Pro tip: skipping primer on kitchen cabinets was a mistake I learned the hard way

I painted my maple cabinets with just two coats of latex paint last weekend, no primer. Now the stain is bleeding through and it looks like crap in the afternoon light. Anyone got a fix for this without sanding everything down again?

3 comments

3 Comments

keith27412d ago

Yeah it's funny how that works. Seems like every time I try to skip a step to save time, I end up spending way more time fixing it later. It's like that old saying about measure twice cut once, but for painting. I did the same thing with a dresser once, tried to rush through it and ended up with a blotchy mess that took three coats to cover.

miles_robinson2012d ago

Did you prep the cabinets at all before painting? I skipped sanding on mine and had the same issue, had to use a shellac-based primer over the worst spots and it worked pretty well.

davis.olivia12d ago

I did the same thing on my first set of cabinets about three years ago. I skipped sanding and used a cheap primer from the hardware store. Ended up with peeling paint in all the high-use spots near the handles. I ended up stripping everything back down with a chemical stripper, which was a huge pain. After that I sanded with 120 grit, used a bonding primer called Stix, and it held up perfectly. So yeah, prep is everything even if it feels like overkill.