Two thoughts. If you didn't vacuum off the walls, there may have been dried bubble/pockets in the patches filled with dust which only revealed themselves after paint. Or, the compound wasn't dry, the escaping moisture caused the paint to blister.
Winter can cause cold pockets and slowed drying for compound/plaster.
Casey

Thanks for you reply. Your first thought might be right, as I did not vacuum the walls, by fear that that brush attachment would marr the newly applied joint compound. I just dusted the walls with a broom covered with an old towel.

As far as drying time is concerned, it's been two weeks since I did the patches, and even today I tried to patch the blisters with compound and prime over, and more blisters appeared in new places. What would be the solution? Thanks a lot!

Buy a "Fine-dusts" bag for your Shop-Vac (they don't come with these initially) and install it.
* Use the brush-tip attachment.
* Vacuum everything thoroughly.
* Then use a big floor-duster pad and dust again.
* Wipe your hand firmly on the wall...NO dust should be found!

In this case, switch to an odorless oil primer.
* Crack a window if possible!
* Brush a hazy/light coat on your patches.
* Then, prime the WHOLE ROOM.
* NOW use your topcoats!

Faron

I don't ever vacuum patches before painting and never have issues. It could be the actual patching compound is not sticking in places so that when you add the moisture/weight of the paint it pulls it free in those areas that are not adhered.

Thank you all for your replies. I am pretty sure that Faron put a finger on it, since I did not vacuum the walls. I was also wondering, even though I have always been using the same brand of drywall mud, could they have modified their formulation making it harder to adhere to previously painted surfaces? Thanks.

PG does have a point about not vacuuming, and having good results.
I only mentioned vacuuming because most homeowners would probably have better results that way...relative to just swiping a big towel around!

"Mud" formulation change?
I doubt it...most are pretty basic ingredients.

MY thoughts here are that there is some dust/moisture leftover on the patches.
SOMETIMES...Latex primers can have issues on a slightly dusty/slightly moist patch.
An OIL primer wouldn't be affected nearly as much.

Prime as I suggested above...it SHOULD solve things!

What is on the back-side of the bubbles??!
>>> Is it the primer...paint-color only...or did some patch material release too?!??!

Faron

This is what boggles my mind. The bubbles go right through the patch material all the way to the old paint on the walls (5 1/2 years old same Para Ultra Suede paint, but a different color). If I scratch off the bubbles with my fingernail, the joint compound is still adhered firmly to the paint, and the compound around the bubbles can't be scratched off the walls. The walls were washed with diluted 20:1 solution of Mr. Clean (as I always did before)and rinsed with clean water, and allowed 2 days to dry, and 2 more days before I applied the primer to the patches.

I would rather not go with an oil primer, mostly for environmental issues, and also because latex dries faster and keeps good longer in a well sealed container.

Here are the steps I took:
Washed the walls with the 20:1 solution of Mr. Clean
Rinsed with clean water
waited 2 days
patched screw holes, cracks and dings with drywall mud and sanded
vacuumed the whole floor
dusted the walls clean with a towel over a broom and vacuumed the whole floor again
waited 2 days
applied BM "quick dry prime seal" primer with a roller
waited 1 day (to this point still no bubbles at all)
applied 1st coat of Para Ultra Suede paint
bubbles formed in the five minutes following application of the Para finish coat.

Thank you so much for your help, I really appreciate it.

Yeah the patching is not sticking to the wall for whatever reason. I would scrape the bubbles off, and sand the area that the patching is not sticking to. Then, buy a can of spray Kilz and spot prime those areas with that. Now you have a clean, primed surface with which to apply patching compound to.

Thank you all for your help. The joint compound is a three-gallon bucket that I bought 6 months ago for another room that went without problems. I know it did not freeze since I bought it.

As far as my patches are concerned, I know I will have to sand off ALL of the joint compound, because I tried to brush some KILZ over them, and more bubbles appeared in different spots, and the compound around the bubbles can't be removed easily from the wall, which makes me think it's not really an adhesion problem, but more of a chemical reaction. However, I would really like to know what could have went wrong, so that my new patches don't have the same problems. Thanks.

wOlley, before you do more work, I would check with the paint store. It certainly sounds like a chemical reaction. You might also check with the manufacturer of the paint.

As PG said, use the Kilz OIL spray...OR
use an OIL brush-on primer for the patching.
This should stay stuck.

Faron

Thank you all for your replies, and for taking time to try to help me.

However, there is no way I am going to use a polluting oil based primer for indoor work, so I am going to get a new bucket of joint compound, and hope that it works out just as nice as in my 40+ other paint jobs.

Hello w0lley32,
I have worked in the ink and coatings industry for 36 yrs or so and have experienced tiny bubbles forming on patching compound after sealing them with latex primer or even after a top coat with latex or acrylic paints.
This may be caused by "off gasing".
Because the patching compound on a smooth surface is applied in very thin film it is subject to quick penetration. Components in the patching compound react with resins and or solvents in the latex paints to form gases which bubble up through the surface of the wet paint.
Even water base systems have evaporating components.
For sure using an oil base Alkyd primer will prevent the bubbling but if you top coat this with a latex or acrylic (water base) paint or primer it may penetrate the alkyd and off gas again.
The sure way to prevent this is to top coat with Alkyd paint but it is clear you do not want to use these products so another avenue may be to patch the bubbles with a different type of compond such as Polyfilla that dries much harder than conventional drywall compounds or even white wood filler.
I've used both and had good success.
You can patch a small area first ,sand and clean and test it for bubbling after you prime with a good latex.
For sure you need to find a patching compound that dries with a harder finish to prevent latex penetration and off gasing, otherwise you'll get stuck using Alkyd.

I'm coming across the same problem with Easy Sand 90 and Ultra Spec paint by Ben Moore. I think it boils down to all of the chemicals in the "latex paint." I've been painting for 35 years and this has only been in the past couple of years that I'm seeing these bubbles and wrinkles. I have to: scrape it off, prime with oil kilz (over a larger area than the patch), sand the primer, patch it with Easy Sand, sand it,and finally seal it with kilz. Then I top coat it. I found the oil kilz to be the most effective. I've gotten to the point where I'm priming all the areas that I need to patch with oil Kils first and then following with oil Kilz to seal it, and then priming all the walls with latex primer if they need it.