How to Prepare Bathroom Surfaces for Painting

Bold colors can help infuse your bathroom's design scheme with personality and style, particularly if it is looking dated. However, before you paint bathroom surfaces, you need to properly prepare the area. Many surfaces are slick for easier cleaning, but will not accept new coats of paint if you don't first prep the finish. Fortunately, the preparation process isn't overly exhaustive, and even a novice painter can achieve good results.

220-grit sandpaper
Trisodium phosphate cleanser
Towel
Painter's tape
Plastic sheet
General purpose or bonding primer
Paintbrush
Paint roller

Instructions

- 1
  Sand glossy surfaces with 220-grit sandpaper. One of the most important parts of bathroom prep is sanding. Cabinets, trim and even some bathroom walls are coated with slick gloss, making it hard to apply new paint.
- 2
  Clean the bathroom surfaces with a trisodium phosphate cleanser. Normal bathroom cleansers may leave behind residue that reacts poorly with paint, but trisodium phosphate cleansers cause no adverse reactions.
- 3
  Dry the cleaned surface with a towel, or let it air dry. Cover any fixtures you don't want painted with painter's tape or plastic sheets. Even experienced painters occasionally make mistakes.
- 4
  Prime the bathroom surfaces with a brush or roller. Use a general purpose primer on walls or sanded cabinetry. If you are painting a surface that is still very glossy, even after sanding, then use a bonding primer. Wait for the primer to fully dry. Once your surfaces are sanded, cleaned, taped and primed, your bathroom is ready for painting.

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