How To Paint Laminate Cabinets - Part Two: Sanding, Priming and Painting

Thanks for coming back to check out Part Two of this tutorial!  If you're just tuning in, go back and check out Part One to get up to speed!  Today, I'll take you through the steps of prepping your laminate cabinets for primer and then actually priming them.

Just a quick reminder of why you started this whole project in the first place.  Look at the huge difference it'll make!  You can do this!

For the sanding, you will need:

• Sand paper or an orbital sander (HIGHLY recommend an orbital if your doors are completely flat like mine)
• Sanding discs for your sander (80, 100, and 120 grit)
• A shop vac to collect the dust from your sanding or some kind of mask
• Tack cloth
• Lacquer thinner (optional)

All of the tutorials I read on painting laminate suggested using a fine grain sandpaper.  I did; and to be honest, it sucked.  It felt like the sand paper was doing nothing!  About halfway through the doors, we switched to an 80 grit paper I happened to have on hand and that did the trick.  It felt like we were really digging into the laminate and cutting it up enough that the primer would actually stick.

Looking back, the fine grain sandpaper was fine because we used a bonding primer; but the 80 grit didn't hinder us in any way.  I couldn't tell the difference either way once the primer was on.

 
Anyhow, all you have to do here is sand like crazy.  Get every surface you are going to paint and make sure not to sand over your door labeling!  Don't forget to sand the cabinet frames and the undersides of the frames if you're painting them.   

Notice how the orbital sander is hooked up to a shop vac.  I cannot recommend this enough.  I don't know a lot about toxic chemicals, but I can only imagine inhaling little bits of plastic and grease and other garbage is not good for you.  Hooking the sander up to the vacuum eliminated that issue completely.  If you are sanding by hand or don't have a shop vac, please use a mask or make one out of an old t-shirt like this guy.

Here is where having helpers comes in handy.  While my Dad was sanding, my Mom and I started wiping down the already sanded doors.

We used a combination of a tack cloth and lacquer thinner.  I bought brand new tack cloths for this project and they left a weird kind of waxy film on the cabinets (Can you see it in the picture above?).  I didn't think it would be an issue, but to be safe we used the lacquer thinner as well.

If you use the thinner, do it outside, in a well-ventilated area.  This stuff STINKS!  Not safe for kids or pets, for sure.

Alright, so cabinets are sanded and wiped down, that means it's time to prime and then paint!

For the priming and painting, you will need:

• Painting tape, I used frog tape, but any kind will do
• Bonding primer (this is essential for laminate cabinets)
• Foam paint rollers in 6", 4" and 2" sizes
• Paint brushes
• Paint pain
• Aluminum foil
• Sandpaper (optional)
• Painters pyramids/thumbtacks/etc (optional)

First things first, tape off your cabinet frame - next to the walls, around appliances and around your hood vent if you have one like mine.  I made the mistake of not doing this when I first started and I spent some time scraping paint off my stove and dishwasher.


Now, to save yourself the hassle later, cover your entire paint tray with aluminum foil.  This way, when you're done, you won't have to clean out the stinking thing.  I'm all about cleaning short cuts here, people.

Mix up your primer, pour it into the pan and get painting!  This stuff dries to the touch really quickly, so make sure to cover the paint can when you're done pouring it out.

I went through and primed one side of each door first; and my Mom stood by with a paint brush to clean up any dips along the sides of each door.  Make sure you don't paint over your door labels!  Once I finished one side, I (carefully!) picked up the door like a serving tray and painted each side, watching the top for drips or globby bits.  Take it from me, the last thing you want on your fresh new cabinet doors is globby bits.

I doubt this is kosher and the primer people would probably cry if they read this, but once I did a single coat on one side of each door, I went back and did another coat.  The primer was dry to the touch, but easily scratch-able, so instead of taking the chance and flipping them, I decided to go back and do another coat, in the hopes of saving a little time down the road.

This ended up working out perfectly, but if you're using painters pyramids or thumbtacks to paint both sides at once you may want to just flip them and paint the other side.

Here's my kitchen at the end of day one, with one coat of primer.

Up close view of the cabinet frame with one coat of primer

Helpful hint - instead of rinsing out your paint tray, brushes, and rollers, cover everything with plastic wrap or a plastic grocery bag.  Everything will stay fresh for a couple of days and you won't wash everything out 100 times before the project is over!

Per the instructions on the primer can, let the first coat of primer dry for 4 hours before flipping your doors over to paint the other side or to paint your next coat.  This will vary depending on the heat and humidity while you're painting.

When you're ready, unwrap all your painting stuff and put a second coat on everything you can.  I kept the same side of the doors facing up at this point and put a second coat on just one side.  After I was done with the doors, I went inside and primed the frame and undersides of the cabinets.

 Wait 4 hours, flip your doors and do it all again, twice. 

Alright, at this point, you should have two coats of primer on everything - doors, frame, your clothes, your dog...  And you know what that means, time to PAINT!  FINALLY!

Rinse everything out, put new foil in your paint tray and new rollers on your brushes and get painting!  Put one solid coat on everything you can.  Let it dry for 4 hours before moving on to your second coat.  If you get any globby bits, sand them off before repainting.  If you have dogs, keep them away from where you're painting or you will be sanding dog hairs out of your cabinets as well.  Not that I would know! :)

Like I said before, I did 3 coats of paint, but that will vary depending on how dark your original cabinets are.  And to be fair, my third coat was really just touch ups.

Once you're done painting, all that's left is to reattach the doors and put your hardware back on or put on your new hardware!  Check out Part Three for the final steps in this tutorial. 

Or if you'd rather, here's the whole series:

Part One

Part Two

Part Three