Can You Paint Melamine Kitchen Units? | Durable Results

Stand in front of tired white doors long enough and one question pops up again and again: can you paint melamine kitchen units? The short answer is yes, as long as you treat that plastic skin very differently from bare timber.

Melamine looks like painted wood, yet the factory coating is hard, slick, and almost glassy to the touch. Regular wall paint grips raw plaster without effort, while melamine tends to shrug fresh color straight off. With the right cleaning, a specialist primer, and patient coats of cabinet paint, those same units can handle busy family cooking for years.

Why People Paint Melamine Kitchen Units

Many homes still have melamine or laminate cabinets because they were affordable, wiped clean easily, and went into countless new builds. Over time the finish yellows, chips around handles, and locks the whole room into a dated color. A careful paint job gives those units a fresh look for far less money than new doors or a full rip out.

Painting melamine does bring trade offs. You gain fresh color choices, but you also accept normal paint care and a little more caution with knocks and scrapes.

Aspect	What You Gain	What You Give Up
Budget	Lower spend than full unit replacement, even with quality primer and paint.	Higher spend than a simple deep clean or new handles only.
Style Choice	Any color, sheen, and handle style you like, from crisp white to deep green.	Factory smooth melamine finish with baked-on consistency.
Durability	Strong finish when you use bonding primer and hard-wearing cabinet paint.	More prone to chips at corners and edges if doors are slammed or scraped.
Time	Quicker than a full rip out, and you can phase work over several evenings.	Slower than living with the current color or only changing handles.
Disruption	No builders or skip hire, and most work happens in your own garage or kitchen.	Doors off hinges, wet paint drying, and some loss of access while coats cure.
Resale Appeal	Fresh color can help buyers see a cared-for space instead of a tired one.	Poor prep leaves brush marks or peeling that buyers notice right away.
Flexibility	You can change color again later with light sanding and another coat.	Once painted, you rarely want to go back to plain melamine again.

Seen in that light, painting melamine units suits owners who enjoy hands-on projects and want a big visual shift without ripping out cabinets. If you prefer a completely maintenance free finish and never touch a paintbrush, new doors or a factory respray may suit you better.

Can You Paint Melamine Kitchen Units? Sanding And Deglosser Choices

Type “can you paint melamine kitchen units?” into a search box and you will see plenty of arguments about sanding. Light sanding makes a clear difference, because even a quick pass with fine paper knocks down shine and gives primer a little tooth.

If dust is a concern, you can swap sanding for a liquid deglosser designed for glossy furniture and cabinets. Tradespeople who work on laminate pieces every week often use products like this to soften the sheen and help primer grab the surface. Whatever route you choose, always clean first so you do not grind grease into the finish.

Painting Melamine Kitchen Units For A Lasting Finish

Before you open a single can, check every door and drawer front for peeling edges, swollen chipboard under the melamine skin, and loose hinges. Structural damage such as blown corners or badly sagging doors needs repair or replacement before any painting starts.

Once you know the cabinets are sound, plan the workflow. Decide whether you will remove every door and drawer front or paint some parts in place. Removing parts takes longer at the start, yet it gives cleaner edges and fewer drips, and you can lay doors flat for a smoother surface.

Step-By-Step Prep For Melamine Kitchen Units

Clear Units And Label Every Piece

Empty cupboards and drawers, then strip off handles, hinges, and latches. Bag the hardware for each door in separate, labelled bags so you can put everything back in the right place once painting is complete. Number the backs of doors and the inside of cabinets with low tack tape and a marker to avoid guesswork later.

Clean Away Grease And Residue

Kitchen units gather years of airborne grease and cooking film that regular dish soap does not always cut. Wash every melamine panel with a degreasing cleaner and a non-scratch pad, then rinse with clean water and let the surface dry fully. Pay special attention to the handle area, edges, and panels near the hob and extractor.

