If you feel the surface, hardwood typically has texture and grains, while laminate is hard, glassy, and has a plastic feel to it.
Laminate Cabinets
Thermofoil is a vinyl laminate that is heated and pressurized onto an MDF core. This process leaves a completely smooth surface that does not show any seams. The lack of seams around the door's joints can be a clear indication that your cabinet doors are a laminate material.
Cabinet brands that belong to the Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association (KCMA) will have a sticker on the back side of the sink door or side wall of the cabinet. On the sticker there should be a code or the cabinetry name in the middle of the label.
Non-porous woods are softwoods. Ring, semi-ring, and diffuse-porous woods are all hardwoods. If you can't sand your piece, look inside of drawers cabinets, trim boards, or even the bottom of legs for an untreated end grain view. It will really help you out with identification.
A sure way to recognize wood laminate is when the grain does NOT follow through your piece. Wood Veneer is a sheet or thin layer of 'quality-natural-hardwood' that is adhered to a lesser quality wood surface.
What is under laminate cabinets? Laminate cabinets tend to be made from cheap or pressed woods underneath their laminate film exterior. These cabinets are usually made from MDF or particleboard which is then covered with the laminate coating.
Check the edges of the doors and drawers. If they are solid wood, you'll see end grain on the tops and bottoms. If they're engineered, you'll see edging material with a longitudinal wood grain, which looks unnatural.
Cheaper cabinets will often use thin panels which then require metal hanging rails with brackets, rails, and a picture frame construction. Sometimes they leave the panel out completely, so the wall shows through.
The least expensive option is painting laminate cabinets. Laminate is not an ideal surface to paint, but it can be done.
Laminate cabinets are generally significantly less expensive than wood cabinets, making them an attractive option for those looking for a contemporary style and operating on a budget.
What is laminate, you ask? It can basically be any type of furniture, cabinets, or wood-like product that is made by attaching a thin layer of printed plastic (sometimes called Melamine or Thermofoil) to a substrate of plywood or particle board.
If you just feel a smooth surface and not the ridges and raisings of a natural grain, it is most likely veneer. Look for discrepancies in the grain. If you notice that the surface of the piece is has the same grain pattern across all sides, chances are it's veneer.
If it's light and easy to move, it's probably fake. Real wood has a distinctive and not altogether symmetrical grain pattern. If you notice the grain has small variances, that's a good indication it is real. If it's repetitive and similar all over the furniture, it's likely fake.
Laminate is a multi-layer synthetic flooring product. It is designed to imitate the appearance of real wood. The core layer of laminate flooring is manufactured primarily from melamine resin and fiber board material.
You canNOT stain laminate. It's not wood! The stain has nothing to soak into, and will literally sit on top of the laminate and never fully dry. It will be a nasty sticky mess forevermore.
What are laminates? A composite artificial material. The most commonly used finishing layer for MDF, plywood, particle board, wooden furniture, wall panels and flooring are laminates. Essentially, a composite artificial material, they are made by pressing together thin layers of flat paper and plastic resins.
Formica is non-porous, which makes it a smooth material, and hence it is not easy to apply paint on it evenly. Read on! Painting kitchen cabinets by hand is the best option for laminate cabinets. It makes them look a lot better than the original finish.
Can you stain laminate cabinets? You can stain laminate cabinets using tinted polyurethane stain or gel stain. Since laminate isn't real wood, using ordinary liquid wood stains will leave you with a streaky and splotchy surface: that's because they won't get absorbed.
Laminate cabinets are more affordable than traditional wood cabinetry, and they are very easy to maintain. They are also less vulnerable to heavy wear and tear, making them an ideal option for young families.
Kitchen cabinets should be replaced whenever they are in poor condition or whenever you feel that it's necessary to freshen up your kitchen's style as interior design trends change. High quality kitchen cabinets can last for up to 50 years. That is assuming the cabinets have been keep in good condition.
Good-quality wood glue and a clamp to hold the laminate against the core is a good way to repair laminate coating that is peeling. Once the glue has set and dried, you can begin to clean the cabinet doors and drawers.
In short, you can't. Sanding the laminate surfaces to “scuff” the finish and provide a surface for the primer to adhere to is a critical step in the process. But first, remove the doors, drawers and hardware. Then, take time to look over the cabinets and repair any spots where the laminate is coming loose.