My main point in this post was that refinishing cabinets is NOT simple.

If you want to remove the original finish, this requires painstaking sanding of your door profiles (all the curves, angles, etc).

If you want to leave the original finish and just apply something over it, you run a risk of having that finish flake off. In order to prevent this, you need to give them a good cleaning (some suggest Naptha or mild paint thinner) and learn as much as you can about the original finish. Generally you want to apply more of the same type of finish that was already there.

This is where it gets tricky. If you apply polyurethane over lacquer or vice versa, you’ll get the flakes. But how do you determine what’s on it now?

So I’m kinda making fun of this pansy article that I quote at the beginning. They want to make it look easy and they don’t even try to tackle the real issues.

There are solutions if you’re willing to educate yourself. It can be done.

Most folks, however, settle for the following:

1) light sanding
2) apply primer
3) apply paint

Which is why many old kitchens are painted, I guess.

Sorry I can’t help more.