Sanding Walls

[Johnmelad]

Before painting any wood, I always lightly sand and clean with sugar soap and rinse with clean water.

Today I was painting a room for a chap who has had a stroke and was previously (only told today) a professional decorator.

He wanted (insisted) that I sand the walls before applying emulsion. I never factored this into my quote, but did it any way.

Apart from washing walls down with sugar soap and rinsing, I have never sanded them. Have I been doing it wrong all these years?

 

[WabbitPoo]

If painting onto plastered walls, presumably they need to be smoothed anyway before you paint, so rubbing down seems to be a requirement. It is in my house anyway cos the walls are terrible.

 

[Johnmelad]

If painting onto plastered walls, presumably they need to be smoothed anyway before you paint, so rubbing down seems to be a requirement. It is in my house anyway cos the walls are terrible.

These were perfectly good flat painted walls.

 

[emilybronte]

These were perfectly good flat painted walls.

Whether you sand/rub them down or not will depend on how plaster-perfect they are. I just run my hand over the wall before I start and if it feels even slightly rough, I always sand it before painting.

 

[misterhelpful]

As said, if the walls are good and don't need de-nibbing, sanding isn't usually necessary, unless you are applying matt onto a silk base. Is that what you were doing?
In many cases, even sugar soaping can be OTT.