is that the sink cabinet? My guess they had something so they could hang wet dish towels to dry and it ruined the finish

Seems like either its a cleaning solution that is the culprit or a poor finish. You could try a gel stain mixed to the right color (that's a bit of trial and error but gel stain is very forgiving since it wipes off and blends easily). Use a rub on poly over the gel stain. Or bite the bullet and get it all stripped and refinished. I've heard great things about restor a finish also.

Thanks! I bought some Restore A Finish but have been too scared to try it. I can't tell if there is some kind of finish already on it. I also had trouble trying to figure out what color to get. Total newbie to this type of thing and scared to mess it up! I appreciate the advice!

They almost look like our smoke damaged cabinets after a fire many yrs. ago.

do you have more pics?

I can take some tonight. It pretty much all looks just like that. It's worse on the bottom cabinets than the top ones, but they show some wear, as well. And it isn't just the doors, but also the actual cabinet around them, as well.

cypress is one of the oddest woods to work with. It is one of the easiest woods to strip because it rejects finish and paint. It contains many chemical compounds that make it so rot-proof outdoors, but make for myriad finishing problems.

If the original finisher took everything into account and used the best finish for cypress, and this is just on the surface, then the topical/cosmetic remedies enumerated above, like restore-a-finish, should help. If the damage is right at the wood/varnish border, you will have to take off the finish.

Casey

I like restore-a-finish only when you do not intend to redo the finish later. The way restore-a-finish works is that it soaks down into the exposed wood and covers everything-exposed or still finished with the same color. It works grea! But if you end up refinishing the cabinets you will have created a problem for yourself because all of the areas that are now exposed will be stained and all of the areas that are still covered with finish will not be stained and you would have areas of significantly different color distribution. Depending upon how deep the stain penetrated, you may have a real issue with how far you would have to sand down to get back to one color and how costly it is to do the work if you try to refinish after using restore-a-finish. So if you were thinking of refinishing this is the time to do it. If you are just trying to keep these cabinets going until you can redo everything then I would try restore-a-finish on one smaller drawer front or door first and see what you think. Be sure to use the wax afterwards it just looks fabulous.

It's sort of hard to tell. It almost looks like there is some kind of finish on top of the damage. I am strongly considering painting the island a contrasting color anyway, so I could use it as a test for some of the other options first.

I think I'd probably strip off the existing finish, using one of the various not-horrible strippers, Citristrip or Soy-gel--that seems like a lot of damage! Looks to me like either something damaged the finish or the finish is coming off on it's own. Then refinish--but if cypress is tough to finish, make sure you read up on that first!

My oak cabinets look like this mostly around areas that are wet (near kitchen or bathroom sinks) but also around high wear areas like around the door pulls and where you grab the door to pull it open.

I recently restored years' worth of neglect by cleaning first with Murphy Oil Soap (just plain old soap and water works too) then applied a homemade beeswax/olive oil furniture polish to it. They look beautifully rich again and fully restored. Let me know if you'd like the recipe.

Make sure you do a test patch first though. Some of my doors absorbed the oil and wax more and turned a much deeper orange hue than the rest. When I noticed that, I just applied less polish to even it out.

I love the wood. I would not stain it, I would apply a clear protective finish suitable for cedar.

It looks like water damaged shellac OR water damaged wax. They will both get that white foggy look. Or a build-up of cleaning products.

I would test the following, in this order, on the least conspicuous spots you can find, applying it with fine steel wool:

1. mild soap and water (if it's some horrible DIY cleaning concoction, this might remove it) followed by clean water rinse

2. paste wax (if it's water-damaged wax, this will renew it) applying it thinly and buffing well

3. mineral spirits (if it's a buildup of old waxes and cleaning polishes, this might get it)

4. 70% rubbing alcohol.

If none of the above work, you are into other strippers - Soy Gel, Citri-strip and sanding lightly.

I can offer no advice for your cabinets, but you might want to cross-post on the Woodworking topic.

They will be beautiful when you fix them.

Do not use Murphys. I have been steered away from it by professional woodworkers as the tell me it damages the finish.

Oh... good to know New Freedom. I keep reading online reviews that it's the best cleaner for wood. What do pros recommend using? I'm guessing just plain old soap and water?

Sorry for hikacking your thread andersuitt. I second the advice to ask on the Woodworking forum. There are some wonderfully helpful people over there.