About 5 years ago I build a European-style cabinet from MDF. I like the way MDF takes paint and its smooth finish. But I now notice that almost every single shelf has been ruined because of small leaks from stuff (jars, cans, etc.) I have stored there.
I painted the cabinets with a primer and a high quality oil based paint. I used the same paint for a pantry I built from pine. Although we use the pine pantry more often, none of the spills ever ate through the paint to the wood. In contrast, all of the spills in the MDF ate through the paint, and of course, once MDF gets wet, it swells and becomes almost useless. I can't figure out why so many minor leaks corroded the paint on the MDF. When I saw that a can of soda had leaked and eaten away the paint, I thought "well, that's just the acidic nature of soda (such as coke)." But I now I just notice all four shelves suffered from the same type of damage. I believe that some of the damage resulted nothing more that pooled water.
Is there any way to better protect MDF in future projects? When I search on the web, I note that almost no one has had the same experience. Yes, serious exposure to water will ruin the MDF, but most people state that paint will protect it from normal exposure (and it will, so long as the paint remains intact). I wonder what high quality MDF cabinets use to protect the material. I know melamine is often used, but melamine looks awful, and I know some cabinets are actually painted.
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Originally Posted by Todd Burch
