How To Seal Chalk Paint Kitchen Cabinets Correctly!

The trend of using chalk paint on kitchen cabinets is all the rage right now and with so many people sharing their home decor work on social media, the growth of this trend is increasing and doesn’t seem to have an end. Due to chalk paint having unique properties when compared to other popular types of paint on the market that make it behave different to other paints that people tend to be more familiar with, we often see people making easy to avoid mistakes.

When it comes to using chalk paint on kitchen cabinets particularly, we have noticed more and more people having problems with their paint scratching. We already have an article online going over how to stop chalk paint from scratching so it should be able to help anyone having issues with their paint scratching. The second most common problem that we see is when people try to actually seal their chalk paint to a surface to protect it.

This is why we have noticed more and more people reaching out about how to seal chalk paint on kitchen cabinets. As chalk paint is fairly unique as far as paint types go, you can’t usually seal it in the same way that you would seal other paint or you would totally ruin its unique look and feel. This is why we have decided to publish this article to try and help our readers seal their chalk paint on their kitchen cabinets as easily as possible.

How To Seal Chalk Paint Kitchen Cabinets Correctly!

The easiest way to seal chalk paint onto your kitchen cabinets is to apply your chalk paint, leave it to dry, and then apply a sealing wax on top of the chalk paint. A good wax sealer is able to quickly and easily seal your chalk paint in to add a protective layer and ensure that your chalk paint will look its best for many years to come.

Cheap chalk paint formulas can be a paint with all types of sealant and cause you a number of problems on kitchen cabinets due to the temperature changes and constant moisture in most kitchens. Thankfully, a decent chalk paint offers considerably better performance than the cheaper alternatives on the market while often only being around $5 to $10 more than the cheaper options.

The same goes for chalk paint but thankfully, a decent chalk paint wax is much cheaper than a decent chalk paint. Low quality wax products will also struggle in a kitchen that you cook in on a regular basis due to the heat being able to re-melt the wax and it will lead to issues. Ideally, you want to be using a decent wax to seal your chalk paint on your kitchen cabinets so once it has set, the simple temperature fluctuations in the kitchen won’t re-melt it.

What Is The Best Sealer For Chalk Painted Kitchen Cabinets?

There are a number of different wax products on the market these days that can all work very well for sealing chalk paint on a wide range of surfaces. When it comes to kitchen cabinets in particular though, we feel that Soft Southern Stokes wax is the brand to use as it tends to deal with moisture and temperature fluctuation very well.

Thankfully, you can usually get Soft Southern Strokes Wax cheaper online than you can in local home decor stores helping to keep your costs lower. The wax really is cheap enough, even if you do pick it up in your local store making it very budget friendly for most people to pick up with out issue. Unlike some of the other products on the market though, Soft Southern Stokes wax offers excellent performance despite its low price tag.

On top of this, it is very easy to use the wax in the vast majority of situations too making the product very beginner friendly to use when looking to seal your chalk paint on kitchen cabinets. This is an important thing to factor in due to the larger amount of moisture in most kitchens causing a potential problem if you don’t fully seal your chalk paint correctly as moisture will cause your chalk paint to determinate.

When Should You Seal Your Chalk Paint Onto Your Kitchen Cabinets?

The best time to actually seal your chalk paint onto your kitchen cabinets is within the first 24 hours of your chalk paint actually drying after applying it to your cabinets. Although you can wait longer, you increase the risks of minimal issues taking hold with the chalk paint that may end up causing problems such as fading, peeling, and color fade.

Ideally, you want to apply your chalk paint to your kitchen cabinets as well as apply your wax once the paint is actually dry during a period when you will not be using your oven. This helps to keep the temperature in your kitchen as stable as possible during the process to get you the best results possible. The hotter the temperature of your kitchen when applying your wax sealant the longer it will take to set and draw the whole process out.

Although you can technically apply your wax and seal your chalk paint to your cabinets any time after the paint fully dries, the longer you wait the higher the chance of having issues with your paint are. Chalk paint has enough issues when used in the kitchen and it really doesn’t need more so getting the paint sealed as soon as possible really is advisable.

Why Should I Seal Chalk Paint On My Kitchen Cabinets?

There are a number of different advantages that come with sealing your chalk paint on your kitchen cabinets. The most obvious one is that it increases the robustness of the surface as the wax used to seal your paint protects both the paint and the actual surface alike. This will help will all types of wear and tear against your kitchen cabinets and ensure that your chalk paint will be able to last you for as long as possible without you having any problems with it.

As we touched on earlier in the article, most kitchens have fluctuating temperatures as well as high amounts of moisture when compared to other rooms in your home. If you fail to seal your chalk paint then both of these factors will end causing problems and cause your chalk paint to determinate rapidly.

Keep in mind that you do have to use a decent quality chalk paint wax to actually seal your chalk paint. If you do have to use a low quality, cheap wax then all of your efforts may be in vain as cheap waxes usually have a low success rate. When your kitchen gets hotter when you are cooking there is also a good chance that the cheaper wax products on the market will go soft again and let the moisture through the wax barrier and potentially ruin your chalk paint.

Does Chalk Paint Hold Up On Kitchen Cabinets If Not Sealed?

If you fail to seal your chalk paint or fail to seal it correctly then it is very unlikely that your chalk paint will hold up on your kitchen cabinets. Although your chalk paint will probably last for a few months before you notice any problems with your paint, once they set in, they set in quickly and your chalk paint will start to peel, flake, and de-color rapidly.

Depending on where your kitchen cabinets are located, this may present a risk of your chalk paint flaking and peeling off the kitchen cabinet into your food if the cabinets are above your stove. If you are using a pale chalk paint, especially white then unsealed chalk paint in a kitchen will usually start to yelllow within weeks potentially ruining the look of your kitchen.

This is why it is so important that you use a high quality wax to seal your chalk paint within a day or two of the paint actually drying. When done correctly, the chances of you having issues with the problems listed above greatly decrease and your chalk paint can then potentially last you for many years to come.

Why Are My Kitchen Cabinets Turning Yellow After Sealing?

Your kitchen cabinets can turn yellow after sealing your chalk paint to them due to using a low quality wax product that is yellowing or due to not sealing the chalk paint correctly. If you fail to to seal your chalk paint correctly then you can expect even the best quality chalk paint to start to yellow or at least fade in color within weeks.

Thankfully, wax sealing agents are very straight forward and easy to use allowing even a beginner to quickly and easily seal their chalk paint without having any problems. Correctly sealing your chalk paint will prevent the paint from turning yellow due to the moisture and temperature in your kitchen but this is not the only cause that may cause the yellow look.

A low quality, cheap wax will start to yellow rapidly due to the wax having low quality ingredients in it that tend to yellow rapidly no matter the situation. In addition to this, low quality wax products will often respond poorly to the heat changes in your kitchen resulting in a cheap wax starting to yellow even quicker even if you have a high quality paint under it.

Conclusion

That brings our article going over how to seal chalk paint to kitchen cabinets to an end and we hope that we have been able to help you. Although there initially seems to be a number of factors that you have to factor in and in reality there are, when you break the process of sealing chalk paint on a cabinet down into its core stages, it is really simple and straight forward to do successfully.