I use Cabinet Coat on my cabinets and windows. I have been happy with it, but I admit I don't have children in the house. There are similar products by other makers.

This would be a good time to teach your spouse and family to use their fine motor skills and learn to grab the knob without touching the paint.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cabinet Coat

LOL, that WOULD be a fabulous trick. However, with a two year old, a six year old and a dog, there's always grubby everywhere. Prevention isn't going to be the answer, I need to be able to clean after the fact!

Have you ever really scrubbed your cabinets? How did the Cabinet Coat hold up?

I would not scrub any paint. I wipe them with a wet cloth, or sometimes I lightly spray with 409, wait 20 seconds, and then wipe with the wet cloth. I use microfiber cloths.

It is not a trick, it's teaching a motor skill, just as you teach a child to hold a pencil and write. There are 6 year old children in forced labor making rugs in other parts of the world. And on a lighter note, hand your 6 year old a learning tablet and you will see how dexterous he or she is. The kids can learn it. Husbands are more difficult to teach.

I agree with graywings about scrubbing the paint, don't use anything except a cloth and some cleaner but you need to wipe the cleaner on and let it emulsify the greasy hand marks for a few minutes.

Well they do market the paints these days as being 'scrubbable'. I'm not surprised that people expect to be able to scrub their painted surfaces, but really I suppose this is not realistic. It is true though that some premium paints are more washable than others. I have never used or scrubbed Duration so I don't know about that....could be one of those paints that just doesn't clean well, but you can see that everyone will have a different opinion about which paint is the most durable. If someone were to ask me to paint their cabinets with the most durable paint I know of, I would probably choose Benjamin Moore Aura in semi gloss. I have never used Cabinet Coat either.

How about oil? Not necessairly scrubbable( is ANY paint?) but certainly cures harder than any latex.

Duration is supposed to be Sherwin Williams' "scrubbable" paint for applications like cabinets.

I need to be able to wash the cabinets. Not getting anything on cabinets ever is not an actual option. Neither is wiping with a dry cloth.

I started out wiping them down with just a damp rag, but the paint comes off on the rag. I've progressed to scrubbing them with whatever chemicals can find, since the paint is already messed up beyond redemption and I really, REALLY want the gunk off. Nothing has worked, and the sticky paint just catches more gunk. The Killz underneath seems to be holding up beautifully, however. I'm starting to think that the paint is the problem, not my wiping with a damp cloth.

OK, since it's clear that the current paint is just not working, how do I refinish these cabinets without stripping them all? That's honestly too much work for these cruddy 1980's contractor grade cabinets. Can I sand off the bits around the knobs and anywhere it got sticky, re-Killz the whole thing, and start over, or am I just borrowing more trouble?

Christophern, if I were the OP, I would be tempted to use an oil based paint. But the problem is the coating of acrylic latex Duration that is on there now. Can she just paint over that after a light sanding? When I have researched this on the internet in the past, I have found no clear answer, just lots of speculation.

If I were the OP, I might be tempted to try RustOleum Protective Enamel on one cabinet door and see what happens. You can buy it in a half-pint. I don't think you would need the Kilz again.

By the way, I am not a paint expert, just an inquisitive DIYer.

Here is a link that might be useful: RustOleum

If it was up to me. I would sand all the crud off and lightly sand everything else, apply a coat of Cover Stain primer and a couple coats of Ben Moore Satin Impervo oil

Ben Moore Satin Impervo Oil is not available in my area. That's why I suggested the Rustoleum.

Erikarochelle, I too would want to be able to wash my kitchen cabinets. With the correct paint, you should be able to wash the typical kitchen/family crud with warm soapy water. With a good hard finish, you shouldn't have to scrub too hard.

Here is my two cents: I painted a tired looking oak vanity in DH's bathroom. I lighly sanded the gloss (what was left of it), primed with Zinsser 123 primer, and painted two coats of Sherwin Williams Pro-classic. It never gets dirty enough that I have to truly scrub, but I definitly can wash it with soapy water when I am cleaning the bathroom. I feel confident that should I need to, I could use household cleaners like Fantastik or 409 on them and it would not damage the finish. The finish dried EXTREMELY hard and I plan to use it on my kitchen cabinets in the future. I cannot "dent" the paint with my fingernail.

I have also heard good things about the Cabinet Coat and the BM Impervo.

I would follow Christophern's advice about sanding off the soft cruddy existing paint before repainting with a good paint. You shouldn't have to worry about how it looks, just how it feels before repainting.

I thought Duration was more of a washable wall paint instead of for cabinets.

This post was edited by tuesday_2008 on Thu, Jan 3, 13 at 19:05

Hi EK!

If ya search this forum, you'll see some pix I've posted about FPE. Remarkable stuff....

(don't inquire about the price though...?!??!)

Faron

Thanks for all the advice, folks. I'm going to try to sand off the crud, lightly sand the rest, and re-paint the cabinets with a different brand paint.

I'm also going to remove one of the cabinet doors and take it back to the Sherwin Williams store and complain. The person who sold me the paint knew at the outset it was for kitchen cabinets, so if Duration was the wrong paint, it's the fault of the salesperson. Especially after the very strong sales pitch they gave me to upsell the more expensive paint. I've been a good customer of theirs, so maybe they will at least refund part of the original cost.

