Another dead horse...

It depends upon the quality of the finish.
If someone has had to (re)paint after "a few years" they don't have a very sturdy job.

Are you planning to paint your existing cabs, or are you buying cabinets with a factory finish? The latter, unless very professionally painted & finished, would of course be far more durable.

If you take a little time and do a search on this subject (the dead horse) you'll find (way too many) discussions, opinions and experiences with this exact subject.

I doubt there would be the gudzillion white kitchens there are if they don't take family wear and tear.
I think I believe the most common, mild complaint is that you can see the dirt better, but then, you know when to wipe things down!

I just redid our kitchen with white cabinets and have had them for 2 years with no problems. They are factory finished.

However, before that I had painted white cabinets which I painted myself with melamine paint. I had them for 15 years with 2 very rowdy active boys and they never had a chip or needed repainting.

As stated above, a good quality factory finished white painted kitchen is fine. Yes, you might get a chip or two. Just use the touch up paint kit.
You will see the drips and spills easier. Just take a damp cloth and wipe off. a few times I used my windex but I do not make a habit of this.
I love white kitchens. This is my third. First was a modern formica, second was this house just painted white builder grade, and now my maple painted kitchen.
If you love the look of a white kitchen ,you will not be happy with anything else!

thanks for all the info! We're looking into factory finished cabinets. I had painted my last kitchen myself & it did not hold up well at all. As far as brands go any recommendations??

geomeg, that does not sound like a factory finish. It sounds like a homeowner hack job.

Do they know what they're talking about? Because those cabinets would have a totally crap finish as far as durability. 1 prime, ONE PAINT and varnish??!! huh? Even I, a self-taught, wanna be cabinet builder knows better just by what I've learned on the different online boards.

Before you commit to HD, ask for more info. This info would also determine the credit you could get from your contractor if you choose to go elsewhere.

I'd pursue this and get the manufacturer's info, because new, they MUST come with some kind of warranty. To have a warranty, you must have a company. Company can tell you the truth about their finish.

kitchen4dummies, it's time to learn how to do a search. Re: dead horse thing...

i apologize for another "dead horse".. as u can tell, im a newbie to the site. thanks for your suggestion

kitchen4dummies - the best way to search gardenweb I find is to use google. Use the word 'gardenweb" in your search, add whatever descriptive words are appropriate.

I have some white cabs, no problems at all.

If you do a search first, you'll come up with about 100000000 (stop me) threads on these very topics. The nice thing is that you can ask the person who started one of those specifics about their satisfaction, issues, experiences, etc. Because time has passed since they posted, they will probably have more information for you.

Since this is a topic that is started [ahem] frequently, many people don't bother looking. BTDT. So you might find more information than you expected by looking at older threads.

I hope that helps. I have no life and work at night, so I look at everything hoping for pictures. Yes, there are pros and cons of that, too.

"She's told me that painted doors are primed, then painted then varnished.

Varnished? On top of paint? On top of one layer of paint? How would you repaint them?
I have manually painted kitchen cabs with oil paint on top of old paint. I have no idea how varnish would take paint.

Ask lots of questions. You might want to find out what kind of paint they are using, too.

kitchen4dummies - You should feel free to ask anything kitchen related here, even it's a dead horse to someone else. A newbie can sometimes add something relevent to the subject. I have 15 yr. old white cabs and they've held up well (factory finish). They do have a few knick on the raise panel part of the drawer though. My kids are getting older, and were not too hard on stuff when they were younger. Hope this helps!

I have white wood cabinets. I just wipe them down with liquid soap and a little water. The only door that shows a little more wear is the one that holds the trash. It gets used the most. That said, The white cabinets are still wonderful.

I have white wood cabinets. I just wipe them down with liquid soap and a little water. The only door that shows a little more wear is the one that holds the trash. It gets used the most. That said, The white cabinets are still wonderful.

k4d, my old cabinets were painted professionally 6 months ago. I don't know if that's considered a factory finish or not. There's only me in the kitchen, so they still look pristine, even though my three cats try to open lower cab doors. I don't do a lot of frying, so there isn't too much grease flying around. I decided to routinely clean the fronts from stem to stern (including crown) every three or four months so dirt doesn't accumulate. I used a spritz of water with a few drops of Dawn and a microfiber cloth. Took me maybe 15 minutes and that includes climbing up and down counters.

I have had factory-finished white cabs for 7 years. No issues at all, they clean up beautifully.

Factory finish is different from professionally painted. I don't totally understand the process but it is quite different. If you go to cabinet shops that carry the major brands you can see the factory finish. You don't see brush strokes and it doesn't seem like paint, if that makes sense. My cabinets were made in Cananda and have a catalyzed finish. I am not exactly sure what that means, but I did a quick Google search. It appear that some woodworkers do do a catalyzed finish so maybe things have changed in the last few years. Factory cabs wouldn't be paint+varnish...

I love my white cabinets and will go with them again in my new kitchen!

Here is a link that might be useful: one discussion of catalyzed finish...

