Do I have a chance in hell of keeping my white laminate furniture presentable?
February 13, 2012 4:10 PM Subscribe
How can I try to keep my white laminate furniture nice?
So we just bought a house (yay!) and I bought a bunch of overpriced furniture on Overstock (whoops). A few of the items are white laminated particle board, and I am about to build a coffee table and bookcase that are both wood-laminate stuff.
Is there a way to keep this stuff nice, at all? I love the way it looks now but knowing my $200 coffee table is going to look like crap in a year is kind of depressing me. Can I polyurethane it? Glaze it? Should I use Pledge? Or not use anything? And where do you even buy coasters? Because I didn't see them at Target. Thank you!
So we just bought a house (yay!) and I bought a bunch of overpriced furniture on Overstock (whoops). A few of the items are white laminated particle board, and I am about to build a coffee table and bookcase that are both wood-laminate stuff.
Is there a way to keep this stuff nice, at all? I love the way it looks now but knowing my $200 coffee table is going to look like crap in a year is kind of depressing me. Can I polyurethane it? Glaze it? Should I use Pledge? Or not use anything? And where do you even buy coasters? Because I didn't see them at Target. Thank you!
Rubbing alcohol works pretty well to clean it.
I've also used MEK on really nasty cooking grease (when we moved into our house, it was apparent that the former owners probably never cleaned the white-laminate cabinets, ever) but that is pretty high-test stuff and it's carcinogenic and only available for purchase in states with lax health-and-safety standards and you have to take it to a haz-mat dump when you're done. But boy howdy does it work well!
The only thing I'd stay away from are petroleum distillates. I tried paint thinner and gasoline and they discolored it a bit. (Can you tell I was getting a bit frustrated with the grease?)
Alternately, and this is perhaps more relevant to halfbuckaroo's situation than masquesofporfavor's, you can get special laminate-countertop paint that I can attest works very well. We finally gave up on the whole white countertop madness and painted ours a nice "battleship grey" which looks far better. The paint is Xylene based and is probably right up there with MEK in terms of accelerating your relationship with your local oncologist, but we've had it on the countertops for more than a year with only very minor scratches.
posted by Kadin2048 at 5:17 PM on February 13, 2012 [1 favorite]
I've also used MEK on really nasty cooking grease (when we moved into our house, it was apparent that the former owners probably never cleaned the white-laminate cabinets, ever) but that is pretty high-test stuff and it's carcinogenic and only available for purchase in states with lax health-and-safety standards and you have to take it to a haz-mat dump when you're done. But boy howdy does it work well!
The only thing I'd stay away from are petroleum distillates. I tried paint thinner and gasoline and they discolored it a bit. (Can you tell I was getting a bit frustrated with the grease?)
Alternately, and this is perhaps more relevant to halfbuckaroo's situation than masquesofporfavor's, you can get special laminate-countertop paint that I can attest works very well. We finally gave up on the whole white countertop madness and painted ours a nice "battleship grey" which looks far better. The paint is Xylene based and is probably right up there with MEK in terms of accelerating your relationship with your local oncologist, but we've had it on the countertops for more than a year with only very minor scratches.
posted by Kadin2048 at 5:17 PM on February 13, 2012 [1 favorite]
Also, a good way to make cheap coasters is to go to your local home center and pick out some 4x4 accent tiles that you like, and then get the little stick-on felt feet designed to keep furniture from scratching hardwood floors. Stick those on the bottom... done.
If you do it with bigger tiles (e.g. floor or wall tiles) you can make decent heat-resistant trivets. I have some made from ceramic tile and it will let you put a smoking-hot pan down onto the countertop without damage. Very nice right next to the stove.
posted by Kadin2048 at 5:20 PM on February 13, 2012 [1 favorite]
If you do it with bigger tiles (e.g. floor or wall tiles) you can make decent heat-resistant trivets. I have some made from ceramic tile and it will let you put a smoking-hot pan down onto the countertop without damage. Very nice right next to the stove.
posted by Kadin2048 at 5:20 PM on February 13, 2012 [1 favorite]
Coasters often live in gift shops, not homewares shops. No one ever buys them for themselves, it seems. Try some cheapish gift shops or even souvenir shops.
posted by lollusc at 5:40 PM on February 13, 2012
posted by lollusc at 5:40 PM on February 13, 2012
I'm no help with the white laminate but you can usually get cheap, plastic coasters at dollar stores. And if you go the route of making your own, you can customize them to your liking.
posted by sarae at 5:40 PM on February 13, 2012
posted by sarae at 5:40 PM on February 13, 2012
Depending on the table, you might use (beveled & tempered) plate glass the exact same size as the tabletop.
posted by rhizome at 5:41 PM on February 13, 2012
posted by rhizome at 5:41 PM on February 13, 2012
Coasters: Pier 1, Pottery Barn, IKEA, etc.
posted by belladonna at 6:19 PM on February 13, 2012
posted by belladonna at 6:19 PM on February 13, 2012
If you make your own coasters out of tile use unglazed ones so they will absorb moisture rather than have it puddle and run off. Line the bottom of the tile with cork or felt.
Try white vinegar for cleaning prior to using heavy artillery. I mean, you're not planning on having dance parties on top of these things are you?
posted by mightshould at 7:17 PM on February 13, 2012
Try white vinegar for cleaning prior to using heavy artillery. I mean, you're not planning on having dance parties on top of these things are you?
posted by mightshould at 7:17 PM on February 13, 2012
Best answer: You could coat/finish the furniture with shellac or a similar resin. It will give it a glossy appearance, should protect the laminate, and a google search reveals that it is commonly used by people who wish to paint their old furniture (presumably because paint will stick to shellac better than laminate).
posted by Th!nk at 12:49 AM on February 14, 2012
posted by Th!nk at 12:49 AM on February 14, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
You can't use Clorox on it, because bleach interacts with the plastic and leaves it rough and dried out looking. I use Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol on it when it gets stained (whenever anything touches it.) Pledge makes an "All Surface" formula that keeps it looking evenly white, once it's been cleaned.
Coasters must be in the ashtray aisle - one can never find those these days, either.
posted by halfbuckaroo at 4:20 PM on February 13, 2012