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Ace Cabinet paint vs. Aura for Kitchen cabinets

14 years ago

I am currently doing my homework in preparation for painting my currently stained and poly-ed oak kitchen cabinets. I have tried three paints on some spare doors left over from construction 19 years ago (yep, I'm a pack rat) and have narrowed the topcoats down to the two listed above (I am using a dark color and don't want to use an oil, so my choices were limited). The two paints seem totally different, so I need some advice.

I cleaned and sanded per Brushwork's instructions. I primed with 123, then sanded again.

The Aura covers the open grain of the oak very nicely, but is a bit of a bear to work with, and sets up quickly. The Ace cabinet paint is quite thin and goes on much easier (at least to this novice) and looks great - nary a brushstroke to be seen. However, it seems to raise the grain of the oak instead of covering it (this is with two coats).

So my questions are:

1. The aura seems so much thicker. Would it be significantly more durable than the Ace cabinet paint? If it is, I'd go with Aura and practice a bit more before I got started.

2. If durability is equal or close, I'd go with the Ace. If I do, is there any way to get rid of the raised grain that is happening? Apply another coat of primer with a sanding in between? A different primer perhaps? I'd be willing to go with an oil based primer if this would help.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Liz

Comments (2)

Faron79
14 years ago
Some good points in your post Liz!

Considering your 2-coat 123 priming, neither paint should be raising the grain.
Were these trials over the primed surface, or on "bare" wood doors?

They are 2 different paints obviously...
* For a new painter, the Aura will seem finicky/fast set-up times. You could add some of XIM's Latex Xtender to help it level better, and slow the set-up time.
* The ACE Cabinet paint is a "Hybrid", meaning it's "Both" Latex paint, AND a harder-resin Alkyd polyrethane paint.
* The ACE requires 24 hrs. between coats to level itself out, and harden-off enough for the 2nd coat.
* Aura would be ready for 2nd coat in 2-3 hours.
* I did my ACE sample-boards on some primed/sanded pallet boards. They still look very nice!

Faron
raspycat
Original Author
14 years ago
The test was on a primed door.

I'll try to find some XIM Xtender to try with the Aura.

Liz
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