Caught myself painting over polyurethane for years without sanding first

Last weekend I was refinishing a dresser from Goodwill and the paint just peeled off in sheets. My buddy who does this for a living walked in, laughed, and asked if I ever bothered to sand before painting. Turns out I had been painting right over the factory polyurethane this whole time, no wonder my projects never lasted. Has anyone else had that moment where you realized you skipped a basic step on every single project?

2 comments

2 Comments

mary_foster921mo agoMost Upvoted

Oh man, I did the exact same thing with a nightstand I found on the curb. I was so proud of how smooth the paint went on at first, but then it started peeling after like two weeks... my whole bedroom smelled like paint and regret. Finally I used a liquid sander deglosser on the next piece and honestly it changed everything, no sanding dust everywhere and the paint actually stuck. Now I always hit it with that stuff first, even if it looks clean. Polyurethane is sneaky like that, it looks fine until you test it.

jenkins.reese1mo ago

That liquid deglosser really is a game changer, I switched to it after my last sanding disaster. The dust gets everywhere even with a shop vac running. One thing though, make sure you scrub that deglosser on hard with a green scouring pad, just wiping it on doesn't break through that factory clear coat. And wash it down with mineral spirits after or the paint might fisheye on you.