Stain Golden Oak Cabinets In Five Steps

If the golden oak cabinets in your kitchen have faded, a little color change might be the best way to update their look. To stain the cabinets properly, you should follow a few simple steps.

Tools and Materials Needed

•    Screwdrivers
•    Sandpaper and automatic sander or
•    Paint/stain stripper
•    Stain
•    Stain brushes or rollers
•    Polyurethane top coat

Step One - Remove the Cabinet Doors

To stain your golden oak cabinets properly, you should begin by removing the cabinet doors with a screwdriver at the hinges. Put the hinges aside to keep them free of the stain that you will be using on the cabinets.

Step Two - Remove the Hardware

Take all of the hardware off of the doors before staining to prevent them from becoming stained.  

Step Three -Prepare the Cabinets for Staining

Remove the stain or paint from the golden oak cabinets where they hang.  Remove from the cabinet doors as well.

Stain or paint removal can be accomplished with the use of paint strippers, sanders, heat guns, or a combination of these items. go past the paint or stain and begin wearing away the wood itself.

To remove stain, the most common method is to use a heavy-bodied paint stripper, allow it to sit on the stain for the period of time recommended by the manufacturer, then scrape it off with a plastic scraper, old rags, or old toothbrushes.

A sander can be a good choice with paint or stain, as long as you use care that you do not go past the paint or stain and begin wearing away the wood itself.

Make sure that you get all of the old paint off with a sander to evenly coat the cabinets with the new stain. Use tape around the cabinets to make sure that you don’t get the stain on the walls.

Step Four – Apply Stain and Finish

Apply the stain with a brush in even strokes going with the grain of the wood. Try to keep the coat even all across the cabinets avoiding pooling in any one particular area. Use a cloth as you work to rub in the stain and keep the coat evenly, removing the excess stain where it appears. Clean up drips of stain as they occur.

Stain your golden oak cabinets with a second coat if you need it and touch up any spots you may have missed on your first coat. Allow the cabinets to dry completely before reattaching any of the hardware.

After the stain dries completely, apply a polyurethane topcoat to the cabinets.

Step Five -Reattach Hardware and Doors

Once the cabinets are completely dry, you can reattach the hardware and put the doors back on the cabinets. Make sure to dry the cabinets to avoid any smudging or smearing of the stain when attaching the hardware.