Oh, that was confusing, wasn't it? The first set of cabinets I used the STIX, which I really like. When I got 22 cabinet doors, I thought I was going to lose my mind painting them in 104 F heat. I sucked it up and went to Duron and got the Spray Zinzer. You know how it's recommended to sand between coats? With the spray can, I definately had to. It was definitely rough. However, after an actually light sanding, it was just fine. The STIX was far smoother (and thicker from the brush application) and also only needed a light sand. I think I kind of cheated. On the 2nd coat of primer for the doors, I used the STIX around the frames where they'd get the most use. Particularly on the uppers and base drawer fronts where I might kick it shut. I wasn't concerned about the flat panels because I live alone and was (practically beaten silly as a child) trained not to touch the cabinet doors, but to use the handle. I also am incapable of touching the car windows, glass screen doors, or make finger or lip prints on a glass. Hmm.. I think I just discovered yet another aspect of not only my OCD, but from where it stemmed. Hmmm.... The thing I stand firm on, actually is the Cabinet Coat. I will use it on every trim and cabinet in my house. [she cried out, pointing finger in the air!] Anyway, just do it. It's just paint.

Shee & Co., Sorry it took me a while to get back to this.... Skewing: I shouldn't have mentioned this goofy little point, but now it's out there! It's only relevant in a few "Real-life" scenarios. It mainly pertains (to ME anyway...) paint applied too thinly, therefore revealing a hint of the primer color. * Example: If someone uses a "pink" primer under Burgundy, the whole paintjob can appear too light, 'cuz the primer is too white. * To ME...Gray is more appropriate, 'cuz it alters deep colors the "least", if paint is applied too thin. * Gray primer has its limits though! If you're painting a vivid "Lemon Yellow" or "Basketball Orange", THEN you'd need a primer that's almost the final paint color! A medium-gray primer COULD give a grayish-cast to bright, vivid tones. Curing/Bathroom use: * Sorry Shee.....you'll have to smell for a month.........;-) * JUST KIDDING! * After 2nd paint coat has dried for a day, use bathroom as normal. It needs that 24hrs. to get the initial surface-dry so steam doesn't re-soften the paint slightly. * "Full Cure-Out" mainly refers to the complete dry-thru/hardening of the applied film...SO IT'S WASHABLE. "Sweeping": * If you're working L-to-R, the RIGHT edge of a "swept" section will be the wettest. * Therefore, you're OK to slightly work into this section. When sweeping your 2nd column, start from its left edge, overlapping into 1st column slightly. * Ease-off the pressure on your rollers left side just a hair when overlapping a previous sections' final sweep. Faron

I'm glad to know you guys don't like deglossers over sanding. I'm a professional decorative painter and always choose hand sanding on furniture pieces but have been tempted a few times to try a deglosser. I also agree that sanding and thoroughly cleaning trim in preparation is not a fun job, lol. A few years back I had a client who had a paint crew come on and put latex over oil painted trim...absolute disaster....ended in a lawsuit. I have pretty good luck with sanding and a bonding primer like 123 or C2... But a recently repainted a cabinet that had been done in oil and I did have some adhesion issues....I remember wishing I had just repainted the darn thing in oil. I believe one of the companies makes a non smelly oil based primer now, but I tried one and didn't care for the way it laid out...brush strokes. 123 levels out nicely, which is why I use that a lot. I would think using an oil based primer would be another way to eliminate sanding, though. Many of the oil primers say they can be topcoated with latex. Which always seems odd to me too! Maybe because they dry to a flatter sheen, gives the latex something to grip. I agree that the easiest thing is to thoroughly clean and repaint with oil like Ben Moore satin impervo, but aside for the yellowing factor, the op was considering a zero voc paint so oil is not gonna give you that....and the whole hassle of cleanup, of course. Oh, and when you see a primer that says it requires no sanding- ignore that. If you want to ENSURE latex sticks over oil, sand, and clean well. I was lazy painting over my own oil trim with 123 primer, and where I sanded it stuck well, and where I omitted the sanding, it didn't.

wryorwhite -- Don't be scared by all this talk of yellowing. It's exaggerated. Bear in mind that oil-based paint was essentially all that was used in American homes through the 1980s -- so unless you're a teenager, you were around when any house you'd walk into (including the one in which you grew up) had its walls painted with oil-based paint. Trust yourself and your own experience...do you ever remember walking into a house and thinking to yourself "My, these walls are awfully yellowed!"? I sure don't. When's the last time you've heard someone say "Oh, look at those walls! They've gone from looking like snow to looking like Big Bird! This is certainly oil-based paint!"? Never. Yes, oil-based paint yellows very slighly with time. So do all oil-based products, including the clear polyurethane with which wood floors are most often finished. This "yellowing" effect is minimal, and it's not something that jumps out at you or is offensive or anything like that. You have to actively look for it, and the only people who do that are (a) homosexuals, and (b) people who work in the marketing departments of latex-based paint companies. The drawbacks of latex-based paint have largely been resolved in the past few years. The latex-based paints of 2008 are a far cry from the ones of 20 years ago. This is especially true with the high-quality brands like Pratt & Lambert. Modern high-end latex pains bond to drywall well, hold up to moisture and cleaning well, etc. However - latex-based paints aren't as good as oil-based paints when it comes to moisture and dirt resistance, standing up to scrubbing, and bonding to wood. They never can be, because oil (unlike latex) naturally resists water, and naturally soaks into wood (rather than just sitting on top like a skin). Think of what happens when you mix oil and water -- they don't mix; instead, they just separate and keep apart. So moisture and dirt don't bond to the oil-based paint, so it's very easy to clean without damage. In addition, oil-based paint soaks into wood -- unlike latex-based paint, which forms into a skin that you can peel off. This is one of the big drawbacks of using latex paint on high-traffic wood items (like kitchen cabinets). My house has latex-based paint on the walls and ceilings, and oil-based paint on all the wood trim (including the doors and windows and cabinets) -- this is a time-tested and popular arrangement, and it has held up very well for me and my neighbors. Speaking of polyurethane -- there are two types, oil-based and water-based (latex-based) - same as paint. ALL of the manufacturers -- Minwax, Cabot, etc. -- recommend strongly in favor of using the oil-based polyurethane on floors. It's tougher, it holds up better to traffic and moisture, and this "yellowing" effect that the self-proclaimed experts yammer on about are so minimal as to be non-existent. The same is true with the oil-based vs. water-based (latex-based) paints. Again, trust yourself and your own experiences -- how many times have you walked into a home and thought to yourself that the painted walls and ceilings, or the wood floors, were yellowed?