Had a discussion with a large cabinet maker about our refinish solutions
and he asked me when and why we stopped using solvented finishes....
We stopped using solvented finishes for a number of very good reasons.
1. We as applicators want to work with a product that has a great safety
profile, does not expose us to unwanted adverse health effects
(solvent inhalation - exposure to benzene, vinyl toluene, stoddard solvents etc.)
Back in the early 80's when I first spray finished and hand painted cabinetry
in a repaint situation there were two products available - a vinyl solvented
lacquer or an alkyd melamine oil-based semi-gloss paint). Both products
were outright dangerous to use on-site (flash combustible at 90F !) My
boss at the time (now WhiteHall Homes, Dave Farris) said " I hope to
hell someday the paint manufacturers start thinking about the refinishing
applicators because i'm tired of exposing my crew to benzene, bad solvents
and the other diluents which too often took far to long to dry (36hrs and
oil based paints can still thumbprint in a humid summer home condition).
The day they figure this out, i'm switching my entire repaint solution to
waterbased lacquers and paints...". You don't become a builder of the
year without some vision as to what the market of refinishing needs....
2. We want a product that can dry in 10 minutes and can hang a door in 1hour !
No thumbprinting or soft finishes with the new wb lacquers ! Ever tried putting
new hinge or hardware pieces on a soft-cured oil based cabinet door...makes
you want to gut yourself with the mess it creates.
3. We want over 1,000 colour choices. Not 3 or 4 with a solvented vinyl that has
bad colour stability over time. How about 18,000 colour choices from SW, PPG Dulux
and BEHR. Bored with what u see ? Make your own colour and submit to us for matching !
4. Stack, pack and rehang times with waterborne solutions blow away thermofoil vinyl
period. The skill of the applicator becomes more important as you are not baking
your doors in a low bake booth to cover up a weak Cefla automated spray conveyor application.
5. Waterborne paint solutions are eco-friendly, easy to repaint or refinish over and
teach you to become better at the craft of painting - after a few jobs you will learn
the hard way that sanding out a pin-drop of surfacer can take a hell of a lot of time
and you will learn not to create them in the first place.! This is what makes us laugh
at the idiots who try to paint doors when they are still connected to the hinge in a
kitchen. There IS NO WAY TO AVOID curtaining, sag and over build on the lower
parts of the doors. If you are refinishing and painting cabinet doors while still attached to the hinge
you need to find another trade, because you are doing it the WRONG way. We've spent
hours cleaning hingework for people who asked the wrong guy to come do their kitchen...
