Laurie - I've never used Restore-A-Finish but you should have cleaned the grime off before putting any kind of finish on.

As far as staining, yes, give a wipe with a clean cloth - otherwise stain may be blotchy when it dries. If you don't think you put enough on, wait (check the can) for the first coat to dry, wipe lightly with 220 grit sandpaper to scuff it, wipe the dust off with a tack cloth, and put another coat on. Wipe the excess off that too. Scuff sand again (and tack cloth) before you put the finish on. Sand and tack between each coat of finish.

I may have misunderstood the purpose of Restore-A-Finish, but I thought it was to clean and refinish in one step. Maybe someone can clarify that for me.

Thanks for the staining tips, ajsmama!

Laurie

Here is the method I posted here years ago - I use this method to refresh antique furniture (no poly finish):

Clean with Murphy's Oil soap - follow directions on bottle, dry.

With finest grade steel wool rub off all old wax, grime, etc.....this may take some time but is the most important step - without it the stain in the restor-a-finish can't get to the wood.

Wash and dry furniture piece again (or use tack-cloth)or both.

Rub entire piece with Restor-a-Finish following directions on can.

Finish by applying Howard's Feed N' Wax following directions on bottle - use lots of elbow grease to buff up shine.....only reapply wax once a year if needed - you need to rebuff the existing wax to bring up the shine....too many wax applications dull the finish.

Now since your cupboards probably have a poly coat over the stain, restor-a-finish isn't going to work that great (if at all) for you - it has to get down to the wood to do that....

Here is what I would do to refresh your cupboards without refinishing.

I'd take the doors down and clean thoroughly with a mild detrgent, rinse then dry. Use a fine grade steel wool and go over the wood to rough up the finish...then rub Restor-a-Finish over the entire surface - let dry - repeat if necessary.....then I would put a new coat of poly sealer on the cupboards - that way you will have an even finish over the entire surface of the cupboards.

Thanks, cattknap! I think the the poly coat is pretty much gone on my cabinets, so the stain seems to be soaking in. In fact, I had to decide whether to go with the Golden Oak or Walnut Restore-A-Finish. My cabinets are in between the two colors, so I went with the Walnut thinking I would like it if it darkened it a little. I'm not crazy about the way it looks, so I'm going to go back and get the Golden Oak. I noticed the Feed 'n Wax didn't make it as shiny as I thought it would, so I guess I need to buff a little more. I thought of putting some tung oil on it. Do you think that would be a good idea?

Laurie

Any time you get ready to change the finish, fix up the finish, or paint something, you need to give it a good cleaning first.
And I don't think tung oil would be appropriate after the RAF. Here's what I lifted from a staining website:

"A pure or polymerized tung oil finish is easy to use and will produce beautiful results on any type of wood. Usually applied to unfinished wood, but can be used over oil base stain.

Existing finishes must be removed, as this is a penetrating oil. It needs to penetrate deeply into the wood fibers and pores."

So, with the finish from the RAF, you would not apply tung oil over the top.

Red

What they sell as "tung oil" these days is NOT tung oil. Mostly it's a thinned varnish, though some brands (Behr) are an oil/varnish blend. Since your cabinets were probably originally lacquered, not oiled or varnished, you should try a lacquer. That's hard to do when they're hanging on the wall. Though you could take the doors off and use spray lacquer on them.

First, use Dawn and warm water on a well-wrung-out rag to clean the cabinets. Buff with a dry towel to get the water off. Then use paint thinner (mineral spirits) to wipe them down, get any remaining grease, wax, etc. off of them. Bobsmyuncle has posted here before told me if you've ever used Pledge you can't relacquer b/c it will fisheye. I have yet to hear from him if paint thinner would remove the Pledge. Murphy's Oil Soap might give you the same problem.

Once you've throughly cleaned and degreased them, you might be able to use RAF and not have to actually refinish them.

One other little hint. If you take all the doors off, be sure you stick a piece of masking tape on the inside with door number. Although the doors may look same size and shape, if you get the wrong door on the wrong opening, it will not look right. Don't ask me how my husband learned that after I told him repeatedly to number the doors as soon as you take them down. You end up with a bunch of doors that look like a jigsaw puzzle and two doors that look identical might not be.

Great advice Patricia

Cattknap...............HI!

Red

So good to see Cattknap here and do I hear Redbazel shouting out to see pictures of Catt's new home? I am. Join the chorus. We want to see that new house and the beautiful way (we know) you have decorated.

ajsmama - Does it have to be Dawn or just any dishwashing liquid?

Laurie

I have a related question as I plan to start my own RAF project soon. Cattknap recommends cleaning first with Murphys Oil soap and ajsmama recommends using Dawn soap followed by mineral spirts. What are the differences between the two methods? Are there circumstances in which one should be used over the other?

Some of the pieces I plan to do have a lot of carving on them. I was planning to use a toothbrush to clean in the grooves.

Sorry for the confusion - actually I also recommended washing the cupboards with a mild detergent - if you look at my post above, I outline how to refresh antique furniture - then I outline what I would do with the cupboards "wash with mild detergent" is what I recommended....I would not wash anything with Murphy's that had a shiny finish....it is for wood surfaces.

cattknap - Just reread your post. You said to finish with a poly sealer. What exactly would I look for at the store? Will it actually say polyurethane sealer?

Laurie

I'd use a satin polyurethane - sanding lightly between coats....putting at least 2 coats on for durability....your local hardware store should have a nice selection of sealers......be sure to post pics when you are done!

Laurie, please post pictures when you are done. I just printed out the instructions in all these posts, because I would love to do this to my old tired kitchen cabinets. We are doing other projects now, but I could see doing this in a couple of months.....thanks Jody

Laurie: I hope you don't mind my adding my questions to yours regarding RAF since they are related and there is already so much good information here.

cattknap: Thanks for the clarification regarding how to properly clean/prep antique furntiure vs. kitchen cabinets. I can see there is a big difference. So, what would you recommend for my application? I have two of these tables I want to use RAF on--one of them pictured below has some surface scratches in the inlay. They seem to have a shiny finish on top--poly or wax I have no idea which or if it matters. Also, if Pledge was ever used with them in the past since I only recently purchased them on CL.
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The instructions on RAF say not to use with poly. If you want to be able to wax them in the future, I'm not sure I would go with poly.

A few questions about poly and wax:

How do you know if an existing piece has wax or poly on it and does that change the RAF/prep steps?

For sealing after RAF is done, it sounds like the Feed-n'Wax goes on after (no poly), correct?

I have another set of vintage drum tables (also from CL) that I think have neither sealer on them. I wanted to put something on them to give more protection against water rings since they are very susceptible. I notice it anything is put down for even a short period it makes a ring--whereas these other CL tables have some sort of hard glossy finish (would that be poly?) and I don't have to worry so much what is set on the top. Could I just touch up the ring spots and then put a layer of Feed-n-Wax?

Do you really want to wax your cupboards? You can use restor a finish and then poly but of course you don't wax a poly surface - there is no care of a poly surface other than to wipe it down with a warm wet cloth once in a while if needed - that is the whole point to poly- protection without care.

Your tables look newer - are they?

cattknap: I think I've confused the issue adding my questions to msrose's one about her cabinets. My questions were specific to antique furniture and more specifically, these tables that I was thinking were a candidate for Restore-A-Finish. Prehaps I should take my questions over to the woodworking or furniture forums? My tables are probably from the 1940-50's I'd guess. I bought from a guy whose parents owned them for years.