7 Tips For Painting Melamine Cabinets in Denver Metro, CO
Melamine is a synthetic paint that is often used to paint prefabricated cabinets or cabinets that are made of particleboard.
When you have cabinets that have melamine on them, you may come to want to give them a fresh paint job so that they don’t have that melamine look to them — but it’s not quite the same as your ordinary cabinet painting work.
With that being the case, let’s look at and consider seven tips for painting melamine cabinets in Denver Metro, Co.
1. Drop Cloth On The Ground
The process of painting your melamine cabinets can be quite a messy thing, and the last thing you want is for the paint you use to get onto the floor, where it may likely remain for an indeterminate time — removing paint from the floor being one of the harder things to do.
A good cloth drop cloth with a plastic lining will be just the sort of thing to make sure that you won’t end up with any of the paint you’re trying to get onto your cabinets on the floor.
2. Liquid Deglosser To Dull And Prepare
You will find that if you try to paint your melamine cabinets straight away without any preparation, you’re going to generally have what people would say is a bad time.
This is because the surface of a melamine cabinet is so slick and shiny that you’re going to have a really difficult time getting the new paint to properly be applied.
Applying a liquid de-glosser to the surface of your kitchen cabinets can be just the thing to dull them without any use of sandpaper — though, of course, if you prefer using sandpaper, you can also use sandpaper to rough up the cabinets.
3. Remove Sanding Dust If You Sand
Of course, if you do end up sanding, you should be aware that there will be sanding dust that spreads about after you use the sandpaper.
Once you have finished sanding the surface of your melamine cabinets, you will want to take some kind of cloth (perhaps tack cloth) and get all of the sanding dust off of the cabinets lest it causes an awful mess.
4. Trisodium Phosphate For The Ultimate Clean
What you really need to understand about painting your melamine cabinets is that it’s just about impossible to paint them if they’re dirty.
A simple dusting and wiping are great, but if you really want to get them properly clean, you can’t do any better than using a diluted solution of trisodium phosphate and water — follow the directions on the bottle for best results.
Once you have given your cabinets a good wipe with the solution, you will be able to wipe it clean with clean water and then allow it to dry prior to proceeding with the painting project.
5. Make Sure You Let It Dry
A bit of advice that is often given and frequently ignored is to make sure that things properly dry prior to moving on to the next step.
After you apply a coat of primer, for example, you need to wait for it to dry prior to applying the first coat of paint.
6. Use The Right Paintbrush
Not all paintbrushes are created equally, and in the case of painting your melamine cabinets, you’re going to want to make sure that you use a paintbrush that is specifically tailored for painting them.
When you are in the market for paintbrushes, you can specifically explain that you are going to be painting over melamine and be guided to the right kind of paintbrushes.
7. A Second Coat Of Primer May Be Needed
it is often found after applying the primer that you will find some imperfections on the surface of the cabinet — and those need to be taken care of with some gentle sanding.
After you have done the sanding, you will want to apply a second coat of primer — and no further sanding will be necessary unless you see more imperfections.
Don’t settle for just any painter when you can get the attention to detail and professionalism from Imhoff Fine Residential Painting in Denver Metro, CO. Call us today to speak with one of our professional color consultants.
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