Best Primer for Kitchen Cabinets

Oak cabinets need to be primed with BIN shellac primer, or oil primer, to prevent bleed-through. There are some newer BIN products like the advanced synthetic version, which I've never used. I use the regular BIN shellac primer and never had any problems with bleed through. Cabinets also need to be sanded and cleaned to remove surface contamination. Sometimes there will be a few tannin spots on a couple doors that the primer didn't completely seal. You can use a spray can of oil primer to spot prime those spots. If there's tannin bleed everywhere then it sounds like the wrong primer was used and the doors would need to be primed again. If the grain wasn't filled too, that might be part of the problem. Filling the grain fills the deep valleys and cracks in the wood that can be difficult to work the primer into when spraying. A coat of grain filler levels out oak. You can also try spraying a little heavier as it's possible the primer isn't seeping into the cracks enough to block the tannin.

If you're brushing and rolling the cabinets, Cover Stain will be less messy to work with. BIN shellac primer is very thin like milk and goes everywhere when brushing it, but it seeps into the grain much better than Cover Stain because of its consistency. If you change your mind and decide to spray the cabinets, use BIN. That's what I use when spraying my cabinets and it works great. Cover Stain does sand easier, but both will give you a smooth finish after sanding, but BIN levels out a lot better and you can recoat in 45 minutes. Cover Stain takes hours to dry.

If the cabinets are new and already painted, latex primer is probably fine. Oil primer is good when you're painting stained cabinets. Oil primer dries harder than latex and it seals the surface. The primer only smells bad the day of application, not weeks after. Open a window and the odor is gone when the primer dries.

You didn't mention if the Kilz latex is a primer or their paint. The cabinets should have been primed with either oil primer, or BIN white shellac primer. If you primed them with Kilz latex primer, or no primer at all, that's the problem. It's also not the best option to use on cabinets. The paint is too soft. If it's gumming up when sanding, and you didn't prime the surface first, or you used a latex primer, that could be why, or it's the product itself.

No, the store is wrong. That's why you're getting tannin bleed on your cabinets. Primer is a must, but not latex primer. Latex primer and paint alone doesn't seal wood or bond well with it. Priming and painting over the paint you already applied could lead to more problems. Remove the paint, apply two coats of oil primer, or shellac primer, and paint. Cover Stain oil primer is great for cabinet priming, or Zinsser BIN (shellac primer). Also, make sure you clean the cabinets and sand.

Yes, I've used Kilz oil-based primer many times for blocking stains on drywall, but I haven't used it for priming cabinets. Cover Stain works as a stain blocker and a bond coat. I like Cover Stain because I can use the leftover primer for exterior projects. Kilz original is interior only. The Kilz oil-based primer, not latex, would probably be fine as a cabinet primer, but again, I've never used it for that purpose so I can't vouch for it as a cabinet primer, but it's a good product. Most acrylic latex paints bond well to it. I use Zinsser BIN shellac primer on all my cabinets now.

The white surface residue from Cover Stain primer is normal and easily removed with a tack cloth. To get a super smooth finish with this primer, apply two coats, sanding between coats, and wipe off the dust with a tack cloth. When you sand, use a 220-grit sanding sponge (3M brand work great). Make sure the primer is totally dry before sanding. Cover Stain sands nicely once it's had time to fully dry. Sand the second coat and remove the dust again. Your paint finish will be as smooth as glass.

On laminate, oil-based bonding primer, or shellac based primer, like BIN, is fine. The surface needs to be cleaned and sanded first to remove the gloss. You can use the same primer on veneer.

No, you should sand the clear coat to dull the surface for the primer. Primer and paint bond stonger to surfaces that have been sanded and cleaned.

You can add a mildewcide additive to the primer if you're concerned about mold developing.

I've never sprayed BIN through an HVLP sprayer, but you can. The reason I use an airless sprayer is because it's faster and far more productive than using an HVLP when it comes to spraying twenty plus cabinet doors. With an HVLP,.you'd have to constantly refill the cup, but with an airless, you can work directly out of the can and spray all of the doors in one session without having to stop to refill. Clean up is messy with both an airless and HVLP. With an HVLP, you also have to take everything apart to clean the parts good, much like you would with the filters on an airless sprayer. HVLP would be okay though for spraying BIN on the cabinet wall boxes. It wouldn't require as much, if any, refilling of the cup, like it would if you were to use it to spray over twenty cabinet doors. You can also get a fine finish spraying BIN through an airless, using fine finish spray tips. BIN is as thin as milk and lays out really nice when sprayed. But an HVLP is fine too, it's just going to take you a lot longer to finish the job if you're using it to spray multiple doors.

It would be best to sand that all off and start over with oil primer.

No, I haven't heard that. It works well for cabinet priming and spot priming. The price is a little high compared to oil primer, but I haven't had any problems with BIN.

I use Emerald urethane enamel for cabinet painting and would recommend it. I spray it with my airless sprayer. The paint doesn't yellow like oil paint, but dries hard, similar to oil paint.

There are pros and cons to both products. BIN brushes on smoother because it's super thin, but it will dry out on your brush pretty fast. You can clean the brush periodically to prevent hardening on the bristles. You need to cover everything very carefully if you brush BIN, or even Cover Stain because both products sprinkle everywhere, and they're both very messy to brush and roll, especially BIN. Both are excellent sealers and stain blockers. Either one would be fine for primer on your cabinets. Cover Stain sands a little easier than BIN. If you get some brush stroke marks in the Cover Stain, you can sand them out when it fully dries. It sands into a fine powder. If possible, I recommend spraying instead of brushing and rolling. BIN lays out really nice on cabinet doors when sprayed flat. Your overall finish will look a lot better and you'll save tons of time.

Oil-based primer.