America's Leading Manufacturer of Innovative Water-Based Wood Finishes
Our recommendation to fix white cabinets that have yellowed is to do a thorough sanding and precleaning and recoat with the following products:
All bright white paint will yellow slightly with time, even without topcoat. You have probably tried to touch up white woodwork in your home after several years and noticed that the new paint is brighter.
But white and light paints can react if clear coated with a waterbased finish; water-based topcoats are reactive and may draw out substances in the wood such as tannins, dyes or unknown substances in existing finishes causing the topcoat to yellow. This is an industry-wide issue and can happen right away, years later or never.
Exterior 450 Topcoat a clear-drying low VOC finish suitable for vertical exterior surfaces, such as fences, patio furniture, garage doors and entrance doors. It is not recommended as a deck finish.
A primer is your best defense under light-colored paint.
Another technique to avoid the slight color change that sometimes occurs when applying topcoat is to add 10-15% of the paint you are using to your topcoat. This technique layers additional coats of color over your piece as well as providing the protection of a topcoat. If you don't like measuring, just add enough paint until you can see a bit of the hue in the topcoat. This method works with a brush or a spray gun.
To maintain the full-strength protection of the topcoat, DO NOT TINT YOUR FINAL COAT of topcoat.
Although we spray product all the time in our workshop, with several sprayers ranging from airless to HVLP, we do not consider ourselves to be spray gun experts for all brands.
To get the latest information, we recommend you contact Jeff Jewitt of Homestead Finishing Products and/or Paint Sprayers Plus for the best advice.
It is normal to see a bit of stain on the brush when applying the first coat of topcoat. Topcoats often pull a bit of color on the first pass, but good preparation will minimize this.
To prepare open grains woods such as raw Oak for a water-based stain, we recommend sanding with 180-grit followed by no more than 220-grit sandpaper.
To prep an existing fiberglass door that has a coat of paint on it:
Never guarantee a finish on this era of furniture. Inform your customers of this issue and steer customers away from using light colors. Many mahogany pieces from the late 1920's to early 1930's have an aniline dye lacquer finish which can bleed through no matter how many times you paint or prime over it. Although ideal coverage over an aniline dye lacquer can never be guaranteed, the following two products have been known to minimize bleed through:
Enduro Water-Based Conversion Varnish
Enduro Water-Based Tintable 2K White Poly
Enduro Water-Based Pro Series White Polyurethane
Enduro Water-Based Tintable 2K Clear Poly
Hard Wax Oil & Hardener
Gel Stains
Water-Based Wood Stain
Pro Image Flooring Topcoat
Jen Poly Brushes
Stir Stix
Ultraflex Softback Sanding Sponge
SDS: Water Based Milk Paint: Harvest Yellow - 2021-04
