Tried painting my kitchen cabinets without sanding first and now I'm paying for it

I watched like 5 YouTube videos that said you could use liquid deglosser instead of sanding and I thought hey that saves some work. So I spent last Saturday degreasing and deglossing my oak cabinets in our 1950s house, then put on two coats of cabinet paint. Looked amazing for about 36 hours. Now the paint is peeling off in sheets on the door edges where my hand touches to open them. I guess the deglosser didn't work as well on the old varnish around the handles. Has anyone else had the deglosser trick fail on high-touch spots?

2 comments

2 Comments

mason20919d agoMost Upvoted

36 hours before peeling started? That's wild, usually the cheap deglosser gives you like a week before it fails. I've seen guys try that trick and regret it when the paint starts curling at the edges within days. Sanding is the only way to get real adhesion on old varnish, no shortcut beats mechanical grip.

richardharris19d ago

Wait, only 36 hours? That's even worse than the usual horror stories I've heard about deglosser. I'm surprised it didn't even last a full weekend before it started peeling.