Unpopular opinion: sanding between coats of paint is mostly a waste of time

I just finished painting my kitchen cabinets and after the third coat I realized the areas where I skipped sanding look exactly the same as the ones where I sanded... nobody can tell the difference. My husband kept saying 'you have to sand or it'll peel' but I tested a corner and it's been 6 months with zero issues. Has anyone else found that sanding between coats in low-use areas is just a myth?

2 comments

2 Comments

williams.sage1mo ago

My friend Janet redid her laundry room last year and skipped the sanding between coats on a hunch. She's got three boys and that room sees more action than my kitchen ever will, and after twelve months the paint still looks perfect with no chipping at all. I think a lot of the old rules came from a time when paint was a lot less forgiving than it is now.

miles_burns1mo ago

Right? I did the same thing on our hallway last summer, just got lazy and rolled the second coat on right after the first dried. That hallway gets scraped by bike handlebars and dog claws daily and it still looks brand new. @williams.sage is spot on, modern paint bonds so much better than the old stuff, I honestly think sanding between coats is mostly a myth at this point.