My Aunt had a kitchen put in with painted white cabinets and after a few years the paint just started lifting all over the kitchen. On areas used the most like around sink it was really bad. She went back to the guy who did the kitchen and he would do nothing about it. She had to live with it fir years till she was able to have someone come out pull all the doors and drawers and have them stripped and repainted. It was very costly. My suggestion is if you go this route make sure of their reputation and make sure they will stand behind their work.
Years ago we moved into a tiny house that had original wood cabinets And they were in really good shape and we painted them with latex house paint in white, I don't think we did anything special to them first this was before GW : ) just rolled on some paint. They held up perfectly for the 8 years I was in the house. So I don't know what went south with my aunts cabinets, but they are ok now but they do show some signs of wear around the sink base handles.

I would like to add to this question, if I may :). I understand that they have to be cleaned - just like my white trim. To be expected. But are there food items, i.e. tomato products, blackberry jam, grape juice, chocolate, mustard etc that will actually STAIN the white painted cabinets. How do you deal? I have had these things stain light formica counters but was always able to remove with pure bleach or other strong household cleaners.

I know the pat answer will be - clean it up before it stains, but that is not always possible.

I've been able to clean food coloring off my white cabinets. Wine, berries, coffee etc. have wiped off just fine. Not so with my walls which is why I think the finish matters...

paint vs. professional finish.

If you varnished/polyed/sealed/ and treated your trim like the professional companies treat their cabinets, you could wipe them clean, too. But do you? Put a million, baked on coats? Or give it a 2nd paint coat, step back and admire it and throw your brushes out?

Anybody who doesn't like reading newbies' questions, don't read them. Simple.

Prime, paint and varnish is the way Crown Point finishes their painted cabs. Guess they're just a hack job.

Tuesday--nothing has stained my white cabs. Are your white cabs stained?

I agree that you should feel free to ask any question you want. If it's a topic that has been covered recently, someone will kindly refer you to the recent post.

My white cabinets are amish made, and I'm not sure what the finish is. I had a sample that was very tough - I was carrying it around with a rough hunk of granite on top of it, and it never scratched. My cabinets seemed to get roughed up a lot by the construction workers, but they were easy to touch up. I'm anxious to see how they'll hold up with my 4 kids, but they're so pretty that they are worth it to me.

I had white cabinets and found them to be a pain. However I'm one of those people who doesn't want to see everything - I like a finish that leaves a little mystery rather than showing me every drip etc. Liked the white on the uppers though - far more forgiving.If you want white cabinetry I doubt you'll be irritated by the clean-up (as evidenced above some think it's an asset - I'm just not that fastidious). Not a kids household but the finish held up fine.

Catalyzed finishes are fairly common and durable but check with your manufacturer.

thank so much for all your advice & info!! i really appreciate it!
i'm less concerned with keeping the cabinets cleaned & more concerned about chipping/scratching from kids bumping into them with toys/backpacks etc.
shannonaz, what brand are your cabinets??
i was thinking about calling the amish to get a price quote mpagmon, who did you use?
thanks again everyone :)

>>>geomeg, that does not sound like a factory finish. It sounds like a homeowner hack job.

Actually, it sounds like a description of the way a major cabinet finisher in our area finishes painted cabinets. Excellent reputation, several decades in the business.

kitchen4dummies: my cabinets are semi-custom and called Kettle Creek. They were very midrange in price and made in Canada. They were sold through a cabinet shop that sells a few different brands and price-points and I was very happy with the price and service. I got different white painted cabs for my bathroom remodel that I was also very happy with. I like frameless cabs and those were Dura-Supreme. I went through a different cabinet shop for them and I was also happy with the service! Good luck!

It is more than possible that cabs that are simply painted ad varnished are quite durable but since mine are not finished that way I would not want to vouch for that process being durable or stain resistant. Maybe someone who has had success with painted and varnished cabs will chime in :)

We had "soft white" Shiloh beaded inset. I'm one of those "throwback parents" that makes her child perform the hard labor cleaning up the kitchen after dinner and I also have her cook dinner once a week. Needless to say, we're getting white cabinets again - but we are NOT getting beaded inset. Since one cannot be too critical of a 12 year old's cleaning abilities if one wants the 12 year old to continue cleaning, there were times when things would *erm* settle into the beading. When it was my day to "deep clean" the kitchen, there were times when I had to toothpick out the beading. So, not again. However, the finish itself held up really well. We only had one serious tool related ding and even that blended in pretty well after the contractor finally gave up and stopped showing up. You'll get a touch up kit and they do work wonders.

I'm not sure who made our cabinets. I went through a kitchen design store that my builder wanted me to go through, and it is one of their standard brands. They are very solid and well-made - my brother the engineer just bought them for his kitchen.

I don't think there is any need to be rude to someone asking a question, especially a person who hasn't been on a forum and is just starting out. Way to make the one on the other end of the terminal feel crummy...

Anyway, to answer the actual question, I have Executive cabinets. Mid range but solid wood and I've been impressed at the quality of the painted white finish. As others have mentioned, I actually like that I CAN see when they are dirty. I wouldn't like seeing bangs and gouges. The only small issue is on the inside of the handle for the garbage cabinet the finish is nicked off in tiny little bits. I finally figured out it's from my engagement ring banging it repeatedly. If I get motivated I'm sure my contractor would do something. Otherwise, no problems at all.

thanks for your help everyone!!! I really appreciate it.