Kitchen cupboards - painting melamine.

[David071]

Hi everybody,

We are renovating our kitchen and are looking at getting the usual 16mm melamine cabinetry.

We want to paint the fronts of the draws and cupboards ourselves because we cannot get the colour we want in laminate. We are reticent to choose 2-pack as an option as we have been told by people that have had 2-pack that it can chip, dent and mark easy and is also quite expensive to have applied to the melamine surface.

If we leave the cabinet carcasses (the sides) in the basic white will that blend in with matt painted cabinet fronts?

Any advice on preparation of hand painting basic white melamine would be appreciated.

Thanks everybody.

[fandtm666]

you have to use the proper dedicated melamine paint , because it is not a porous
surface unless you use the specific primer and paint it will not stick and just
peel off in no time.

White kight make a specific product, personally i would be spraying them and not
doing it with a brush or roller.

as for the 2pack it is the hardest of all paint and chips like any other when banged etc but
the real reason not to use it is because it is toxic and unless sprayed a a booth will get you into
strife, plus its a bitch to spray because it orange peels 90% of the time and to get the true gloss
Finnish it needs wet sanding down with 2000grit wet and dry.

[mtv]

The name escapes me, but I've used an etchant before to paint over melamine. (I may still have a tin... I'll check when I get a moment)

It's a liquid, like thinners that you just wipe the surface with a rag which takes the gloss off and makes the paint stick.

You can then use any paint you like, but I totally agree, spraying gives the best finish.

[bill78]

Firstly you have to apply a coat of melamine primer and allow it to dry.After that you very lightly sand the surface of the primer.While Painting melamine paint with smooth up and own strokes so that you can get an even sheen finish.Different melamine paint manufactures would have different instructions regarding tools.