Emulsion bring off old paint - distemper crisis, what will stick?

[dave163]

Advice appreciated for painting a small but awkward shaped under stairs cupboard in my Victorian terraced house. The plaster was probably reskimmed 50 years old and painted magnolia many years ago. I started putting on new Dulux matt white emulsion today with a roller and it's all peeled off leaving a chalky dusty white powder under the magnolia paint that won't scrape off any further. I think it might be distemper.

What's the easiest way to go from here to get paint to stay on the walls? As it is basically a large cupboard it doesn't have to be living room pristine. I can't be faffed to sand down the walls both because of the mess and being an enclosed space the dust will get through any cloth face covering I wear - can't find FFPs anywhere these days.

Is there anything I can prime the walls with? I did wonder about whether an oil based paint would work - I have an enormous tin of Dulux wood gloss but am not sure if that would work? Then I came on here and see mention of Zinsser but they do umpteen different products so not sure which one to go for?

If I get Zinsser do I just wash off as much dust as I can then paint over the plaster? I haven't got the paint off one wall yet, can I Zinsser over it or do I need to emulsion it first to get the old paint off? The once I've put primer on how soon can I paint over it?

I don't particularly care what the interior of my cupboard looks like so long as it has white walls and not bare plaster....

 

[sparkwright]

You should be able to remove it with warm water, if it is distemper.

Once dry you will need a mistcoat on the bare plaster.

It may not be distemper - it may be that a mistcoat was not applied to what you describe as 50 year old re-skimmed plaster.

If the surface is as dusty as you describe, once you have removed as much loose crud as you can, a stabiliser may solid things up.

 

[dave163]

So would a primer like the Zinsser range work and if so what to get? Tried misting once before in another room and still the paint wouldn't bond properly so seems a lot of faff if it won't work and still have to try sometyhing else.