I'm back and my kitchen is just about done.
We took a $67 risk and bought Restorz-It online and are more than THRILLED with the results. The only reason I can think of why this product is not famous and all over the internet is that it is such a wonderful, easy, and inexpensive option, that it is banned from the Big Box stores ....
www.restorzit.com
The only thing I took real caution about was REALLY cleaning and cleaning and cleaning with the nice smelling Restorz-It cleanser, which is grapefruit- seed based, very concentrated, like an orange cleanser but more concentrated. The woman customer service rep said the stain could dry sticky if it was not cleaned enough, and there were 25 years of grime on the corners since there were no knobs or pulls. Perhaps I over-did the cleansing, but it was all so easy and pleasant.
I didn't even take the dishes out of the cupboards.
We washed it down. 24-hours later we stained the first coat.
It took 2 of us about 45 minutes to put the stain on.
3 days later we stained the second coat.
You cannot really change the color. We were hoping to darken our stair railings, which are the same oak as the kitchen cabinets, because we are having maple floors put in, and we thought the darker contrast would be nice. The Restorz-It darkens the parts of the grain of the wood that would soak up the stain, but the parts without the grain would still be the same color. I'm not sure I'll like this effect. We are trying it first in one bathroom.
I have youtube videos of before and after, and I'll post some photos here too. You can see the before above in the earlier posts.
A fabulous product, and I have left-over so I can re-apply in a year or 2 or 3 as needed, though it seems fine. It is not shiny as in some of the photos. It looks like restored wood, with the oils and depth of beautiful wood. I'm just amazed still. Our kitchen remodel, with all new stainless steel appliances, granite counter and new sink and faucet, walls painted and the Restorz-it and knobs cost about $5,000. Thrilled.
Etana, Silver Spring, MD
here's 2 home-made videos we made; we're getting nothing from the Restorz-it company, it was just practice making a video for me
Before Restorz-It, including the washing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Z-7wTNTOQA
After Restorz-It
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGhBm39998M