Tried painting my kitchen cabinets without sanding first

Big mistake. Did it last Saturday and now the paint is peeling off in sheets after just 3 days. Anyone know how to strip this mess off without ruining the wood underneath?

3 comments

3 Comments

allen.kai1mo ago

i mean, is it really peeling in like full sheets though? maybe it's just me but sometimes people say peeling and it's just a little bit of bubbling near the edges or something. have you actually tried scraping a spot with a putty knife to see how stuck it is? cuz if it's only coming off in a few small areas you could probably just sand those spots down and repaint over them with a good primer. seems like a lot of people strip everything and end up making way more work for themselves than they needed to.

hill.margaret1mo ago

Oh for SURE, I totally agree with you and @grantp14 about people going overboard. I had this old dresser where the paint was only flaking near the corners, but everyone online was screaming "strip it all!" so I spent THREE DAYS with a heat gun and scraper. Turned out I could've just sanded those few spots and primed over them, because the rest of the paint was STUCK solid. It's like once someone sees a little peeling they think the whole thing is gonna fall off in one piece, but most of the time it's just surface level.

grantp141mo ago

Hold up, is it really peeling that bad already or are you just being dramatic? Maybe just scrub at it with some warm water and a sponge before you go nuclear on the wood.