Kitchen cabinet doors removed from their hinges and laid flat on a work table are an order of magnitude easier to paint than doors hung on their hinges. Gravity is not working against the finish. Every surface can be reached without contortion. Runs and sags are immediately visible and can be corrected while wet. None of this is available to a painter working on cabinets in place. What is available is a significantly faster turnaround, no need for a staging area, and the ability to have the kitchen functional again the same week rather than the same month. The technique for painting cabinets in place compensates for the limitations of the hung position through careful prep, the right products, and a specific application sequence that prevents the drip and run problems that define a failed cabinet paint job.

Cleaning and Deglossing Cabinets While They Are Mounted

Kitchen cabinets accumulate grease faster than any other interior surface. The layer of cooking grease, airborne oil, and residue that builds up on cabinet surfaces over months of use is not visible as a single deposit, but it is present on every horizontal surface and on the upper portions of vertical surfaces where rising heat carries grease vapor. Paint applied over a grease film does not bond to the cabinet. It bonds to the grease, and when the grease releases, the paint releases with it.

Cleaning before any prep work is the rule, and the cleaner must be capable of cutting through cooking grease rather than just light surface dust. Krud Kutter is the professional preference over TSP for waterborne finishes because it cuts grease effectively and leaves no residue that could interfere with adhesion. TSP is also effective but leaves a salt residue if not completely rinsed, and some primers are incompatible with alkaline residues. Apply Krud Kutter, wait 30 to 60 seconds for the product to work on the grease, scrub with a toothbrush or stiff-bristled brush in corners, crevices, and around handles, and wipe clean with a damp cloth. Repeat the cleaning pass if the cloth picks up significant grease on the second wipe.

After cleaning and drying, the deglossing step removes the surface sheen that prevents mechanical adhesion. Krud Kutter Gloss-Off applied with a ScotchBrite pad produces a noticeable reduction in gloss visible to the eye. The deglossed surface has more microscopic texture for the primer to grip. Allow the surface to be paintable within one week of applying Gloss-Off, per the manufacturer’s guidance.

For surfaces that have been heavily lacquered or have multiple old paint layers, follow the Gloss-Off with a 120 to 150 grit sanding pass. Sanding after deglossing improves adhesion by approximately 30 to 50 percent relative to a surface that was only chemically deglossed. Wipe all sanding dust with a tack cloth before priming. Wilbond, a solvent wipe product, can be used after cleaning and sanding as additional adhesion insurance on problematic or high-gloss surfaces.

How to Tape Off Hinges, Hardware, and Countertops

Cabinet hardware that is left in place during painting requires masking. Paint that gets into hinge barrel slots, on screw heads, or on cabinet pulls is extremely difficult to remove cleanly and affects the hardware’s mechanical function over time.

Remove all hardware that can be removed: pulls, knobs, and any decorative plates. This takes less time than masking them thoroughly, and the result is better because there is no masking ridge where the hardware once was. Store removed hardware in labeled bags so it goes back on the correct cabinet.

Hinges that remain attached to mounted cabinet doors are the most important items to mask. Painter’s tape applied carefully around each hinge flap, following its perimeter, protects the hardware from brush and roller application. Tape the hinge on the door side and the frame side. Small pieces of tape work better than one large piece that bridges the gap and lifts away from the hinge surface.

Countertops adjacent to lower cabinet faces require protection from brush drips during the cut-in work. A strip of painter’s tape along the countertop edge where it meets the cabinet face, with plastic sheeting taped to the painter’s tape and draped over the counter, provides full protection. Remove this masking as soon as the cut-in on the lower cabinet face is complete.

Appliances mounted adjacent to cabinets, particularly refrigerators and dishwashers, should receive plastic sheeting secured with tape along their upper and side edges that contact the cabinet.

Brush and Roller Technique for Painting Cabinets in Place

The application sequence for an in-place cabinet door or cabinet face follows the same panel logic as an interior door: recessed areas first, horizontal members second, vertical members last.

On a cabinet door with a raised or recessed panel, begin with the panel field using a 1.5-inch or 2-inch angled brush. Apply paint to the panel interior working from the edges inward. Lay a final long stroke across the panel in one consistent direction to remove cross-stroke marks. Move to the horizontal rails, then the vertical stiles.

