Low VOC finish for cabinets - advice needed

[Molly Hart]

My husband is building the doors and drawer fronts for our kitchen cabinets, and I'm researching on the finishes. My wood-working experience is 3 decades old, so I don't remember much. I need a finish that will be pretty much no VOC once dried, and would prefer one that's very low VOC during application. The Volatile Organic Compounds are the things that can make you woozy if you breathe too many of them. I'm just very susceptible.

The doors and drawer fronts are cherry slab, and can be finished before installation. The only other areas that will need finishing are the island sides and the hood surround, half of which are already in place and will need to be finished in the kitchen.

I would love to match the color on a 30 year old piece, but don't expect that to be possible, so I'll probably leave the color natural. The existing china cabinet was unstained and finished with polyurethane. I'm guessing that 30 years ago it was an oil based poly. The finish on it is still beautiful and rich looking, probably a satin finish. I imagine a lot of the beauty is the aged cherry. Someone suggested I give the cherry a few days in the sun to age quicker. Unfortunately some of it is already assembled and in place in our kitchen - the house is occupied.

I've always loved the look of oil finishes. The counters I've seen done in pure tung oil are gorgeous. I assume these wouldn't be durable enough for kitchen cabinets without 8 or 10 coats and a lot of sanding. We're not up to that! The guy who finished the wood trim in the house could spray them with a couple of coats of poly, but I really don't want such a flat look - nor a plastic look.

One suggestion I received is to finish them with the tung oil, wait a few days, then apply Sealcoat followed by a coat of poly. What do you think of this? Any other ideas?

[Ken Garlock]

Hi Molly, welcome to the creek. Do jump in frequently and splash around.

A couple ideas, even though I'm no expert. First you might try David Marks . It is worth a trip to his site and checking out the FAQ section where he talks about his finish.

Second, you can check out your local Sherwin-Williams store for the water based finishes. A good feature of a local S/W store is that if you can take in a piece that has the color you want, they can match it for you on the spot. And once they have the formulation, the computer can translate it between oil or water based finishes.

Lastly, if you can stand the odor, Waterlox is a good all around finish. Not to say that it particularly stinks, but it does have the typical oil based smell while drying.

[Jim Becker]

I use water borne finishes such as Target Coatings USL...very low VOC. And the USL has properties similar to NC lacquer in that each coat "burns in" to the previous coats. My kitchen is done in the TC product and after several years, it remains almost "good as new".

[Howard Acheson]

If you want to minimize VOC emissions, you should avoid oil based varnishes, laquers and--although alcohol fumes are not considered dangerous to the enviroment--shellac.

That pretty much leaves waterborne finishes. Look for ones that are certified by the KCMA (Kitchen Cabinet Manufactures Association, I think). Many waterbornes do not stand up to warm moisture, kitchen greases and cleaning chemicals used in kitchen cleanup.

Be aware though, that even waterborne finishes contain chemical solvents which some folks may not tolerate well. Get the MSDS for the product you plan to use and follow the directions for personal protection.

[Steve Schoene]

Even if I went with a waterborne finish, I would plan one coat of an oil based product to bring out the color of the cherry, perhaps a wipe on varnish such as Waterlox Original/Sealer. It dries substantially faster than an oil or an oil/varnish mix. Do it or have it done before you head off for a get away weekend. By the time you return, the worst of the VOc's will be gone, and you can finish up with a waterborne product. Doing a major kitchen remodel is a very tough, stressful job and you will benefit from the weekend away anyway.

[Bob Reda]

If I was going to use one coat of something to pop the grain it would be Zinser sealcoat. A dewaxed shellac that dries in minutes and you can topcoat with just about anything your heart desires.

Bob

[Jamie Buxton]

I second Steve's approach. Like Jim, I often use Target's waterbornes, HVLP sprayed. Their Emtech 8000 is my current favorite. IMHO, even this good coating leaves dark woods looking a little washed out. I've taken to applying one coat of wipe-on gel varnish like Bartley's, and then spraying the topcoat. The oil base in the gel varnish gives color, but the bulk of the finish is the waterborne. You do have to wait a day or two to ensure the gel is cured before applying the waterborne, but if you do that the finishes are compatible.

Having built furniture for the chemically-sensitive, I'd strongly recommend that you make a test piece before you tackle the kitchen. Even if the manufacturer says it is low-VOC, and even if most people don't react, you might be the exception.