Using a powerful degreaser like tsp trisodium phosphate to clean and etch the surface is strongly recommended.
Cleaning kitchen cabinets with tsp before painting.
To clean grease off kitchen cabinets before you paint them we like to spray down all surfaces with krud kutter then scrub them really well.
Remove your cabinet doors from the cabinet boxes.
Before painting sand lightly and prime.
The reason for cleaning with tsp was because it etched the gloss of oil based paint making it rougher so that the next coat of paint would stick better.
If not done the paint can peel or bubble over time making all that hard work giving the cabinets new life a pointless endeavor.
According to wikipedia tsp is.
Depending on the condition of the cabinets we usually stick to the medium and coarse bristles.
If you want to take the easy way out with tsp and not have to mix the powder yourself you can buy it in a spray bottle like i did.
To make it a bit easier we use brushes that you can attach to a drill or impact driver.
The first thing you are going to do is in your quart bucket measure 4oz or a 1 2 cup of tsp.
If you have an oil based paint on your wood then i d clean them with tsp if you intend to repaint that wood.
Then fill your larger bucket with 2 gallons of warm water.
Generally tsp is used to clean decks siding and outdoor areas before painting.
It easily and quickly removes grime layers of blackened soot chalked paint caked dirt and puddles of grease.
After stripping and before refinishing or painting patch any conspicuous holes scratches and nicks with wood filler.
Tsp stands for trisodium phosphate.
Trisodium phosphate tsp e339 is a cleaning agent lubricant food additive stain remover and degreaser it is a white granular or crystalline solid highly soluble in water producing an alkaline solution.
So strong that it will peel old paint from a surface along with the stains tsp is often used for cleaning surfaces in the course of preparation for painting.
The surface may not need sanding and stripping but it must be clean.
When dry sand lightly to smooth out the patch.
It is a commonly used cleaner and stain remover.
For those who are interested in its chemistry tsp is made by neutralizing phosphoric acid with sodium hydroxide and its chemical formula is na 3 po 4.
The quality of a paint job depends on a perfectly clean surface.
Pour the 1 2 cup of tsp into the water and using a paint stirrer stir the water dissolving the powder.
Use high quality latex primer or an oil based primer on unstained wood.
The best primer for kitchen cabinets depends on the wood.
Prepping cabinets for painting is important.
Cleaning cabinets with vinegar before painting or using a mix with rubbing alcohol can ensure you get a deep clean.
These brushes have soft medium and coarse bristles.