A WHIZZ 4-inch foam mini roller is the tool of choice for flat cabinet face frames and for the flat faces of slab-door cabinets. Foam applies a thin, even film with minimal stipple on flat surfaces. The shed-free construction means no fibers embed in the wet paint film. Load the foam roller lightly, roll it onto the flat surface with even pressure, and tip off with a dry brush immediately after rolling to smooth any foam texture before the paint skins.

For the upper cabinet boxes that sit at or above head height, use a flashlight held at a low angle to the cabinet face during application to spot runs or sags as they form. Runs on upper cabinet faces are not visible from below during painting, but they cure in place and become clearly visible after the job is done. Catching them while wet takes a few seconds to drag back out. Correcting a cured run requires sanding.

Drying Between Coats When Cabinets Cannot Be Laid Flat

The limitation of painting cabinets in place is that each coat must dry vertically. Runs are possible. The cure time between coats is the window during which most run problems develop.

Benjamin Moore Advance, the waterborne alkyd preferred for cabinet work, has a recoat window of 16 hours. This is a next-day recoat schedule, which is inconvenient for kitchen work but produces an exceptional self-leveling finish. Its extended open time while wet helps brush marks flow out before the film sets.

Sherwin-Williams Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel has a 4-hour recoat time, which allows two coats to be applied in a single day. This faster schedule is a significant practical advantage for kitchen work. Its urethane-alkyd formula produces a harder final film than Advance and its lower yellowing risk matters on white cabinet formulas.

Between the first and second coats, inspect the surfaces under side lighting for runs, sags, and any areas where the first coat was applied too thick. Sand runs lightly with 220-grit before applying the second coat. Do not sand over edges or raised details where the sanding could cut through the first coat entirely.

Apply all coats as thin, even layers rather than trying to achieve coverage in a single thick coat. Two thin coats produce a harder, more level final surface than one thick coat, and the risk of runs and sags is dramatically lower.

Best Paint Types for Kitchen Cabinets That Handle Grease and Heat

Cabinet paint must resist several specific stresses that wall paint does not encounter: daily hand contact, grease contact, cleaning with household cleaners, steam from cooking, and repeated mechanical stress at door edges and hinge points.

Benjamin Moore Advance is a waterborne alkyd, meaning it uses an oil-modified alkyd resin dispersed in water. After full cure, the film achieves pencil hardness in the HB to H range, which is the professional standard for hard trim and cabinet surfaces. The cure time for full hardness is up to 30 days at room temperature. The first 5 to 7 days of cure are particularly important; hardware should not be reinstalled and the cabinets should not be cleaned during this period.

Sherwin-Williams Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel is the harder option. Its urethane-modified alkyd formula achieves better scratch resistance in independent comparisons than Advance, and its lower yellowing risk makes it the preferred choice for white cabinet applications. At approximately $109 per gallon it is significantly more expensive, but on a cabinet painting project the material cost difference per door is small relative to the total labor investment.

Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations is the DIY-targeted all-in-one kit that includes deglosser, bond coat, glaze, and protective topcoat. It is broadly available at home improvement retailers. Its hardness and durability fall below both Advance and Emerald Urethane, but for homeowners painting cabinets for the first time, the all-inclusive kit reduces the selection complexity significantly.

Reinstalling Hardware and Dealing With Sticky Doors After Painting

Hardware reinstallation should not happen until the paint has cured for at least 7 days. Pencil hardness at the HB level, the minimum for workable durability, is not reached until somewhere between 7 and 14 days for most alkyd-modified products. Tightening a screw against undercured paint cracks the film at the screw head. A pull or knob installed at 2 days of cure will leave a distinct impression in the paint when eventually removed.

Sticky cabinet doors after painting are a curing problem, not a paint failure. Alkyd and urethane-alkyd products remain slightly tacky at contact points for days or weeks depending on temperature, humidity, and the thickness of the applied film. The contact between door edge and door stop concentrates any tackiness into a bond that forms when the door is closed.

Prevent sticky doors during the cure period by keeping the cabinet doors propped slightly open with a foam bumper or small folded cloth at the top corner. This keeps the door face away from the door stop contact point. Alternatively, a very light application of petroleum jelly on the door stop where it would contact the painted door edge prevents adhesion during the early cure period and wipes off without affecting the paint.

After the 7-day minimum cure, reinstall hardware using the labeled bags that matched hardware to its original cabinet. Use a hand screwdriver rather than a power drill for final tightening, because power tools overtighten easily and can crack the cured paint film around the screw hole.