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gabbymommy

Peeling thermofoil cabinet doors! Yes! It can be done!

GabbyMommy
13 years ago

We are in the midst of a small kitchen update. I have uploaded pics of the new Napoli granite countertop and was trying to save up about $900 for simple wood cabinet doors. While fooling around with the UGLY HORRIBLE RENTAL GRADE thermofoil cabinet doors (they were lifting and peeling) I decided what the heck ~ I am gonna try to peel this sucker! What would the loss be? I knew that sometime in the next few months I would finally have the money for new doors so I would JUST have to stare at it until then. Well let me just say this: THEY PEELED JUST FINE - that's right - the thermofoil peeled off and there is MDF board that can be primed and painted! The thermofoil was horrible - it absorbed oil and kids' fingerprints and was lifting and peeling at just eight years old. We bought this house a rental house but then decided to simply stay put and are now slowly renovating since the house has good bones. There are a few pictures of the cabinets before and after we peeled the thermofoil .... will be priming and painting in the next week or so and will upload pics then.

Here is a link that might be useful: Thermofoil Cabinets - peeling, priming and painting!

Comments (13)

  • Delilah66
    13 years ago

    Thermofoil -- Is that a plasticky covering? If so, that's probably what my bath vanity is. I have one door where the top edge is loose and I was wondering about just trying to glue it down. If others start popping up, though, it's good to know they can be stripped and painted. Great work!

  • aloha2009
    13 years ago

    Gabby, just to give me an idea, about how long did a door take to peal? Our thermofoil kitchen is in great condition but it's good to know that these can be changed out. I like the white in the kitchen but not so much in the bathroom. I'm anxious to see the after pics.

  • cabinfo
    13 years ago

    You totally can paint thermofoil cabinets after peeling it off. Use a heat gun (or a hair dryer) to loosen up the glue. A painter from Georgia mentioned it here, as well as some priming tips:

    Here is a link that might be useful: Best paint for kitchen cabinets

  • Bill3D
    13 years ago

    I would be careful about making assumptions due to someone else's experience. If thermfoil peels that easily the doors were not manufactured correctly. Unfortunately many door manufacturers do not use the correct adhesive, enough adhesive or proper equipment. If the doors are made properly the thermofoil will not peel right off. Even using a heat gun you will end up with a sticky mess. The remaining adhesive will simply ball up when sanded and you'll end up with a gummy mess.

  • GabbyMommy
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Bill3D - You are correct about making assumptions and I certainly didn't intend to mislead anyone into making a mess of their cabinet doors. All of my 31 cabinet doors peeled with very little effort - and all within about and hour. I noticed immediately that the glue was only around the outer edges and NOT in the middle panel area of the cabinets. I used a palm sander to remove any remaining glue off the board (MDF?) and very little glue came off - obviously these were NOT high-end thermofoil cabinets. :) They are no more than 8 years old and were ordered from Lowe's, so my natural assumption is that they were probably NOT the most expensive cabinets the store offered. I really only suggested this as a desperate last measure to anyone in the same situation as me to replace the cabinet door fronts. I am in the midst of priming and painting them and hope to make them last for awhile longer. Thank you for your post. :)

    Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen Update

  • stacieann63
    13 years ago

    Can't wait to see the cabinets painted. The granite is very pretty.

  • kathec
    13 years ago

    How cool is that? Now you can have a painted finish you can live with without breaking the bank. If you have your heart set on good wood doors, you can definitely save up for them in the future. I can't wait to see how they turn out.

    BTW, you crafty ladies, if you own a heat gun for stamping crafts (embossing), you can use that for home improvement projects like this. It's the same thing only packaged in a crafter friendly case.

  • Fori
    13 years ago

    Bill is correct of course in that peeling won't always work, but like you said, GMommy, at a certain point, there's no reason to not try! Congratulations on an easy peel. =)

  • honorbiltkit
    13 years ago

    GMommy, even if your "new" peeled and painted doors are an interim solution, you absolutely deserve the Grand Prize for Ingenious Recycling. I am awed.

  • mafer_calderon
    7 years ago

    I was able to get the thermofoild out with no problem. My issue is the back of the cabinet doors. They have a layer of white paint or somethring different that i can't sand off and it is very hard to peel out. Any suggestions??

  • nosoccermom
    7 years ago

    Paint it?

  • Huber Boys Mom
    4 days ago

    So, i’m hoping someone will see this post even though the originals were many years ago. What do you recommend for thermal foil cabinets that are about 19 years old, but we’re obviously done extremely well? We just have some doors that the edges are starting to come up. Should I just re-face all of the cabinets, try to fix them by re-adhering the parts that are coming up (assuming that the longer we go, more are going to start to peel) or try to take it off and then get them ready to paint. The cabinet boxes look fine, but need to be painted. It looks like only the doors are thermafoil. Thank you so much.

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