After three cabinets peeled with water based finish, I'm sticking with oil based for good.

3 comments

3 Comments

Switched to oil-based after my own peeling disaster. Sanded everything down to bare wood, used a tack cloth between coats. @angela_flores52 is right about humidity, my garage was too damp the first time. Now I only use oil in the winter when the air is dry.

haydenc102mo ago

Man, I read this article where they tested paint on old fence boards. They left one board kinda dirty and just slapped oil paint on it. Stuff stuck like glue. The water-based one on a similar board peeled right off in a single sheet after a year. It really does seem like oil doesn't care about perfect conditions.

angela_flores523mo ago

Did you prep the wood exactly the same way each time? The problem with water-based stuff is it's picky. If you don't sand perfectly between coats or the humidity is even a little off, it fails. Oil just grabs on and holds, even if your surface isn't flawless. That reliability is worth the dry time and smell.