Do you have to sand between coats when painting wood?

Question

I'm ready to put polycrylic on some painted wood. The directions say to lightly sand with very fine sandpaper between coats. Why? What if I don't? Will it look horrible? I've been 'working' (mostly in my mind) on this little project for way too long and I want to get it done! Sanding will slow things down.

Carole · Answer

When you use this spray it will make the surface shiny. If you try to apply a second coat over a shiny coat, I am guessing it won't stick very well. The very light sanding takes literally moments to do - wipe over with a tack cloth to clean the grit off after sanding before applying another coat. Instructions are there for a reason. Sanding is generally to provide a 'key' so that further coats will adhere properly. You may be in danger of putting several coats of this stuff on with no sanding in between the stuff will easily be knocked off and won't provide a protective coat as it should.

William · Answer

I use a green scrubbing pad lightly in between coats, just to give some tooth for the next coat and smooth out any imperfections The purple pads are rougher and I use those as a final sand after using sand paper.

9530106 · Answer

There will be minute dust/fiber particles, and occasionally small bubbles that will appear magically out of thin air! The light sanding will remove these, for a smoother coat.

Jennie Lee · Answer

I've gone either way. I recently found out that a friend of mine, who has done a lot of varnishing, at his job, didn't even know he was supposed to sand! Apparently, it is more of an issue if it will need to stand up to a lot of wear/rubbing, e.g. a floor. If you want a glass-like finish, sand it. If it's a shelf in your garage and you don't care, don't.

Marie Menz · Answer

Sand with the finest snandpaper and use a tack cloth to get dust off .this is the best way and it will look great/

Cornelia Schott · Answer

Yes, I would lightly sand before painting. I do not sand between painting or staining wood. The product you display is used as a topcoat or protective finish.

Diana Deiley · Answer

Short version: yes and wipe off the dust. I use a 200 grit sandpaper sanding in circular motion with a very light touch. Always works. good luck.

Louise · Answer

One last question about this. The wood I'm going to use the polycrylic on has been painted a high gloss deep red. I've just done some very light sanding with I think 220 sandpaper and maybe it's just removing the gloss, but I detect a slight change in the color, too. Have I already messed this up? Should I give the wood another coat of the paint and spray the polycrylic on top of THAT, or am I right in doing a super light sanding over the finished high gloss paint job?

Jane Slater · Answer

I painted a table and put a java brown wipe-off glaze to give it an old color. It looked great. So I go to spray it with poly acrylic to protect and follow the directions to sand with 220 grit lightly....grrrrr.....it started removing my glaze and leaving scratch marks. So I wiped with tack cloth, waited the appropriate time and then sprayed another coat. The scratches in the glaze still show. I am so upset -- to get this far into a project, follow the directions and then have the project messed up. Next time I will use wax.

Barbara Baldwin · Answer

Matte. Not gloss

Ana Bacallao · Answer

I did and wiped down completely before applying polyacrylic. I did not use spray but brushed on.

Do you have to sand between coats when painting wood?

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Do you have to sand between coats when painting wood?

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