Help needed to save my kitchen cabinets!
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So, we just moved into this house and the previous owner left me with a dirty oven. "No problem...it's self-cleaning!" I thought. So, I set the oven to the clean cycle. Look what happened! My husband is furious that I ruined the cabinets. NOT my fault! Anyone have suggestions on how to remedy this? I don't have the finances to replace them.
Plastic covering melted causing separation from cabinet door and drawer.
Plastic covering melted and separated from cabinet drawer and doors.
16 answers
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It's not easy to see from your photograph whether or not it's just the edge trim or the whole sheet. If the edge trim, that';s very easy to fix. Just remove it carefully, buy replacement trim and follow the instructions (basically, it goes on with a hot iron - but make sure you put something between the iron and the trim. If the coating has also come off the cupboard front it's a little more tricky. But redeemable IF it hasn't become distorted. VERY CAREFULLY trim the coating back so that it aligns flush with the cupboard edges and replace it the same way as you'd put on trim (above). (Might need a bit of glue - if so, spread it on very thinly.) Then use new trim on the edges - in case it happens again. But your oven shouldn't have damaged the cupboards. (I'm wondering if that's why it was dirty.) Contact the manufactures as there may be a fault, which can be remedied.
Mother
on May 03, 2016
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My husband and I pulled the plastic off our cabinets and then painted them! The plastic on yours looks just like ours did, it came off super easy it took like 15 minutes to remove it off all of my cabinet doors and drawers. After you remove it lightly sand them wipe them off and paint!
Elizabeth Madden
on May 03, 2016
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If you use any good paint from Home Depot or Lowes eg. paint & primer you can just do the one product and do one or two coats. Use their premium paint. It works very well. You may need to do a light sanding with a very fine sand paper before painting. Not sure how the surface under that cover will be.
Linda
on May 03, 2016
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Oh no!!! I do not know how to fix the cabinets, but to clean your oven, try baking soda and vinegar. It's magic.
Tina
on May 03, 2016
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I suspect that the previous homeowner was aware of what would happen and that's why the oven was left filthy. That being said, check the seal on your oven door. Enough heat escaping to cause that damage is not right.
Tammy Sea
on May 03, 2016
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That appears to be those melamine or therma foil wrapped doors. Google how to fix those. Maybe an iron with a towel in between, to heat it up, stretch and maybe pin nail back or glue in place.
Beth H. Makemeprettyagain.blogspot
on May 03, 2016
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Hi Shelly, in case you just want an easy and quick fix, you can repair that. Thereare products to finish and trim wooden shelves on the side: these products look like tape (they come in a roll too) and in a wide range of colors, usually alway white + wood stain colors (natural, middle, dark etc.. ranges). This product is soft, although more like thin cardboard than plastic tape. You cut it with cisors the length you want, then apply it either by glueing or by using a hot iron (depends on the type of glue or no-glue on the tape). Any store selling wooden shelves or wood to be cut out has them and it's not expensive. Then you can see if you want to remove the plastic and paint or change the plastic or just fix the place that peels off. The product I mention is very useful when you have something cut out from agglomerate wood, it leaves an unclean and ugly edge that smolders away. This "tape" seals it off.
Carole
on May 04, 2016
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Have you tried contacting the cabinet maker to see if they have any suggestions?
Ste4465176
on May 04, 2016
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Maybe you could strip the cabinets, sand them and then paint them? I think I see that the kitchen is white, relatively easy to match, but why not go for a splash of colour, or for blackboard-paint so you can write down your shopping-list on it? Ask for heat-resistant paint, it's often used to paint radiators.
Anneke Guns
on May 04, 2016
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There are some "fixes" that can be ironed on. Give that a try...with an old iron. 'Can't hurt.
Jim L
on May 04, 2016
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Lesson learned the hard way: Always pull a self-cleaning stove out and away from the cupboards before starting the cycle. Also, open windows to ventilate well. Next lesson: Call your insurance company before deciding what to do whenever there is damage. Good luck!
Lauren Lund
on May 04, 2016
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Hi Shelly, that's a term I was looking for "thermofoil"...The "tape" I described is a kind of thermofoil, so if you use the self-cleaning function of your oven again, it probably will spoil the glue of the "tape" as well. The thing about self-cleaning ovens is the extremely high temperatures used (around 650 °C, it's like 6 times the boiling temperature of water, but in Fahrenheit I cannot say). You can clean the oven just as well with Castille soap or Cif.For me, Castille soap is the easiest (use very little water). For the side of the cabinets, you can fix the damage by using something else: since some people find the "tape" I described to come off too easily, (for me it has worked fine) a new product has been sold for the past years, I have never tried it. It's a paste looking like glue and you apply it with a spatula and eventually sand it smooth (it can then be painted). People who use it say it's much more resistent than the tape. I know only French brands (from this or that national chain of store) so I cannot say something specific to your region. But I'm sure you can find it in a Home Depot or the like. It looks a lot likewhite silicone.
Carole
on May 04, 2016
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...and it's not expensive, 1 (small) container should be enough, in France the price is around what would be around the equivalent of 10 USD. It's easy to apply, one does not need skills, you can show off and impress your husband by doing it yourself, even if you've never done it before. It's a lot like glazing a cake :-)
Carole
on May 04, 2016
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We have the same cabinets that were salvaged for us from a friend's electrical job. The vinyl was cracking and coming off the edges in places. We also are on a tight budget and just getting back on our feet financially so we decided to strip off all the vinyl on all the cabinets which came off pretty easily from most part, then prime with Kilz low odor primer and then paint with a satin acrylic paint. We painted two coats after the primer, letting it dry between coats. Even though they were white then we painted them white again, they look So much brighter. I believe the vinyl must yellow somewhat over time! I wish we'd done a third coat and a coat of Polycrylic over them to protect them from chipping. I think we will paint a coat or two of the Polycrylic. I've read it's good to sand it when dry after each coat to give it a beautifully smooth finish. All we spent was the money for the paint and painting supplies, the cost of new hardware and our elbow grease and time. Cost: around $250 thousands less than new cabinets and looks just as good!
Diana Kosa
on May 04, 2016
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Also check your local Habitat for Humanity Retail Store. They just may have some donated cabinet doors. Ours here in San Antonio has 3 huge bins full and they look new. The drawer may be harder to replace. Worth checking though. You never know what you will find there.
Linda
on May 05, 2016
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Hi Sharon! Our cabinets were also MDF. We just pulled all the laminate off. Primed with a low voc Kilz primer and painted them with a semigloss white. I think they look great, but I do want to go over with a coat of polycrylic to make them more durable. They look so much brighter and I feel like I have a whole new kitchen with a bit of paint and new nobs and pulls! All for thousands less than new cabinets:) I think if you are willing and able to do the work you should go for it!
Diana Kosa
on Sep 21, 2016
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