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Good preparation is essential for a good quality finish.

• How to prepare wood for painting:
• Remove dirt and grease.
• Remove all loose, flaking materials from the surfaces to be decorate
• Scrape off all bits and lumps.
• Fill holes and cracks with appropiate FILLER.
• On previous paintwork wash down with hot water and SUGAR SOAP. Do not use household aerosol spray cleaners.
• On good paintwork rub down with fine sandpaper or a WET AND DRY abrasive paper to give the new paint a key or wipe with sugar soap applied with a sponge
• On badly damaged, cracked, bubbled or very old paintwork, strip back to bare wood using a chemical STRIPPER or BURNING-OFF.

New Wood. Painting new wood. Painting bare wood. how to paint...

• Preparation of new wood is straightforward.
• Clean off and dust before applying knotting if needed.
• Knotting dries almost immediately so primer can be applied soon after.
• Primer should be allowed maximum drying time, overnight is best.
• When primer is dry, sand down, dust off and undercoat.
• For a better finish apply two undercoats, allowing time to dry between coats.
• It is a good idea to rub down with fine sandpaper after each coat.
• For a superior finish you can apply two coats of top-coat, the second being applied within 24 hours of the first. If the first Finish coat gets too long to harden then the second Finish coat may eventually be susceptible to chipping off.

Sandpapering. How to sandpaper. Using sandpaper. Grades of sandpaper. Wet and dry sandpaper. Emery paper.

Wooden surfaces to be stained or painted by the decorator usually have major roughness already removed, but are seldom smooth enough for sand- papering to be entirely dispensed with if a first-class result is required. As with other seemingly simple operations, there is a right and a wrong way of doing this, and the importance of doing it properly is not always appreciated.

Providing the woodwork feels only slightly rough when the hand is passed lightly across it, fine sandpaper is generally most suitable. It should be held perfectly flat against the surface; when large areas have to be papered, a flat piece of cork, wood, or rubber can advantageously be employed as a pad, and the sandpaper wrapped around it will be kept in level contact with the wood. Ready-made sandpaper-holders are obtain­able and are very useful.

The most important points to observe are to maintain even pressure and never to rub across the grain of the wood. If undue pressure is exercised on any part of the Work, there is risk of leaving a faint hollow or depression, which, though it may not be obvious at the time, will probably be quite noticeable after the finishing operation has been completed. Unless rubbing is done up and down the grain, when applying stains, the stain may dry out patchily, with some parts darker than others.

In good-class work, any resinous matter in knots should be completely cut out, if this is practicable. Even a trace of free rosin in the wood will cause oil or spirit stains to creep away from these points, since the rosin tends to soften when wet material is applied.

Sandpaper is graded from very fine to coarse. Sheets are code numbered on the back to indicate the degree of coarseness. For most work a medium grade is adequeate.

For progressively finer work black emery paper is normally used, known as wet-and-dry because using it with water creates a very fine finish.