Aura is NOT a cabinet paint, not even a trim paint. I used a quart of it once to paint a pair of nightstands dark navy blue. (It was designed for the darker, richer colors.)

Waited a full 24 hours between the primer coat and each coat of Aura. Let them cure a month or more, but it still chips easily.

If you go with a high quality 1K or 2K paint, you can do whatever sheen you want.

https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/contractors/job-solutions/professional-how-to-guides/cabinet-refinishing

https://thelivedinlook.com/best-benjamin-moore-paint-for-cabinets/

https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/interior-exterior-paints-stains/how-to-advice/interiors/paint-kitchen-cabinets

I love Benjamin Moore paint! BUT Advance costs just as much or more than Centurion 400 (a 1K product that meets or exceeds KMCA standards for water and chemical resistance).

BM has Cabinet Coat and Advance for cabinets. Aura will not work.

What would I recommend? Painting takes experience and skill. A lot of getting the highest quality finished product is developing your skill by using a certain paint. Every paint has different properties. Many things are involved. Surface prep, temperature and humidity, gun pressure, flash time to recoat, film build. If you make him use a paint he hasn't got hours and hours of experience with you are guaranteed not to get his best work. . . .I would ask him what is the paint he prefers to work with. When you know that you can see if the finish you want in the sheen you want can be accomplished with that product. Ask for a sample door in the color you want and sheen in that product. If it can't be done get the guy you used before with Farrow and Ball. You can find out the procedure to reserve the service elevator and have the pads put up. Then the guys from PA will be able to do a NYC delivery and double park their truck like everyone else. You get something that you'll have for years.

Thanks everyone for laying out the what steps I need to take. And @BeverlyFLADeziner, your links were fantastic: I'll get a sample from the current cabinet maker of what he usually uses, see if I like his finish, then look up the VOC level of his product. I'm not concerned about the cost of one paint vs another, I bet the difference will feel like peanuts in the grand scheme of our project.

What does 1k and 2k mean? And what is considered an average cure time for cabinets prior to install?

I looked up Centurion and it has triple the VOC of Advance, so if I have the choices of a lower VOC, I'll go with it. Luckily, this is a guest apartment and if it bothers me, I don't have to spend time there. If it bothers my mom who is super sensitive, I guess were are back to her sleeping in our bed and us sleeping on the living room sofas for just a while longer while things off gas!

Not sure where anyone got the idea that a handyman is spraying my previous or current cabinets. That would not fly with me. The current cabinet maker has a finisher with a finishing shop that does his painting. I have toured the facility of the PA people and used them in two different homes, but am not going to use them again. Too much whining and drama about what working in NYC involves. (They have done $1M kitchens in the Village and Midtown, but say my neighborhood is way harder to deal with parking and I believe them, every contractor hates my neighborhood, but those from NYC just suck it up and deal.)

I never paint new wood cabinets , if paint is what you want then do MDF cabinets and no to that paint for cabinets.

@Patricia Colwell Consulting Cabinets are a combo of plywood boxes, maple, and MDF. Not all hardwood.

@Marinello Designs, Envirolak has been having issues with the compatibility between their primers and top coats.

@Kendrah, when dealing with the VOC's in paint, remember if you're not the one doing the actual application, you will not experience any effect from the dry/cured product.

We do all our own spraying (with proper ventilation, filter masks, etc.). I did a lot of research between the 1K and 2K products. For us, there was not enough difference to risk exposure to the isocyanate used in the catalyst to use the 2K.

But for someone with a professional setup, this should be a non-issue.

Has anyone else waited 30 days for curing prior to install just for the paint to set? (Not an off-gas issue but a hardening issue.)

@Mary Elizabeth I just talked to the GC who said the paint dries in a day but it takes 30 days to fully cure. They would install it just a few days after it is painted and we should be a bit more careful with them for the first 30 days. The GC is afraid that if we don't have them installed immediately after they are painted then we are going to lose the installation window and it could be a really long time until we get him back to install.

What are your thoughts on this? Our other cabinet maker waited 30 days for a full cure before install because they said that moving them when not cured for 30 days can cause marks just from strapping them into the truck and they are more prone to damage during install.

Also: "You will not experience any effect from the dry/cured product." I will, I do. My immune system got F-ed up from cancer treatments and ever since I get asthma and horrible headaches from VOCs that most other people cannot smell. My mother is the same way. But like I said, I can stay out of there until the smell doesn't bother me. At the moment I'm now more curious about curing in regard to the finish getting dinged up.

@Kendrah, I understand your concerns about your immune system. So sorry.

You are right to be concerned about the cabinets getting dinged up. If the installer knows this, why don't they adjust their scheduling to the time that the cabinet finish is cured (for ALL their clients)?

Does this just end up back at the first question? Even after 30 days, Aura is NOT a cabinet finish.

