Do I have to sand my cabinets if they were already painted with paint?

If the existing paint is in good condition, you don't need to do any sanding. But you do need a primer coat. Primer is necessary when you are painting a light color over a dark color. Let the exert at the paint store advise you on that point when you buy the paint.

Mayan

I have been working with kitchen cabinets for over 20 years and yes, you should sand them.

The main reason to sand your cabinets before a color or stain change, is to make the wood surface rough, so that the next coat of paint/stain has something to grip on with.

Sanding leaves little depressions and pores in the wood, and when you paint, the paint actually flows into those depressions and pours and acts as a anchor. Sanding also helps eliminate built up grease and oils that are in the air in the kitchen from cooking foods.

Hopefully you have a power sander or you can get one.

You can start with 100 grit paper, then go to 220 grit, and finally 400 grit sandpaper.

Not sure how many coats of the off white paint you are going to do, but since the cabinets are dark in color it may take at least 2 coats if you do not primer first.

Hope this helps, and good luck with your project.

Yes, you should scuff sand, meaning you don't really need to put any elbow grease into it, you just need to rough them up. This helps the paint to stick, as it will go on too thin if the surface is smooth. Being dark brown, a primer will definately benefit you and most likely save you money, since enamel costs more than primer. A primer will also help you tremendously with adhesion. However, the one thing that no one has mentioned, which is probably the most important, is to know if your current paint is latex or oil based. If you should choose to skip the primer, you need to make sure you don't put one on top of the other. With a primer you can use whatever you want, but some people skip the primer and you dont want oil based on top of your latex or vise versa.

If you just paint on top, the paint will start to chip really quick. You need to sand them down to make the surface just a little rough, and this makes the paint adhere a lot better. Plus, to get the very best result, you need the doors to be super smooth first.. so sand them, and use a gloss roller instead of a brush.

If you lightly sand over them, you will give the new paint some "grip" for better adhesion. Don't forget to put down a sealer first or you'll need about 6 coats of white to cover up that dark brown.

hi :) sand back to get a good "key" on the old surface- then paint with etch primer or similar... :) cheers steve

You should lightly sand them all over. Especially if the brown is at all glossy.