Sanding - grr

[JoceAndChris]

I'm so desperately bored with sanding. It never ends. Currently sanding the dining room woodwork, again. Couldn't live with the previous colour choice. (London Clay/Chicken poo brown by FnB)

What makes this sanding so much worse is that I have to vacuum myself to get clean. If I want water, I have to go to Asda and buy it as we have none. I can't even wash our clothes in our spring as it's dried up. As for the toilet - well! Mixing Immodium into my muesli and hoping for the best.

There, I feel better for that little moan. Would it be realy really bad if I didn't sand and just gave the woodwork a quick wipe with white spirit prior to repainting? Chris need never know?

 

[worms]

Drink the spirits and all your cares will be gone!

Legal footnote: I'm not, of course, advocating that anyone should ever drink white spirit!

 

[JoceAndChris]

:lol: Like it.

 

[Flyfisher]

Would it be realy really bad if I didn't sand and just gave the woodwork a quick wipe with white spirit prior to repainting? Chris need never know?

A light sanding, if it's gloss paint, followed by your suggested wipe-down would be fine I think. Actually, with very old paintwork, I'm wary of making the finished result a little too 'new' if you know what I mean. Not so much from the new paint as such but more the way it lies on the surface. Multiple layers of paint change surfaces and edges in subtle ways; sharp corners become rounded, mouldings become 'softer' etc. Hard to describe but I suspect we've all seen the effect.

There are limits, of course, and I certainly wouldn't advocate erasing any traces of fine details under a mass of paint, but I'm convinced it's not always necessary to sand away all traces of earlier paintwork - and not merely for the (rather convenient) side-effect of saving a lot of time, work and mess.

Sorry to hear about the water woes though - hopefully you'll be sharing some of the rain that's been falling over us today.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Rain? Please send it - we haven't had any serious amounts of water since the snow melt. It spits a bit and then decides to be gloriously sunny again. I'm burnt, the grass is burnt, the leaves are falling autumnally and there are great cracks in the ground and no worms for the chickies!!

Still, what an extraordinary summer so far.

I completely agree with you about thick, interesting layers of paint. Unfortunately, the previous owner liked the stripped pine look and took a lot of the paint down to bare wood in the dining room. I gave a couple of coats to some bits when I moved in and again this year so I'm mainly lightly sanding that to give a key to the next colour. Skirtings, shutters, window, window sill, plate shelf, 2 doors, panelling - I guess it's 2 or 3 weeks' work to sand it all and repaint.

I'd better stop complaining and just get on with it I suppose.

 

[michael]

Count your blessings that you’re not preparing your woodwork for linseed paint as some would have you do. If you were, I think you would have given up and moved into a nice 'new build' on a housing estate by now.

 

[JoceAndChris]

! It wouldn't be possible to linseed paint all the interior woodwork in this house by myself. I still haven't decided about the exterior.

But despite all complaints, I'd still ratehr be dead than live in a new build on a housing estate. Girls like complaining anyhow.

 

[Penners]

I'm so desperately bored with sanding. It never ends. Currently sanding the dining room woodwork, again. Couldn't live with the previous colour choice.....Would it be realy really bad if I didn't sand and just gave the woodwork a quick wipe with white spirit prior to repainting? Chris need never know?

Good heavens, no! Are you really trying to sand off all the paint before you repaint? :shock:

I'd follow FF's suggestion - a quick rub over with fine sandpaper (P120 or P150) and wipe down with white spirit. Nobody will ever know the difference.

 

[JoceAndChris]

OK thanks. I haven't been trying to remove every trace of paint but I think I've been going overboard as I'm using a little electric palm sander and it sort of lifts the paint so you end up taking most of it off if that makes sense.

 

[Penners]

Provided the paint already on there is sound, that's really overkill (unless it's all so thick that it's blinding out moulding details).

Give yourself a break! :wink:

 

[Pford75]

Joce - You might want to consider using some liquid sander (International used to do one and I know that Polycell do one). It's not a miracle cure for all sanding as it still involves elbow grease in my experience, but it does remove the excessive dust which is created by abrasive sanding. We've used it to very good effect on architrave etc where sanding was impractical due to fine details. I have also used it on a couple of doors and the finish of the repainted door is no different to those which were sanded with paper/blocks

 

[Feltwell]

If you really hate the dust from sanding, Abranet with a good vacuum cleaner may be worth a try. Not used it myself, but it gets decent reviews from the user review bit on Screwfix.

http://www.screwfix.com/p/mirka-abranet-starter-kit/36414

And for those cynics who believe that Screwfix only put the positive reviews up, they don't - check this product out. Mind you, Screwfix don't seem to take any notice of the reviews either as they keep on selling the cr@p products!

http://www.screwfix.com/p/angled-compound-mitre-saw/59824

Like the others say though, no need to go overboard on sanding. I've never wiped down with woodwork with white spirit either - just mixed up some sugar soap solution and used that, it's a lot less smelly (DO wear gloves though - it's quite caustic). Not sure if white spirit offers any advantage over sugar soap. There is no need to rub down after sugar soap treatment if the detail is impossible to rub down - just sugar soap thoroughly, rinse well with clean water, allow to dry and then paint.

http://www.screwfix.com/p/no-nonsen...0g/21982#product_additional_details_container

 

[JoceAndChris]

Lovely tips, many thanks. I'll be glad to ditch the white spirit in favour of sugar soap. And I hadn't heard of liquid sander - amazing for delicate mouldings, I'd imagine! And Abranet really looks worth a try - thanks.

