Cleaning Painted Wood Before Repainting

Here s how to take on the task.

Cleaning painted wood before repainting.

Painted wood takes a little extra care to clean but that doesn t mean it s impossible. In general it s not great idea to use water on your painted wood so dust frequently to keep from having to deep clean more than necessary. If there are creases or hard to reach small places on your wooden surfaces use a small scrub brush or toothbrush to clean it. It is important to remove any flakes from the surface via sanding or scraping before repainting.

But there is no point whatever in cleaning bare wood with tsp or latex painted wood with tsp. This is also a good time to scrape any old flaking paint off and to sand down old paint lines. If mildew is a common problem on your exterior wooden surfaces consider repainting with a paint designed to prevent mildew. If you do use tsp then i would also clean the residual tsp off the piece of furniture with a clear water wash or denatured alcohol.

Primer helps paint stick and improves the coverage so you can dramatically change the color of the old wood if. There are ways to safely clean your house before painting using a pressure washer including using lower psi pressure washers widening the spray and standing at least two feet back. You can then sand the entire surface to give it a more textured surface that your paint will easily stick to. If you have an oil based paint on your wood then i d clean them with tsp if you intend to repaint that wood.

Painting over cracked paint is a bad idea. But as long as you don t use water. When the wood is clean and smooth use a latex based primer especially made for exteriors to prepare the surface for a new coat of paint. Painting season may be waning and you need to paint sooner rather than later.

Before painting apply primer to the old wood surface whether it is indoors or out.