Cabinets – Kitchen, Bath, and Pantry
Kitchen and bathroom cabinetry takes an amazing amount of abuse and requires more frequent washing as well as protection from water spotting. For applications such as these you will want to use a fortified topcoat to provide the wood with the most protection and afford you a much easier routine maintenance as it can stand repeated washing before needing to be re-coated.
Finishing the Typical cabinet construction often employs a combination of plywood for doors and panels with solid wood frame for the styles and rales. They are almost like two different species of wood in their absorption capacity. To create a uniform level of sheen you will use the Murdoch’s Hard Sealer as your initial coats if maintaining a clear natural wood appearance. If you are staining, you will want to follow the staining guidelines for our Old World Concentrated Stain. For topcoats, you can continue with Murdoch’s Hard Sealer for a Satin sheen, Murdoch’s Hard Oil for a semi-gloss which are both wiping finishes that are easy to apply. For maximum protection and build on the surface, Murdoch’s Table Top Gloss or Satin with a brush-on application can be used.
Polymerized Tung Oil is also alternative as well, but is best used for solid wood, not on plywood. The oiled surfaces will dull much quicker and require more frequent maintenance coats of Polymerized Tung Oil. Frequency of re-oiling is based on how often the surfaces are used and washed.
Cabinet Interior
We advise finishing the interiors of cabinets with either shellac or a water-based polyurethane. It takes a very long time for an oil based product to outgas and you have a lingering odor in a closed container.