint bubbling/blistering.


I only saw that happen once when I was stripping paint off an old cabinet with a heat gun and it started bleeding a resinous substance all over. Never would have thought that could be caused by an interior paint!


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## Redux (Oct 27, 2018)

cocomonkeynuts said:


> I only saw that happen once when I was stripping paint off an old cabinet with a heat gun and it started bleeding a resinous substance all over. Never would have thought that could be caused by an interior paint!


It happens frequently with humidors fabricated out of Spanish Cedar. Just a 73 degree storage temp in a humidor is enough to activate the bleeding.


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## dm1075k (Nov 15, 2013)

Wow, who knew . There was some stickiness on the back of the some draw fronts that I attributed to lack luster housekeeping. I am open to any solutions anyone might have.......thank you all for your knowledge and timely responses!
D.M


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## dm1075k (Nov 15, 2013)

Just quick update and thanks to the great accumulation of knowledge that this site provides. You where exactly right, after cutting out the blisters and another coat of wood fill, I noticed that with in a hour there was a stain coming through the wood fill as a result of the natural resins in the wood. I agree with redux and cocomonkeys assumptions that it is Spanish cedar 
which would explain the oily substance that I saw in the hinge cups when I removed the door. I reshot the problems doors in my basement with the dehumidifier on high Keeping them cool. Hope it works.....so far so good!


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## Redux (Oct 27, 2018)

dm1075k said:


> Just quick update and thanks to the great accumulation of knowledge that this site provides. You where exactly right, after cutting out the blisters and another coat of wood fill, I noticed that with in a hour there was a stain coming through the wood fill as a result of the natural resins in the wood. I agree with redux and cocomonkeys assumptions that it is Spanish cedar
> which would explain the oily substance that I saw in the hinge cups when I removed the door. I reshot the problems doors in my basement with the dehumidifier on high Keeping them cool. Hope it works.....so far so good!


If a naturally occurring exudate from within the wood weren’t the cause, my second guess would be that either air and/or ambient water vapor is exiting the pores, resulting in small and not so small eruption-like bubbles/blisters on or within the film, even when refinishing mahogany over an existing finish.

Had it happen a few times in sun drenched rooms with floor to ceiling glass, where the sunlight warming up the wood resulted in large bubbles/eruptions in the wet film, most of them popping resulting in pin holes, even when recoating over existing finishes. 

I’ve had it happen with other species when using dewaxed shellac as a sealer in conjunction with acrylics and other resin systems. 

Sometimes the pore related eruptions when using acrylics over shellac can result in blisters in the dry film no greater than the size of a pencil eraser where the finish actually releases from the shellac. I’ve only had it happen in rooms with copious amounts of sunlight where the wood was warm to the touch, combined with high humidity.

My first time working with Spanish Cedar I did experience problems with the sap-like exudation and eruptions as well. I had milled up some Spanish Cedar ship lap siding for a bathroom in my own home, wiping it several times with acetone, pre-finishing it, stretch wrapping it when dry, and storing it in an unconditioned garage dead of summer. The exuding sap-like resin ended up welding the boards together resulting in having to 86 the material. 

Being from Long Island as well...D.M. 6th generation by chance?


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## jennifertemple (Oct 30, 2011)

Thank you for reminding me to NEVER buy Spanish Cedar! :vs_smirk:


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## dm1075k (Nov 15, 2013)

No, redux, 3rd Gen, you must be from the north fork! Lol. Do appreciate all of the help!


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## MikeCalifornia (Aug 26, 2012)

Very likely its the naptha you used. VM&P Naptha is petrolium based, unless you used Naptha 100 or some other numbered one, but still totally wrong to wipe cabinets down with.
Heres my MO. Remove & label. Clean (Krud Kutter/water, then water/acetone wipe down) Sand and dust. BIN prime. Sand and dust. Topcoats.


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## dm1075k (Nov 15, 2013)

Thanks Cali Mike, yes I did wipe them down with vm&p naptha, thought that it would flash off, will definitely use your recommendation from here on.....thanks


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## MikeCalifornia (Aug 26, 2012)

dm1075k said:


> Thanks Cali Mike, yes I did wipe them down with vm&p naptha, thought that it would flash off, will definitely use your recommendation from here on.....thanks



Denatured Alcohol/water is the best to wipe down with, but we can't get it in CA anymore


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## juanvaldez (Sep 7, 2019)

MikeCalifornia said:


> Denatured Alcohol/water is the best to wipe down with, but we can't get it in CA anymore



I had to sign a waiver at a local store that stocked it in the back. 
Tripped me out!! But hey, now I have a DA supply again, yay!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Redux (Oct 27, 2018)

Although naphtha would remove only non-polar & semi-polar solvent soluble contaminants, I still couldn’t see contaminants on the existing film resulting in lava-like eruptions...still thinking it’s an exudation from within the wood as indicated by the oily substance in the hinge cups..


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## Redux (Oct 27, 2018)

cocomonkeynuts said:


> I wonder if it's a BIN pH issue...


Below is a link to a recently coined condition called Support Induced Discoloration or SID. The article pretty much substantiates the claims I keep reiterating about the issues when using BIN under high pH acrylics, including how high pH acrylics can dissolve BIN resulting in SID aka bleed-thru, as well as compromising BIN’s sealing & stain blocking abilities. The article makes no mention of the crazing which is also pH and glycol ether related. I never use BIN aside for knots..not a fan of BIN..


https://www.justpaint.org/open-acrylics-shellac-and-sid/


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## cocomonkeynuts (Apr 14, 2017)

Redux said:


> Below is a link to a recently coined condition called Support Induced Discoloration or SID. The article pretty much substantiates the claims I keep reiterating about the issues when using BIN under high pH acrylics, including how high pH acrylics can dissolve BIN resulting in SID aka bleed-thru, as well as compromising BIN’s sealing & stain blocking abilities. The article makes no mention of the crazing which is also pH and glycol ether related. I never use BIN aside for knots..not a fan of BIN..
> 
> 
> https://www.justpaint.org/open-acrylics-shellac-and-sid/



We all know ammonia will dissolve bin shellac so it isn't terribly surprising.


Even though it focuses on artist pigments and paints, an interesting website... thanks


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## Gerardo Arguello (Dec 8, 2021)

Anyone here from Hamden in Connecticut who can give me some recommendations on companies that can help me with painting my kitchen cabinets (they are due for a change). I was doing some research myself but wanted to know if anyone here has any previous experience and can provide more details.
I have hired a company previously that works on Cabinet Painting and I was really impressed with their work and the prices as well. I am considering hiring them again but just wanted to check if you guys have any other recommendations.


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## jennifertemple (Oct 30, 2011)

*OP was June 7 2020, I think the problem has long since been resolved!*


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