My kitchen cabinets (from a 1938 house) are solidly built hardwood.
They are stained a very dark color but are a bit tired-looking where
the stain is wearing off. So the painter who did the outside of my
house said that he'd sand and stain the cabinets along with my very
nice front door (round top with big hinges) which had a lot of
scratches and a white film (mold?) was spreading.

Yesterday his helpers did the cabinets. They very lightly (barely)
sanded them and wiped them down with a solvent. Then they painted them
with Minwax Wood Finish ("penetrates, seals, stains") in dark walnut.
To make a long story short, the cabinets are still tacky-wet after
more than 24 hr. I told my mother, who knows about these things but is
200 mi away, and she said they used a penetrating product on a surface
that was probably sealed and impervious, so it's just sitting on top
and he has to rectify it.

I can call Minwax on Monday to get advice but when the painter comes
tomorrow, I need to know what the options are so he doesn't
experiment. Is there a way he can wipe off the tacky stuff and go back
to the way the cabinets were before? Right now I just want to punt
this project but I don't want the cabinets ruined.

The door is another problem. He has it HALF sanded (sanded spots and
not-sanded spots) and said Friday that his strategy will be to use the
same product as the kitchen which he thinks is dark enough so that he
won't need to remove the hinges, numerals, etc. and sand the whole
door. He anticipates that the stain will cover the sanded parts and
the non-sanded parts uniformly. First, I doubt it. The finish that is
remaining is very very dark, the underlying wood is reddish. Second,
based what happened on the kitchen cabinets, it's not going to work as
a stain over that old finish in the non-sanded spots. Third, this is
an exterior door and I don't know if this product is an appropriate
one. Fourth- this is my beautiful front door and I'm afraid he's going
to ruin it!

Help! What to do about the cabinets? What to do about the door?*

Thanks for any advice to solve this fiasco.

Sue(tm)
Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!

sue at interport dot net