How to Sand, Refinish & Re-stain Wooden Kitchen Cabinets & Furniture

Sanding and other preparation are required before refinishing and re-staining wooden cabinets and furniture.

If you would like to brighten the dull, fading finish on your wooden kitchen cabinets and furniture, you can accomplish your goal by refinishing it with the appropriate stain. Unfortunately, when inexperienced amateurs rush into the refinishing process, they often end up with a disappointing finish that ultimately flakes, because they do not adequately sand the wood. Before you tackle a sanding, refinishing and re-staining project, understand the proper preparation steps critical to promoting an attractive, lasting finish, or you may end up in over your head.

Things You'll Need

• Screwdriver
• Palm sander
• Power sander
• 120-grit sandpaper
• 220-grit sandpaper
• Tack cloths
• Masking paper
• Professional painter's tape
• Drop cloths
• 2- to 4-inch oil paintbrush
• Oil-based oak stain
• Mineral spirits
• Varnish

Instructions

1. Remove the handles from cabinets using a screwdriver.

2. Sand the cabinets and furniture, using a power or palm sander, equipped with 120-grit sandpaper. Sand with the grain of the wood until the finish on the furniture and cabinets appears dull.

3. Equip the power or palm sander with a fine 220-grit sandpaper. Sand the cabinets and furniture until the wood feels smooth to your fingers.

4. Wipe sawdust off the cabinets and furniture using tack cloths.

5. Protect portions of the furniture you do not want stained by covering them with masking paper and painter's tape. Place the furniture on drop cloths.

6. Apply professional painter's tape to areas running adjacent to the cabinets. Cover the cabinet countertops with plastic coverings. Cover the flooring with drop cloths.

7. Coat the cabinets and furniture with oil-based stain, using a paintbrush, engineered for use with coatings that have an oil base. Use cloth rags to wipe excess stain from the cabinets and furniture. Wait four full hours for the stain to dry.

8. Wash the paintbrush with mineral spirits.

9. Coat the cabinets and furniture with varnish, using the clean brush. Wait four full hours for the varnish to dry.

Tips & Warnings

• You must sand existing varnish from the cabinets and furniture before you stain or flaking will occur.

• Always sand along with the cabinet and furniture wood grain or the wood will splinter.