Instead, spray the cleaner on, let it dwell for a few minutes and wipe it off with a rag. Clean the surface twice to be sure it is thoroughly clean.
Sanding
Omit this step if the house was built prior to 1978 (see lead paint explanation and warning above). Sanding will level out any previous brush marks, as well as further degloss the surface and resurface it. Use 220 grit sandpaper, and sand in the direction of the wood length and grain. Vacuum the sanding dust and follow up with a micro fiber tack rag.
Prime
If you are repainting with oil based enamel, you won’t need to prime if you cleaned and sanded the surface. If you are painting with latex paint you will need to prime is you were not able to degloss or if you are converting from oil to latex (see below). Shellac primer (Zinsser’s BIN) is my favorite enamel ‘undercoater” - see Priming Interior Wood
Converting from oil enamel to waterborne enamel
Prime with a solvent primer (oil or shellac primer) if you are going to change over to latex enamel from oil. Doing so will prevent potential problems. Latex primers will take time to cure before they are scratch resistant, and may not prevent a crackle finish. Stay with the solvent primers and be safe. See How to Paint Latex over Enamel also see Painting Over Varnish if the trim was stained originally.
Latex Enamel: The new types of latex enamels known as "waterborne" enamels, are very similar to oil enamels in flow and leveling. They have pretty good adhesion as a rule providing the surface is clean. Most (if not all) latex enamels will not yellow as will oil, and are simple to clean up.
Spraying:
A down side to the latex enamels is that they still don't spray as well as oil with an HVLP sprayer - but they do spray nicely with an airless. So, if you have a lot of trim to paint, (such as in a new house - new construction scenario) where the use of the airless sprayer would be justified, then latex enamel may be a good choice for spray application, otherwise use oil with an HVLP.
How to apply the newer waterborne enamels.
I personally like the waterborne enamels. Once you get used to applying them, you can get a "spray-like" finish with them - with a brush. My favorite is Sherwin William's Pro-Classic but Benjamin Moore waterborne Impervo and Muralo's Ultra are good products too.
The rule for application of the waterbornes is: "lay it on, lay it off, and leave it". Simply put, apply the material, smooth it out, then leave it alone, don't overwork and re-brush it. The waterbornes are made to level out so don't interfere with the paint by over-brushing. See Latex vs. Oil Paint -Advantages and Disadvantages
Painting Sequence
When painting a room, paint from the top down. Do the ceiling first then the walls. Next paint the trim and woodwork.
Getting clean lines
You can tape the trim off with paper tape. This will allow you to get clean lines at the wall where the casing meets the wall. Remove the tape as soon as the trim is painted and before the trim paint dries.
Repainting trim work is a bit different than painting new work. With repaints, pre-paint cleaning and intercoat adhesion are very important issues to deal with. On repaints you will probably not be spraying so you will need to do a good job with the brush and roller. See How to Paint Trim and Woodwork With Enamel for application tips on getting a fine finish with enamel.
Cleaning
Probably the most important step in the surface preparation. Use a good degreaser like Krud Kutter’s No Rinse Pre-Paint Cleaner. Spray the product on the trim and scour it with a scour pad, then wipe it off. This will clean the surface and degloss it at the same time. If there is lead based paint present and if the house and trim were built prior to 1978 (the year lead paint was banned), omit scouring the surface and / or sanding the surface.
Latex or Oil
Which is better oil or latex enamel? It depends. Let me outline the pros and cons of both.
Oil Enamel: has very good adhesion, and some versions in particular have extremely good leveling (Satin Impervo and ProClassic). Oil dries slower allowing for more working time. Oil has a very tight film making it more stain resistant. The disadvantages of Oil are the solvent clean up and all oil enamels yellow to a greater or lesser degree over time. The yellowing is more pronounced in dark areas which don't get much light. I have gone back to touch up in the (dark) basement of a new construction job only to find that the particular oil enamel I used had already started to yellow after only two months.
Please read lead paint warning if your house was built before 1978
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