We are often asked, what is a polyurethane kitchen? What are its pros and cons?

First of all polyurethane is a two part paint that is very hard, durable, very colour stable, available in almost any colour and different gloss, satin or matt finishes.

Not to be confused with acid catalysis coloured lacquers which have a lot of the qualities of polyurethane except they are perhaps a bit more brittle on the corners and not as colour stable, and therefore a white kitchen in a few years will be a shade of beige or cream, and unfortunately not consistently all over but where the ultraviolet light from the sun hits the doors as it comes through the windows it is markedly different to the rest of the kitchen.

It’s virtually impossible to tell just by looking at a painted door what type of paint it is. Therefore if it’s important to you, you need to ask your supplier a few questions.

Polyurethane is recognised by professionals as the top notch finish for kitchens and furniture.

Polyurethane for kitchens and furniture is very similar if not the same in formulation to car paint which takes all the battering of stones and shaking around that comes with being mobile.

Some of the reasons that it is a bit dearer than other finishes is its:

• High cost per litre
• It needs to be sprayed in a professional car spray booth with filtered air in and out,
• After its sprayed it is baked in a oven to speed the curing process
• It’s more difficult to work with than other finishes due to its hardness and requires more sanding time.
• Its toxicity when being sprayed requires all the proper safety systems
• Polyurethane kitchens are kitchens with doors and panels made from a melamine satin board which is a smooth coated MDF (medium density fibreboard) and then sprayed with two part paint in a spray booth and then baked. Generally only the face and seen edges are painted with the polyurethane. The back of the doors or the face inside the cabinet remains white.

One simple explanation is that polyurethane is a paint sprayed on to a MDF Substrate and vacuum doors are a plastic film stuck on to a MDF substrate.

A common comment we get when talking to customers is that polyurethane chips and therefore vacuum door kitchens are better. All we can say is that we get asked many times a year to come and look at someone’s vacuum kitchen to see if we can fix it up and virtually none for polyurethane.

(The salesperson could of been selling house insurance yesterday, kitchens today and cars tomorrow.) But most self respecting tradesman that have been in kitchens for a while and know their prducts won’t waste their time on a vacuum kitchen.