I do hate the dust but even more than that it's the sound and feeling of sanding, and how it roughs up your skin. I don't really like wearing gloves all that much either. I like painting though, and that's next.

I'm going to do a whole lot less prep.

 

[CatherineB]

Joce - You might want to consider using some liquid sander (International used to do one and I know that Polycell do one). It's not a miracle cure for all sanding as it still involves elbow grease in my experience, but it does remove the excessive dust which is created by abrasive sanding. We've used it to very good effect on architrave etc where sanding was impractical due to fine details. I have also used it on a couple of doors and the finish of the repainted door is no different to those which were sanded with paper/blocks

 

[CatherineB]

What I was trying to say, and third time lucky before I give up, is that....

I used the Polycell liquid sander on our sash windows. It is labour intensive, mucky stuff, and requires a lot of cleaning off after application. Probably not a viable option for Joce right now, in her drought-beleaguered state. Joce, you could have had some of our rain today with my blessings - it rained all morning and the tumble dryer chose today to break down.

 

[Flyfisher]

Not sure if white spirit offers any advantage over sugar soap.

An interesting point. I've always used white spirit after (lightly) sanding out of habit but, now you've mentioned it, that might just be a habit from the days when paint was mostly oil-based; i.e. it makes sense to clean the prepared woodwork with a solvent compatible with the paint.

With the prevalence of water-based paints these days, perhaps a water-based cleaner, such as sugar soap, would be a better choice? It would certainly be less smelly.

 

[Penners]

Not sure if white spirit offers any advantage over sugar soap.

Just one, in my experience: you have to rinse off sugar soap then wipe and allow to dry. With white spirit you just wipe it over and then wipe it off with paper towels.

 

[Feltwell]

I take your point FF - but it's actually what I've always done, even on oil based paints. Now you've said it the argument over having a compatible solvent makes sense, but I've never had any problems with the new paint not sticking. The sugar soap does dull the surface gloss slightly of the old paint. I've normally used this brand - not sure if the different brands vary in their effectiveness much:-

http://www.decoratingdirect.co.uk/viewprod/b/BEESS/

I think the main point is to degrease the surface thoroughly - which sugar soap or white spirit will do. I'm not sure it matters too much about the type of paint under it.

If anyone really wants to use white spirit then you can get low odour white spirit, it is much less pungent than the standard stuff.

http://www.google.co.uk/products/ca...i=qyTtTbSHPM3qOZ2p4KUB&sqi=2&ved=0CDMQ8wIwAA#

I'll stick with sugar soap though, it seems to work fine. I take the point on rinsing Penners, but I think I quick trip round with a bucket and sponge is easy enough to rinse it off and personally I think it's preferable to sloshing white spirit about, which is not a pleasant solvent.

 

[MatthewC]

I'm so desperately bored with sanding. It never ends. Currently sanding the dining room woodwork, again. Couldn't live with the previous colour choice. (London Clay/Chicken poo brown by FnB)

What makes this sanding so much worse is that I have to vacuum myself to get clean. If I want water, I have to go to Asda and buy it as we have none. I can't even wash our clothes in our spring as it's dried up. As for the toilet - well! Mixing Immodium into my muesli and hoping for the best.

Oh Joce, you've actually made me cry with laughter! I am so sorry for your water misfortunes and I share your troubles with sanding.

A light sanding, if it's gloss paint, followed by your suggested wipe-down would be fine I think.

If only. I wish I could do that. I have six doors plus panelling on the 18" wall aperture for four of them, all done with some yucky dark brown varnish which clogs all known abrasives in seconds, so I am using a heat gun to remove the muck before sanding. This produces a multitude of black slugs of the stuff at my feet!

Matthew
http://houseintheenchantedforest.blogspot.com/

 

[Feltwell]

What makes this sanding so much worse is that I have to vacuum myself to get clean. If I want water, I have to go to Asda and buy it as we have none. I can't even wash our clothes in our spring as it's dried up. As for the toilet - well! Mixing Immodium into my muesli and hoping for the best.

Immodium - too much information! Funny though.

What happened to the idea of a water tanker delivering into your rainwater tank?