The nightstands I painted almost 5 years ago, I could go and chip with my fingernail right now.

I continue to refer to Centurion's 400, since that's what we have experience with. It dries in less than an hour to sand & recoat. Can be "packaged" for moving in 12 hours.

IIRC, fully cured was 1 week. So well before you would be living there, right?

You asked what the difference is between 1K and 2K products. It is referring to 1 component vs. 2 component. The 2K is a harder finish that cures faster. It requires the painter to mix a catalyst into the primer or topcoat at a certain percentage (i.e,. 10-15%). The chemical reaction is what speeds the dry & cure times, and increases the hardness.

Is there anyway the cabinet finisher can give you a fully cured sample door (in any color) for you to test the hardness and chemical resistance your self?

@Raimondi, it would be nice if you gave some background for all your expertise. Somehow you showed up just when Verbo disappeared...

There is a FB group for pros & diyer's regarding cabinet finishes and best practices. (You have to ask to join.) Even the product reps and distributors will post and answer questions.

CABINET PAINTING & REFINISHING | Facebook

Here is a comment (from a longer thread) posted 15 hours ago by an end user. I think he has more real world knowledge regarding Envirolak than you or I.

Matt Krier

Kasper Makowski Envirolak screwed up their own chemistry in the topcoats. They realized last year some of the top coats aren’t compatible with their primers. Make sure you talk to your rep about what is and what isn’t compatible. I stopped using Envirolak because it was such a cluster**** trying to figure it out. Hopefully they have it figured out now.

Please post what or where you are seeing that Centurion is having compatibility issues. They supply a systems sheet with every one of their products. Improper temp, humidity or spray equipment can result in issues with any product.

@Kendrah - It is difficult to address chemical sensitivities with documentation. Your best bet is to get some samples of various coatings and just see which bother you.

Some recommendations and comments: Envirolak is a good company and a decent product (or at least there were... haven't used the product in a bit) but they aren’t really the leader in VOC’s anymore. Many of the Italian 2k poly’s have zero VOC coatings now. Milesi has a zero VOC line that is becoming more available in the U.S.

I have always had good luck with Target coatings for people with chemical sensitivities. They are a good company and may ship you a small amount or paint something for you.

ChemAqua Plus is a coating with a very distinctive odor (I find it a bit skunky) but many people who are bothered by other coatings don’t mind it. It is also available at Sherwin Williams.

All of the above were KCMA coatings (when KCMA was certifying coatings).

Thanks for all of these recommendations @bry911 What is your take on curing time with these and how long to wait for install after painting to reduce of chipping or problems with the hardness?

i've used all diff types of paints on wood furniture and cabinets. Aura is NOT one of them. Advance would be a slight upgrade since it is a trim paint. it has a longer cure time. I've used it on dressers w/good results, but, the primer has to be perfectly smooth and the first coat should be wet sanded (first coat of paint)

For sure you want a Satin or semi gloss, not eggshell. cleaning is the issue.

I had my own cabs sprayed w/a pre-cat lacquer. It's been 4 yrs now. I've had a few issues w/the joints of the center mdf panel and the rails/stiles, but that's about it. a few chips here and there, usually from me banging a skillet against it.

A good spraying job will be done off site (for the removeable parts) and inhome on the others, with it completely sealed off. You shouldn't have any issues w/the VOCs as it dries very quickly.

Since your painter didn't warn you against Aura, how are they planning on priming your cabs? what are all of the steps they'll be taking? Are there guarantees for chipping or peeling?

@Kendrah - It really depends on the product but most industrial coatings will fully cure within 7 days. However, full cure and hardness are actually different things, for many coatings full cure is needed for chemical resistance rather than hardness. So most catalyzed polyurethanes are going to be installable after 24 hours. They will not be fully cured, but they are not going to chip.

Hardness in general is a bit of a trap. A coating needs to actually be a bit flexible so it really needs to be strongly bonded to itself and the substrate, a hard coating on a soft wood is going to be more susceptible to chipping. If you are sensitive to chemicals I would want a week for off-gassing to happen, which is probably more important than durability during installation.

As for strapping cabinets to the truck, that is why god made nice thick corrugated cardboard.

Great education in hardness, curing, transport. Thanks.

@Beth - I'm not having existing cabinets painted. I am having new cabinets made that will be painted off site. My cabinet maker didn't suggest Aura, I came up with that appearantly not so brilliant idea on my own! I have though used eggshell on other custom made new cabinets and have had zero problem cleaning them. Tea and coffee stains just wipe off.

I'm eager to get a sample from the maker and see what I think.

if they are painting off site, then spraying them with some type of lacquer or preferred cabinet paint would be the best option. a professional painter would have paints that you have never heard of. They can always match a color from BM if that's what you like.

I'd still use a satin finish. Personally I think it looks better, but you do you!

You can get professional products from 5 flat sheen to a 95 high gloss.