How To Glaze Painted Cabinets

There are several good reasons why one should learn more about how to glaze paint cabinets. Glazing cabinets is perhaps the best means of making the cabinet look like an antique piece. Glazing requires that you rub watered down paint layers over the cabinet surface. This paint will then form a translucent layer over your existing stain or paint and some areas will be dark while others will be light. This makes the glazed cabinet look more worn as well as aged. Before learning how to glaze painted cabinets, it pays to take a look at the supplies and tools that are required to get the job done.

Supplies and tools

These supplies and tools include:

Faux finishing glazing liquids
Clean and dry rags
Paint
A stick to help you do the mixing
A container for the mixing
Some mild kinds of soap
Sponge
Water
Painter’s tape
Drop cloth
Urethane
Paintbrush

1. Do the glazing

After gathering the required supplies and tools, the next step involves understanding more about which steps need to be taken to do the glazing. These include checking labels on the urethane and paint to see how much time is required for each to dry. Empty out the cabinet so that nothing gets spoilt when you are painting the cabinets. Take out cabinet doors and drawers and remove all other door hardware as well. Clean the cabinet base and doors with mild soap mixed in lukewarm water. Allow everything to dry and then place painter’s tape on places which do not need to be glazed.

Dark, medium or light glaze

Next, pour some paint as well as glaze into a mixing bowl. For dark glaze, use three parts of paint and one part of glaze. For medium glaze, use equal amounts of paint and glaze. For light glaze use one part of paint with three parts of glaze. Mix the paint and the glaze until a uniform color is seen.

2. Start with the rear of the cabinet doors

When the time comes to glaze the painted cabinet, you need to start with the rear of the cabinet doors. First, dip the rag into the glaze mixture and then rub the rag on the rear of the cabinet doors in straight or even in circular motions. Work small areas at a time. Once this has been done, wipe the glaze away with the help of a clean cloth.

3. Glaze the drawers

Now, it is time to allow the cabinet doors to dry. Once this step has been completed, it is then time to glaze the drawers. It always pays to work small areas and each time, do not forget to wipe the glaze away with the help of a clean cloth. After the drawers have been glazed, glaze the base of the cabinet and remove the painter’s tape. Let the doors, drawers and the base of the cabinet dry up completely. Once they are absolutely dry, you can glaze the front side of the doors. After glazing the front of the cabinet doors, you must wait till they are absolutely dry. Next, urethane the cabinets to keep them scratch-free. Also, be sure to urethane the rear part of the cabinet doors and do the same for the drawers and the base and then allow time for everything to dry.

Finally, replace the hardware that you had removed prior to the glazing work and then rehang the cabinet doors. Your cabinets are now fully glazed.