Any idea what's causing this cabinet finish to wear?

[Mindy Jensen]

Over at a friend's house, his cherry cabinets are "wearing" at the edges. Just a poly coat on them, no stain, and it's at the bottom of the cabinet. He's at a loss why they look like this. 

Any suggestions would be helpful.

[Sean Walsh]

Hiya Mindy,

I am a cabinet builder and have worked pretty extensive with finishes. I think this is a combination of two things. Polyurethane is a very hard finish. Hard finishes tend to crack and flake more than softer finishes. In time they will begin to do exactly what you have shown there especially when there was not enough coats of finish originally applied. Conversion Varnish is the industry standard for finishes because you can apply it thicker than other finishes, it is durable, and still has a bit of elastisity to it. That is my best guess looking at the picture. Why there? Could have been that there was just a little extra dust there, or some other contaminant that is making it flake there first. If this is showing up on the bottom of the drawers, this also could be the result of the drawers rubbing up against your friends legs when opening them. Jeans have a little bit texture to them and when standing in front of an open drawer we often rub the bottom edge with our legs. One way or another, I can pretty much guarantee there was never three coats of Polyurethane on those cabinets and there should be. I hope this helps.