Sanding between all coats

[MissyB71]

Hi all !

I was brought up well and told to sand between primer, undercoats and top coats.

I've come to paint new skirting in my lounge and suddenly my dad said don't bother sanding until before the final top coat ! My world is in turmoil...is my dad right...or is he going senile ?

What will happen if I don't sand between each coat ? What do you do ?

 

[dcdec]

Sanding between coats gives a good key for subsequent paint and it also de-nibs and flattens. Its also important to dust off after sanding.

 

[ajrobb]

I'd like to know too. I kind of assume that fresh oil-based paint hasn't fully polymerised so needs less of a mechanical key than old paint as it can still cross-link with the next layer.

 

[Lyngarth]

A light rub down / de-nib between coats is, in my view a good thing to do and have been doing it for the last 20 yrs.