Stripping Paint, Sanding, and Re-finishing Cyprus Cabinets

Go with the grain, start at a low grit like 60 and work up to a high grit like 120. That's pretty much it.

After its sanded? Yeah, you'll need to protect it somehow. Stain, then a couple of coats of polyurethane would be my choice probably. The stain doesnt really protect it much, just makes it look pretty. The poly is what protects it. If you want a natural look you can go with a neutral stain, then add the poly.

You can paint it again if you are wanting it to match with a room or something in the room.

Thanks, all great information.

Yes, I explained this to my wife yesterday. I had a friend who's mom burned their house down this way.

You might want to go with some higher grits like 150-180 for finishing.


But good luck getting leftover paint off with 150 grit.

Left over paint is preferred by some people. It gives it an aged look.

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Anyone have experience with this?

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I've built a LOT of stuff out of cypress and some naturally finished, some stained and some pickled.

First off, once the paint is removed, use a damp rag to wipe off the wood surface to get as much of the stripper residue off as possible.

Let the wood dry thoroughly then sand. And to the person that said use 60 grit to start----HELL NO. That is way too coarse a grit. Start with no heavier than 120 and get things smooth.

Then if wanting to stain, I'd recommend using a "piss coat" of shellac which is 2 parts denatured alcohol and 1 part shellac. Mix well and apply this to the wood. It dries in no time at all as the alcohol evaporates and then sand with 220 to get it slick.

Clean off the surfaces of the wood to remove the dust and then stain. The shellac will allow the stain to penetrate more evenly than just applying it over bare wood. Stain will absorb into soft wood much faster than harder areas of the woods surface. After applying some stain, wipe it off until you get the desired color, but remember once you apply poly it will darken a bit.

After the stain is dried, then apply your poly or whatever clear coat finish you wish to use. After the first coat dries, sand with 220 or finer paper---or even 0000 steel wool and be careful around corners, mouldings and ogee edges to not take a lot off and expose bare wood again. Then apply as many coats as you desire for your final finish.

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That is a lot of good information. Another question I have is, if the wood is a little different shade in some areas from removing the paint off the wood, once I apply these coats and stain, will it look more even in color?

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Applying the "piss coat" of shellac will help a lot in evening out the stain and making it look more uniform.

If you don't do that step there is a very good chance the softer grained areas of cypress will take the stain much darker than the harder grained areas.


ETA: I would recommend taking off the doors to apply the finishes. Just make sure to either number them or mark them in some way to be able to put them back in the same order as taken off. It is much easier to get the piss coat and stain on the wood more evenly when they are lying flat as opposed to being up on the cabinets.

The piss coat of shellac is very runny and will drip if applied to the doors while up. Just use a cheap throwaway brush or a lint free rag to apply it.

What kind of look are you going for? Is this antique cypress or new cypress? I wouldn't sand with anything coarser than 120, to start with, and I also wouldn't go any higher than 150/180 on cypress. Cypress doesn't stain well, so be prepared for that, you can use a wood conditioner (50/50 denatured alcohol/shellac) then lightly sand prior to applying stain.

What you refinish with needs to depend on it's use.

Cabinets we did put 4 coats polyurethane,sanded with progressively finer sandpaper,last coat we used brown paper bag for final sanding.