Asked on Aug 14, 2019
Can I refinish my IKEA kitchen cabinets with epoxy resin?
by
Chris Lim
+6
Hi! I am hoping someone can help. I have the "old" Akurum Ikea Cabinets with super glossy white Abstrakt doors. I love the doors but after 17 years the film which is super shiny is coming off and bubbling but the cabinet underneath is still white, even but not nearly as shiny. I would like to have that super glossy look - mirror finish, lacquer finish, glass finish whatever your call it. I am calling around about someone to refinish it or repaint it but I am not having much luck. I even called some autopaint places. One said they would do it for $5000 plus (the kitchen is super small and I could get new cabients including bases installed for less than that. Does anyone have a contact in Edmonton? I do have a crazy idea - I have only 18 doors including six drawers so yes, this is a small kitchen. What about epoxy resin? It gives a glossy mirror finish? It self levels so I don't need a sprayer. If I used the Art Resin stuff I think I Could do it for about six hundred dollars? It will be a pain to remove the drips but probably better than using vinyl wrap/contact paper like where I think it would be hard to keep the bubbles out plus I am not sure you can get that glossy of a look? But if you know of something that would work - dc fix? let me know. I am willing to pay to have it painted or if it isn't hard diy.
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For that few cabinets, I would consider using aerosol spray cans with gloss lacquer in them. You likely won't get the super high sheen they came from the factory with, but it could be pretty close.
You can do a trial run on the back of a door and see how it goes, but I think this is easier to control and more affordable than epoxy resin
The bubbling is the big issue. What are you going to do to strip that or stabilize that?
How many hours are you going to have in this?
17 years is a long time for IKEA products.
It’s MDF . You get what you pay for, anywhere.
Maybe you can buy new IKEA doors & drawer fronts to hang off your old hardware?
Is you goal with this project to restore the finish on the cabinets back to the way it was when the cabinets were new? or would you like to have the cabinets look some other way with a different finish?
I wouldn't try to paint a verticle surface with 2 part epoxy, you can take the doors off and put them in the garage on top of 5 gal pails to add crystal clear epoxy. or you could give them a coat or two with marine epoxy spar varnish from Rustoleum or other brands - a couple light coats are better than one too heavy coat. Make sure they are clean and grease free. If they are rough, sand off with fine grit sand paper first.
To be happy with the finish you are going to need to remove the old film. try warm iron over brown paper. or Steaming it off. Otherwise stick the peeling stuff back on and then cover with Stickt backed plastic?