Scuff Sand Or Use A Deglosser

Once the surface is clean and dry, give each door and panel a light sand with fine paper around 220 grit. You only need to dull the shine so that primer can lock on, then wipe away dust with a tack cloth or a barely damp microfiber cloth.

Mask Surroundings And Protect Work Areas

Run painter’s tape along worktops, walls, and appliances where cabinets meet other surfaces. Lay dust sheets or old blankets over floors, and prop doors on painter’s pyramids or blocks so you can reach edges without sticking to the drop cloth.

Primers And Paints That Stick To Melamine

Standard emulsion or vinyl wall paint will not hold well on melamine doors. You need a primer that bonds to smooth, factory finished panels and a topcoat built to handle knocks, heat, and regular wiping.

The Resene laminate and melamine primer guide shows how a thin coat of specialist primer over clean, dull doors gives cabinet enamel something to grip. Sherwin-Williams gives similar steps in its laminate furniture advice, pairing a bonding primer with latex enamel for a smooth cabinet surface.

Product Type	Best Use On Melamine	Typical Recoat Time
Laminate Or Melamine Primer	Base coat for all doors and panels to create grip.	Often 4–12 hours, check the tin.
Bonding Acrylic Primer	Helps paint stick to glossy, low-porous cabinet faces.	Usually 1–4 hours before light sanding and paint.
Cabinet Enamel Paint	Main color coat in satin, semi-gloss, or gloss.	Commonly 4–6 hours between coats.
Alkyd Hybrid Trim Paint	Hard, smooth finish on doors, drawer fronts, and frames.	Often overnight before sanding and second coat.
Chalk Style Paint	Soft matte look on accent units with gentle wear.	Ranges widely; sealing coat usually next day.
Clear Polyurethane Topcoat	Extra protection on high traffic areas like bins and pan drawers.	1–2 hours touch dry, longer before light use.
Deglosser	Prep step to dull sheen when sanding is awkward.	Often 10–30 minutes before primer.

Whichever combination you pick, stick to one system where possible. Primer and topcoat from the same brand tend to work well together, and the data sheet on the tin sets out drying times and sanding windows so that each layer bonds properly to the one below.

Painting Technique For Melamine Kitchen Units

Prime In Thin, Even Coats

Stir primer gently and pour a small amount into a paint tray. Use a good quality synthetic brush for corners and a short nap mini roller for flat areas, aiming for a smooth, even film without thick ridges or runs.

Build Up Durable Color

For color, cabinet enamel or a hard drying trim paint works well. Two or three thin coats beat one heavy coat in strength and appearance, so load the roller lightly, roll off excess, and work along any fake grain direction on framed doors. On frames and end panels, work in small sections, laying paint on with the roller and then smoothing lightly with the tip of a brush so raised edges do not collect any extra product.

Manage Drying And Reassembly

Paint film looks dry long before it cures hard. Leave doors flat on stands as long as you can between coats and before rehanging. Many pros leave freshly painted doors off the frames for several days so that soft paint does not stick to bumpers or frame edges.

Common Mistakes With Painted Melamine Units

Rushing the prep is the biggest cause of flaking melamine paint. Skipping proper cleaning or primer saves an hour on day one and costs days of sanding when the finish fails. Take extra care around handles, bin doors, and microwave cupboards, where hands and steam hit hardest.

Another frequent problem is loading the roller too heavily, which leads to sagging paint lines on the edges and underside of doors. Work in bright light, tip runs out with a brush right away, and leave generous drying time between coats so each layer can harden.

Caring For Painted Melamine Kitchen Units

Once your cabinets are back in place, give the new finish a gentle start. Most cabinet paints reach full hardness over days or even weeks, so treat the surface kindly early on. Wipe splashes with a soft cloth and mild cleaner instead of strong degreasers.

Fit bump stops on doors and drawers so that fronts do not slam against frames. When chips appear, touch them in early with a tiny brush and leftover paint so moisture cannot creep under the coating and the finish stays fresh.