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What sheen?

10/31/21       
Mastercabman

Hello all,
I'm just curious on what sheen do you use for kitchen cabinets?
And why?
I usually go for the satin finish
The MLC satin has a sheen level of 35
Their dull is a 20
I feel that their satin is a little bit too glossy but no one is complaining
I used the dull before but it is a little too flat
I would like to be at 25-30
I know they can add additive to the paint to make it less glossy but was told that it is somewhat a PITA
So what do you like?

10/31/21       #2: What sheen? ...
Leo G Member

Reducing the sheen is not a pain. You buy a can of flattening paste and add it in yourself. I'd advise you to have a paint shaker to do this more easily.

As for sheen, when I do a stain job (or just clear) I use satin. I use MLC Krystal for clear coating. And while it looks shinier when you first spray it, it dulls down more. Usually takes about 2 weeks before you get to the true sheen.

As for painted cabinet, which is all I seem to do lately. I've been using the dull. I do a good amount of sanding and hard scuffing so my product is flat. This on it's own produces a sheen because of the flatness. So it always looks shinier than dull anyway. If you do minimal amount of scuffing you won't get this extra effect.

Another reason I've been going dull is because the plywoods these days are very wavy and it can show if you do a satin. Plus it hides any "defects" you may have. I always ask satin or dull to the client. And I recommend the dull for large areas such as kitchens and satin for smaller areas as vanities. If they want semigloss or higher there is an up-charge.

11/1/21       #3: What sheen? ...
duster

Website: http://sunvalleywoodworks.com

Like Mastercabman, I've felt the MLC satin was too shiny, and the dull too flat. So we started mixing the 2 together in a 50:50 ratio to get look I wanted. We've been doing this for several years now, with both their pre cat and conversion varnishes. It's easy to do, and gives us the look that works for about 90% of our projects.

11/2/21       #4: What sheen? ...
Mastercabman

"Like Mastercabman, I've felt the MLC satin was too shiny, and the dull too flat. So we started mixing the 2 together in a 50:50 ratio to get look I wanted. We've been doing this for several years now, with both their pre cat and conversion varnishes. It's easy to do, and gives us the look that works for about 90% of our projects."

Mmmmm,not a bad idea
I'm going with the dull finish with this ongoing job but will definitely look into what you described
I guess I will need to charge more on smaller jobs that only require 1 gallon

11/2/21       #5: What sheen? ...
Leo G Member

I don't think their Satin is too shiny. Are you guys looking at it after about 2 weeks. It dulls down quite a bit in that time.

11/2/21       #6: What sheen? ...
Mastercabman

Leo
I do think it's too shinny
Even after a few months it looks the same
I wish their satin would be more like a 25 as opposed to 35

11/9/21       #7: What sheen? ...
Matt

Let your clients decide. You, I, and everyone else here look at things from a production/management standpoint and sometimes the clients see things differently.

In our situation, our clients either are perfectly happy with dull sheen (nearly all of them) or they want something with more sheen than even satin sells, such as "semi gloss" or "bright" (50-60 sheen), but these are rare and are considered a complexity upgrade in price.

From a production standpoint, dull is hard to beat. It's still silky smooth and minor imperfections are nearly invisible. Satin is reasonably close but still reveals more texture/defects than dull.

Thus, dull is what I'd show the clients. Most likely you'll rarely have anyone gripe about it unless they are wanting something that's actually shiney.

11/10/21       #8: What sheen? ...
Daniel Shafner Member

We do satin. Maybe once a year a project gets a dull. Satin is always a 35° 45° sheen. The 25° sheen would be considered flat.

Using the MLC flatting paste is a real pain in the tuchus. It has the texture of the most viscuous paste that you can think of. We don't have a paint shaker, so I have to mix - stir - it by hand.

Mixing cans of 2 different sheens is the way to go. If it were me, I would use gloss as my "sheen adjustment" finish and dump it into the flat. You don't have to mix gloss prior because there's nothing in it to mix. Everything in gloss is in solution, no suspensions.

Dont add more that 10% flatting paste. Verbotten.

Gloss
Semi-gloss
Satin
Flatt
Dull
Matt

11/13/21       #9: What sheen? ...
tiptop

I haven't used MLC in a few years (inconsistent supplier). I too did the 50/50 mix of matte/satin but we called it "hand rubbed satin" in all high-end residential work. Designers eat that stuff up by the truckload.

It's a nice look, just have to give the chic name...lol

I'm all in on Axalta these days and their satin looks shiny at first but 10 days out it's the correct sheen. Currently 100% commercial and never have a problem with it.

11/13/21       #10: What sheen? ...
Mastercabman

I'm going to look into the 50/50 mix
I know that when I use a precat the sheen dies down after about 5-6 days
But this new Turino is keeping it's sheen
I sprayed a kitchen back in early July in satin and the sheen was the same when I went back in early October to install the island (new cabinets)
I'm working on another job and using the dull
I think it looks good
But that's just me,I guess I need to stick with that sheen since I'm repainting older cabinets so that will help hiding imperfections


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