After my experience, I would not recommend Duration paint to anyone, not even for walls. This paint comes off on my rag even when I'm just wiping with plain water. It gets soft and sticky and never re-hardens. I was advised to wait to scrub the paint until it cured, and I waited over a month before I touched it with a rag. I also have the paint behind a pedestal sink in my half bath, however, and it seems to be fine. That wall gets splashed by soap and water on a regular basis (very independent two year old potty training and washing her hands herself!) and seems to be holding up fine and isn't soft.

At least I'm not worried about a perfectly smooth surface after repainting. As gross as everything is right now, and the fact that I get gunk on the cabinets and can't get it back off, means that any improvement will look great to me!

Greased Lightning (Menard's or Home Depot) should get that crud off. It might also remove the paint.

Be prepared for Sherwin Williams to blame the primer for this. Do they even sell Kilz? If not, they will push the blame even harder in that direction.

I understand that Kilz is not considered to be the best primer by most pros and I probably would not use it on cabinets, but having said that, I used a lot of it in the past on all my woodwork (a housefull of base, door and window trim) before I learned there were better products.

I had absolutely no problems with the Kilz on these bare wood products.

Paintguy, I would be interested to here what you think may have caused the OP's problem. Are you thinking it was the Duration??

Stay away from Rustoleum. I recommend Satin Impervo also. There are very few latex products that will perform as you expect on cabinets. You MIGHT find some waterborne that will do it, properly applied AND left to cure [15-30 days]before regular use.
This is one place it is very difficult to replace the hard enamel properties of a good coat of old fashioned oil based paint.

I thought that you couldn't put oil-based paint on over latex? It was my impression that I'd have to strip the latex first.

Unless there are some primers that are latex to oil?

Also, what about the VOC outgassing from oil?

We don't have a lot of paint stores around here, and have been unhappy with Behr and (I cant' remember the brand) that they sell at Home Depot and Lowe's. We have a Sherwin Williams store, and usually shop there because I like their colors a lot better. Seems like all the other stores' colors have gray undertones in them for some reason. We used Classic 99 for years, but they aren't selling that paint any more.

Yes Tuesday, I think the problem is the Duration. However I have never used it on cabinets. It's true Kilz isn't the best primer around though it is good for stain killing. I just know that paint sellers will use whatever excuse they can to weasel out of liability so they ask questions looking for anything to blame besides their product.

The problem with painting oil based over latex is that you are putting a brittle paint over a flexible one. This isn't a huge deal of course, but for me it's enough to choose another acrylic option. It may be true that oil based paints are more durable, but this does not mean that we should all paint our cabinets with oil based paints. Oil based paints have other drawbacks. Don't forget this. I have been painting for almost 30 years and I have seen what oil based paints look like after 10 years and I have seen what acrylic paints look like after 10 years. Oil based paints overall look like crap in the long term. So what if you gain a small amount of durability? You still have a yellowed out finish with cracks at all the joints because the oil based paint just falls off where ever there is movement below the paint film. When it comes to painting cabinets doors in particular, ones with joints, this is a factor and will be even more of a factor when you are painting oil over latex. Don't take this one example of someone using an acrylic paint on their cabinets and having problems as the precedent. This is not normal. Other premium acrylic finishes clean very well.

I would go buy a quart of Aura or even some Pro Classic or Cabinet Coat and try to paint one cabinet door and see how that holds up in a couple weeks before switching the entire project to oil based paint. Maybe at the end of the day since this is a short term solution anyway you may just end up painting the faces of all the doors with some other product because the Duration just isn't that good. It will be interesting to see how everything plays out.

You're not alone!

I am having the same problem with the Duration. I painted my kitchen walls with it in November 2011. I have 2 'half walls' entering the kitchen from 2 other rooms. On the end where things get collected or someone my put their hand, every every edge is gummy-like..very soft. I noticed this about 6 months after painting and it continues to be a thorn in my side. I am able to get the visible dirt off (though it doesn't have as much traffic as a cabinet door knob area) but it is still gummy and collects dirt and looks gray also in no time.

I believe it is the Duration. I will not be using it again. When I purchased it they sold me on the 'scrubability'. They said it wouldn't leave a mark on the wall like other paints. That is not true for me.

I agree with paintguy on not so fast to use oil paint on cabinets. I put an oil-based primer on a cabinet base, recommended by BM, forgetting about the brittle factor. Sure enough, not long after application, joints are cracking. I am going to sand them out and use a latex from now on.

The oil will yellow over time. Could be pretty and mellow, maybe not.

There is also Muralo Ultra Ceramic which is supposed to be a great durable paint for wood work.

I was advised to use Muralo Ultra waterbone latex for a hard finish on my kitchen cabinets. I bought some and am about to test on a small door.

What about BM Advance. Dries pretty hard.

What about BM Advance. Dries pretty hard.

There is the right idea, although it will still yellow( if white) over time. Any paint will get gross like the op's pic over time just from the oils from your skin. A regular cleaning would avoid this.

My cabinets are white on top and 2 years out. I have 4 people in house and they are still MINT! I used Ben Moores advance. : ) I use warm soapy water to clean up. Sometimes Simple spray!