Both can refresh a tired kitchen. But painted doors chip, and laminated doors peel. Here’s how a properly fitted wrap compares, and why it lasts.
The short answer
Paint can look lovely on day one, but it's a thin coat that wears through where kitchens get the most use. A properly fitted wrap is a tougher, factory-made surface, so it lasts longer and looks more even.
Why painted doors chip
Paint sits on the surface as a thin layer. Around handles, on door edges and on the bottom of base units, it takes knocks every day, and that's where it chips first. Shiny factory-finished doors are also hard to paint well, because paint struggles to grip them without heavy sanding.
Touch-ups rarely blend in, so a painted kitchen often needs redoing sooner than expected.
Why laminated doors peel
Most off-the-shelf kitchen doors that people call laminated or melamine are actually thermofoil: MDF with a thin plastic skin heat-pressed on in the factory. That skin is much thinner than the architectural film we fit, and it is only glued to the front and edges. Heat from ovens, kettles and dishwashers slowly breaks the glue down, which is why it lifts first next to the oven.
Doors made from melamine board with a separate edge strip are tougher, but the strip can lift when steam and water get behind it. Either way, we can usually strip the failing surface and wrap the doors. Not sure which doors you have? See our guide to thermofoil, laminate and melamine.
Finish and choice
Paint gives you solid colours. Vinyl gives you solid colours too, plus woodgrains, marble, concrete, metallics and textured finishes that paint cannot recreate.
Architectural film has a factory-made surface, so the finish is even across every door with no brush marks or drips.
Disruption
Painting usually means sanding, priming, several coats and drying time, often with doors taken away. Wrapping is cleaner: no sanding dust, no long drying times, and you can carry on using your kitchen. Most of our kitchen wraps take 3–5 days on site.
Durability
The architectural films we fit are rated by their manufacturers for up to 10 years in normal use, and stand up well to daily cleaning with mild products. Because the film wraps around the edges, there's no exposed edge to chip, and the heat-formed corners hold their shape.
When paint might be better
If your doors have very ornate mouldings or carvings, a hand-painted finish can be the better choice. We will tell you honestly if we think your doors are not right for wrapping.
Why they fail
- Paint is a thin coat that chips at edges and handles, where hands and knocks land
- Most “laminated” doors are thermofoil: a thin plastic skin pressed onto MDF, and heat from ovens and kettles breaks the glue down until it peels
- Melamine edging strips lift when steam and water get behind them
- Repairs are hard to blend, so touch-ups show
Why it lasts
- A thick film with a protective top coat, not a thin layer of paint
- Wrapped around every edge and onto the back, so there's no edge to chip or catch
- Heat-formed on the corners so it holds its shape
- A damaged door can be rewrapped on its own, in the same film
