How To Restain Kitchen Cabinets Darker. Use 120 grit sandpaper to lightly sand the cabinets. You can lighten things up by rubbing off the excess stain with a fresh rag.
Apply a thin coat of polyurethane to the cabinets to protect the wood from scratches and stains and to make cleaning easier. When sanding with an orbital sander always sand with the grain. Let the gel sit for 10 minutes or so until you see that the surface has bubbled and softened.
Use a tack cloth to wipe away all the sanding dust from the surface.
Let the first coat dry and apply one or two more coats as needed. Wipe of more and it moves more amber or dark brown which looks great with honey oak as long as you like that combination. Next scrape the old surface with a scraper in the direction of the grain. Restaining Kitchen Cabinets Once you have raw wood apply a bit of the stain you like on an unseen edge to make sure it is the right light shade.
