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Hot take: sanding between coats of paint is totally unnecessary for most walls
I keep seeing people in every DIY group insist you have to sand between every single coat of paint on interior walls. I'm sorry but that's just wrong for 90% of us. I painted my whole living room last month and skipped sanding between the primer and first coat and between the first and second coat. Used Behr Premium Plus from Home Depot with a 3/8 inch roller nap. The finish came out perfectly smooth. No brush marks, no roller texture issues, nothing. Unless you're painting over a glossy surface or you've got actual drips and runs, sanding just kicks up dust that settles into your wet paint. I learned this after doing a hallway three years ago where I sanded between every coat and ended up with tiny dust particles trapped in the paint. Has anyone else tested this and found sanding made things worse?
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theagarcia3mo ago
Have you ever actually painted over a surface that was slightly uneven before, like patched drywall? Because that's where sanding between coats really matters. I've been painting for years and skipping sanding is exactly how you end up with a finish that feels like sandpaper to the touch once the light hits it wrong. Those tiny imperfections from the primer or first coat don't show up until the final coat dries, and then you're stuck with a bumpy wall that needs another whole round of sanding anyway. Behr Plus Plus is decent paint but it's not magic, it won't fill in those little ridges without some help.
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