Thanks caseby- your results are somewhat reassuring. I've recently started purchasing the Clorox wipes and use them in my weekly "house blessing". I quickly wipe all knobs (including outside door knobs) and phones and I also use one to wipe my chopping blocks (which are wood - another story but I DO wash them in dishwater throughout the week as well.) Something about sponges which I read here eons ago is that they can be disinfected by putting them in the microwave for 2 minutes (of course not if they have metallic parts). I've been doing this daily when I fix my coffee in the morning. Makes me feel virtuous. I just checked google and found a whole bunch of hits recommending that sponges be microwaved anywhere from 30 seconds to 60 seconds. So I guess I will continue. (Now I don't know exactly when to toss the sponges, always more questions, LOL). Anyway, I think the microwave cleansing should be considered a non-toxic cleaning method (if you don't have a leaky microwave which could be toxic in other ways - check google for ways to test your microwave or just buy the cheap end of microwave ovens and replace every 5 years or so, that's what I plan to do. My last one I had for 25 years and was horrified to read here about someone who had actually had their leakage measured - it pentrates walls - yikes! always something to worry about, maybe I'm one of those obsessive compulsive wannabes's, LOL) --Alice

I've been working on my door frames and windows for months and just tried this. Amazing! Love the fact that it only removes the latex. I was using other methods that removed everything and I don't need that. Now to figure out how to do it to the entire house without becoming toxic from the fumes. There should be a special place in hell for people that do this prior to selling their house. I guess that's a bit dramatic but if you've dealt with it I'm sure you can relate.

"Fine Paints of Europe (FPE) and Farrow & Ball each make great oil enamels and have the price tags to prove it." If they meet the present VOC rules (federal) they are likely excessively thick for good leveling and a flat smooth surface. Those perfect and smooth surfaces took at least a couple coats with light sanding between to knock off ANY dust nibs that settled into the paint. Few can afford, or are willing to perform, this amount of labor. I have a house from ~1930, with a few original doors. After cleaning them up from years of sloppy painting (dust nibs do not go away, they get larger with each coat of paint) they are spectacular.

Professional, licensed painting contractor here. Only age 30, we do very high end work. I do surface testing myself using scientific method and also read a TON of textbooks, literature, etc. The best primer to use is oil-based or alkyd-based, and I’ll tell you why. THEN, I’ll tell you why unfortunately some in the industry LIE. And it has to do with money, special interests, and EPA regulations. IN SHORT: Oil-based primer is better than latex primer because of the binder (oil), preventing moisture from intruding into the wood. (Oil and water don’t mix) Wood swells and expands when it’s surface gets wet. The oil primer prevents the rain from entering wood. This prevents paint chipping and peeling. Latex primer- even if it bonds great to the wood- still doesn’t prevent rain from soaking into the latex paint and latex primer, and then into the wood. When the wood expands, the paint chips/peels because paint has low elasticity. For a more scientific explanation: Ever seen how accidental oil spills in the ocean, result in the oil sitting on top? This is because oil and water do not mix. They cannot mix. This is because water (liquid H2O) is held together by hydrogen bonds. Whereas oils and fats not have any polar part and so for them to dissolve in water they would have to break some of waters hydrogen bonds, which they will not do, so they remain separate. All of the paint advancements in the world, cannot change the fact that the binder in latex paint remains water, thus it is WATER SOLUBLE. This is a problem when it rains. You can paint interior cabinets (just not in bathrooms) with a urethane acrylic (water based) paint and it’s generally fine. But outside wood, where it’s going to rain? It’s a very, very bad idea to use latex based. WHY THE INDUSTRY LIES: Paint Manufacturers (Corporations) receive money directly from our USA government as well as European governments, in order to promote what they call “environmentally friendly policies”. As oil-based paints are less “environmentally friendly” due to a higher VOC count, this results in paint manufacturers and paint stores feeling obligated- generally FINANCIALLY OBLIGATED- to push customers to purchase latex primers over oil based primers, even when oil based primers are much more effective according to science. Oil-based solid stains have actually been cut out of circulation completely… you cannot buy them in the USA anymore. For oil-based semitransparent stains (which are much better than water based stains), only a few states manufacture them and our state needs to have them shipped in. This is because of EPA regulations. I want to reiterate that I am certainly in support of helping the environment, and I understand the importance of that. I think both sides of the aisle can and should agree on that. However, I don’t agree with government corruption or misleading consumers in order to push incorrect claims. Any agendas should be based on truth and honesty, nothing else. There’s a reason the girl, in a comment above, mentioned How she had applied oil based primer to her deck and siding and it held up perfectly, whereas the latex primer and paint over that had peeled. Because latex primer on wood outside, fundamentally does not work on a molecular level. Corruption and EPAA regulations and government funding are the reason why companies incorrectly tell you to do this. But if you get a skilled and intelligent painting contractor, that really knows what they are doing, they’re going to tell you otherwise. And again, I’m 30, I grew up in a time period where I could do experiments/ tests on both oil and latex primers and come to factual conclusions based on the data. I have no bias, except I want to do the best job and make the most money obviously. And jobs hold up better and look better with oil based primer on EXTERIOR wood.