Painted my kitchen cabinets over sanding them and don't regret it

Everyone says you gotta sand everything down to bare wood before painting, but I just used a liquid deglosser on my oak cabinets last weekend and the paint stuck perfectly after 48 hours. Has anyone else skipped the sanding step and had it hold up long term?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_riley5d ago

Oh man, @nora_webb51 you're speaking my language. I did the same thing with my kitchen cabinets last year used liquid deglosser and a good primer and they've held up way better than expected. My mom was horrified I didn't sand but honestly the paint hasn't chipped or peeled anywhere even around the handles where I'm grabbing them every day. It's like all that "proper prep" advice is just people trying to sound professional when really a clean surface and decent paint does the job just fine. Sometimes the shortcuts work because they cut the nonsense and get straight to what actually matters.

keith1644d ago

Exactly. The deglosser is the real game changer. I did my bathroom cabinets with it and a good bonding primer, zero sanding, and they look perfect three years later. The trick is just making sure the surface is actually clean and degreased before you start, not just wiping it down once. I use TSP substitute and go over everything twice before the deglosser even comes out. That's the part people skip and then blame the shortcut. But if you do that right, the paint has no reason to peel.

nora_webb515d ago

Right, and isn't that just how it goes with EVERYTHING now? People are so hung up on doing stuff the "proper" way that they forget there's usually a shortcut that works just fine. I've had friends who spent a whole weekend sanding their cabinets and they still ended up with chips a year later. Meanwhile I used that liquid deglosser on my bathroom vanity two years ago and it still looks brand new. The whole world is full of these unwritten rules nobody actually needs to follow.