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Hi community!
Looking for advice on the Dulux Renovator Range to paint wood cabinet doors. Would love to know what the difference is between the whites and what other tools are needed to complete the project. This is the current state of them.
Many thanks
Welcome to the Workshop community @VanessaL. I'd be happy to answer your question.
There is only one white pre-mixed colour in the range available off the shelf. The Renovator range can be tinted to light and mid-tone colours from the standard Dulux range. The darkest colour it can be tinted to is Malay Grey
Here is a D.I.Y. step-by-step tutorial on How to paint kitchen cabinets with the Dulux Renovator range. The tutorial includes all the necessary tools to complete this project.
If you need further assistance or have other questions, please let me know.
Mitchell
I have recently painted my kitchen cabinet doors using this product.
Very, very pleased with the result and so is the wife. Really looks like a new kitchen.
Our doors and end panels were at least 20 years old, and while structurally sound, they had lots of markings and colour variation/fade.
Really, by any other measure, they were at the end of the service life.
Carefully applied, with good prep and in three coats, the result will look a lot better than the display item at Bunnings!!
We did use the recommended undercoat however if you are not worried about tannin bleed through I would not use it as it is fiddly, dries quiet rough (alcohol based -it dries in seconds) and needs lots of sanding back of the undercoat. The undercoat really was 50% of the work.
Of course the boss was not happy with the first colour chosen, after one coat on a few cupboards. We (i.e. = I) were prepared for this as we only bought one litre initially, and it was a simple matter to change colours at the early stage. After this we bought a couple of paint tester pots for $10 and painted a big board and put in the kitchen to assess the colour. I recommend you do this first.
Picking almost any colour is one of the great features of the system.
Remove all hardware from the doors. We then put new handles on the doors - if yours are old this makes it look 
Really try and sand/fill the door/panels so that the product goes onto a smooth surface. The smallest hole or mark will show predominantly when painted. Hardly news = preparation is the key.
We used the gloss- again very pleased with sheen level and appearance. Easy to clean and possibly a bit more tough?
I painted both sides at the same time putting the doors on a board with four nails (obviously painting the back first). Be super careful you don't trip onto this, and keep kids away !!! Really cannot see the tiny nail marks on the back. Also keeping the doors horizontal stops any paint runs.
One thing we noted with wooden doors they naturally have very small gaps where the panels insert. When painting these tiny gaps become very noticeable on the front and back of the cupboard - recommend spend five minutes per door filling and sanding these smooth.
Also despite the claim of "rapid dry" fillers, fill everything (especially larger "holes") at least the night before - otherwise your sanding will mark the gap filled areas. Really needed to dry.
Use the recommended micro fibre roller - cheap in packs of ten. We used a new roller every day ($2) and disposable trays ($1) - for about $3 we did not want to risk any dags on the finish. You can use the end of these rollers like a "paintbrush " to fill in any corners or edges on the front of the door, do this first (you'll see what I mean when you use one) and then roller it out neatly. You do not need need (and I would not recommend) a paintbrush with this technique. We ended up doing three topcoats which I would highly recommend as the last coat really gives great finish, and the last coat is quick.
Apply paint thinly each coat. After carefully laying off and happy that you have a good, but fairly thin coat - NEVER EVER go back. Pick up any errors with the next coat. Lightly sand between coats. I lightly "wet" (more like damp) sanded with 400 paper.
The 2 Litre tin will do a lot of doors, a big kitchen, and goes a lot further than you expect!!!
End panels paint easily in situ, no need to move, again three thin coats better in my view than two thicker coats.
It dries to touch dry in an hour - but slowly hardens over two weeks or so. Be very careful reassembling the doors- yes I scratched one with my screwdriver.
However that is the beauty of this system - a light sand, repaint one coat and it is invisible again...
There is a light paint odour for a week- absolutely nothing too bad (my wife is very sensitive to paint smells and she had no worries).
We have a big kitchen and did it in three stages, finishing each and then moving to the next stage. You will get a great result but there are no shortcuts, don't do too much or you will tire and "rush." Took longer but was more manageable.
Again, if your cupboards/doors are in good nick, literally you will have a new kitchen. For about $200-250 of paint/sandpaper/brushes/trays (plus handles- if you need them).
Hope that helps.
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @stevem. It's fabulous to have you join us and many thanks for your valuable feedback.
Given this is a relatively new product I trust your experience will be very helpful for those members considering a refresh such as this. Your cupboards look amazing and you've potentially saved yourself thousands of dollars at the same time.
The information you have provided is spot on and very helpful for anyone giving this a go for the first time.
We look forward to hearing about what other projects you have going on around your house and garden and would encourage you to let us know if you ever need a hand or would like to share them with the community.
Many thanks for your contribution.
Mitchell
Many thanks.
Caron, that instruction regarding 7 day life (I'm pretty sure) is for the other two pack paint, after you mix the two parts together. The two pack is for benches, tiles or the first coat on vinyl wrapped doors.
Check the videos on the deluxe renovation range product webpage.
However, you don't use the two pack paint for cabinet 
Before using, definitely stir carefully with a stirrer, despite the shop kindly mixing the paint, there was a lot of product at the bottom of the tin, that took over 5 minutes to mix. They recommend not shaking as this mixes air bubbles in.
I've shown another photo, to you an idea of the result. Trust me - the before look was pretty ordinary.
Great to see you have found @stevem's post useful @Old-gal24.
Please don't hesitate to reach out if you ever need assistance with a Bunnings product. We are more than happy to help.
Jason
Thank you once again @Jason as always, your support is so appreciated.
I started my vanity area reno prior to the cold weather and my arthritic hands/body have pulled me up big time. Now with the weather warming up I'm back into it. The vanity area only needs me to grout some tiles I had to add as the new live edge river redgum bench top I added was larger than the original tiles, and of course I couldn't purchase the same tile, not that I wanted to. I've added the extra tiles and now have to grout and have decided to repaint the lot. And after reading a few posts on here today, feeling motivated and more informed to tackle both tasks and get this area completed.
Next will be the bench tops in my kitchen and the same painting over one small area of tiles. And putting pressed metal over the bigger area behind the hot plates. I've decided to have a go with new draws for the existing cupboards as I am finding it very hard to reach items on the bottom shelves and so much wasted space not using them.
I'm finding it a bit over whelming all the jobs I need to get into after a horrid winter with arthritis and ISO with Covid. Shocking illness. But giving things ago as I either can't find tradesmen or they just don't want to turn up for small jobs here and there.
We are blessed to have so many gifted crafts men and women on this site, it really helps immensely when you need some advice, inspiration and like me motivation.
Thanks to you all for taking the time to share your talents.
Thanks again Jason 
This old Gal
