We all love how interior paints impart a variety of looks and finishes on our kitchen cabinets. However, painted cabinets do have an issue, and it’s chipping.
What causes painted kitchen cabinets to chip?
The most likely reason why paints chip on cabinets is because the cabinets weren’t properly prepared prior to painting. In other words, the cabinets were not properly cleaned, degreased, sanded, and if new, the 90° edges were not rounded using a sand paper.
Why does paint chip on cabinets?
Many paints out there are super durable, contain reliable constituents, and would last a very long time before they chip or without chipping at all. Most commonly however, you’ll find that paint on custom made cabinets chip only after a couple of years, and sometimes even months, and it is likely because of the following reasons.
Poor sanding
Prior to painting cabinets, it is mandated to prepare the surface properly so as to enable coats of primer and paint to adhere easily.
One of the most crucial steps in preparing a cabinet for painting is “sanding”. And this is extremely important if you are painting a cabinet that has previously been painted or finished, or are painting an old cabinet.
Sanding will help create a rough surface for the paint or primer to stick to. When you sand, it is recommended to use a medium-grit sandpaper for the job and vacuum between sanding efforts to suck out all the wood particles that have come off from the sanded surface.
Lack of sanding is a major reason why paint may chip only after a couple of years or even months.
The cabinet wasn’t cleaned properly.
No doubt, sanding cabinets would go a long way to eliminate irregularities, grease buildups and even stains on the surface of the cabinets, but it’s still a good idea to clean the surface of the cabinet with a mild dishwashing liquid or a degreaser before any sanding efforts.
This would help minimize the risks of chipping.
A primer wasn’t applied
Primers are essential parts of painting cabinets, and we have explained that in the article below.
Do you need to prime kitchen cabinets?
Applying a coat of primer to your clean sanded surface will help serve as a reliable base for your paint coats to sit on.
Without a primer, paint can suffer a lot of issues among which is peeling or chipping.
The paint is of bad quality
Another reason why paint chips, which is the strongest of all, is because the paint itself was of bad quality.
When a paint is of bad quality, all your sanding, degreasing, and priming efforts would be to no avail, because the paint itself would release and come off from the base coat eventually.
This is the reason why it is always advised to go for a high-quality paint like the Benjamin Moore line in order to get a nice paint job on your cabinets.
You caused the chip
A chipped paint can also be the result of an accident: may be you unknowingly hit the surface of the paint with a solid object that caused some of the paint to come off.
If you find that only a specific spot on your cabinet, precisely on cabinets positioned at the hotspot areas of the kitchen, was affected, then it’s likely the result of an accident.
A clash in the category of paint or primer used
When it comes to painting previously painted doors, you need to be very careful with it. There are things to bear at the back of your mind.
When you have an oil based paint on the cabinet before, you want to make sure you’re using a primer between the previous paint and the new paint you wish to apply.
If you go ahead and apply a coat of water based paint directly on the oil paint, it will peel off because oil and water do not mix well.
However, without the primer, you can still manage an oil based paint over the previous oil based paint and it would sit well, just that it may peel off with time.
When using a primer for a cabinet that was previously painted with an oil based paint, you want to use an oil based primer and avoid a water-based one unless it’s a specialty product and therefore indicated on the labelling that it can be used for that purpose.
This is for the same reason as before, that water and oil do not mix well. However, if you have a water-based paint, you can use an oil based primer on it and then apply a top coat of an oil based paint.
The edges of your cabinet doors aren’t round over
When the edges of your cabinet doors are very sharp, paint will not stick to them well, and therefore, they’ll serve as the hotspot for peeling to occur and extend over to other areas of the cabinet.
So it’s always a good idea to ensure that the edges of your door are a bit rounded which would help paint to sit on them properly.
Will professionally painted cabinets chip?
Professionally painted cabinets can also chip, but they hardly do so due to how exceptionally well they’re prepared and treated prior to painting, especially when it comes to sanding and cleaning.
Factory painted cabinets are finished using tools and techniques that aid the proper attachment of paint to the cabinet. For example, after sanding, the cabinets’ grains are always covered using wood filler, and then sealed using a sealer like vinyl sealer.
Special attention and detail is given to the cabinets as they are prepared and painted over and this is what gives them the edge over shop made cabinets.
How long do professionally painted cabinets last?
Professionally painted cabinets can last up many decades without chipping or losing any of their aesthetic value, provided they are made of high quality materials and finishes to begin with, and are also taken care of properly, meaning they are cleaned on a regular basis and kept away from destroying elements in the kitchen such as heat and moisture.
Why are my newly painted cabinets chipping?
If you have newly painted cabinets that are chipping already, it’s likely because they were painted over without sanding and priming or they were painted in humid environments. If you have a previous coat underneath, that may begin to show.
The quickest areas to show paint chips are usually the 90° sharp edges. This is the reason why it is always recommended to round over edges with an automatic sander to prevent breakage of the paint from that point.
How do you fix chipped paint on cabinet and cabinet doors?
So you have a chip on your cabinet. How do you fix that?
It’s very easy.
You first need to remove the chip with a scraper or a knife to allow for a smoother coverage of the new paint. Make sure to work into edges in order to remove any loose paint.
Next up, clean the chip area using a degreaser or mild dish soap. This is to eliminate oil and dirt build up which can make paints not stick properly.
Go ahead and use a 320 sandpaper grit to sand the chipped area. In the course of that, the base material or previous coat might become more pronounced, but that’s nothing to worry about. Just make sure to only go around the affected edges to avoid making a larger mess.
When you’re done sanding, get a primer and prime the sanded surface in a light layer and allow for the proper drying time before moving over to painting.
If the paint doesn’t require a primer, go ahead and paint the affected area directly in a very light layer to enable for a perfect blend. Make sure the paint you’re using is the exact same paint (in finish and color) as the paint on the rest of the cabinet.
How do I keep my painted cabinet from chipping?
Keeping painted cabinets from chipping is a question that must be asked beforehand which is prior to painting the cabinet.
There is literally no way to stop your painted cabinets from peeling after you have painted them in the wrong manner.
How you paint kitchen cabinets to avoid peeling is what we discussed below.
How do you paint cabinets so they don’t chip?
There are specific things to observe or ways to paint cabinets in order to reduce the chances of chipping. You don’t even have to add anything into the paint itself, just follow the steps and you should be good to go.
- Degrease and clean the surface of the cabinet thoroughly. Use a degreaser or a dishwashing liquid for that purpose.
- After drying, sand the surface of the cabinet with a wagner disc sander attached with a 120 grit sandpaper. Focus on sharp edges to make them round over as they are likely to not hold paint well in their sharp state.
- Use a vacuum to remove all dust and debri on the surface of the cabinet.
- Apply a high quality primer that prevents peeling.
- Apply a high quality paint.