You can switch to a latex or one of the new oil modified/hybrid enamels like Ben moore's "advance", but you should lightly sand the trim first, remove the dust, then apply a bonding primer. Advance paint lays out better than latex, but not as good as an oil based paint. If you want, you just repaint with oil and omit the sanding and priming ( still clean it well first)

I suppose another option, if you don't want to sand, is use an oil based primer that can be topcoated with latex. If you want to do a water based primer, I like zinssers 123. It sticks and levels out well. But you have to sand first, even if the can says you don't need to.

This post was edited by coll_123 on Mon, Sep 29, 14 at 18:35

We painted our kitchen cabinets white with oil paint and they have yellowed horribly over time.

We plan to switch to latex after priming with kilz or zinsser.

The painter came today and recommended Porter 900 over the old oil base paint. I think he said it would require two coats.

If using 900, is similar prep required? Sanding/primer first??

I will check with the people at the paint store too, but would be grateful if anyone here has experience with Porter 900. We've been pleased with their paint in the past.

I am not familiar with that brand, but looked at the website. It says "Bonds with minimal surface preparation". I guess you would have to ask your painter what that means, and I would ask for a guarantee that you won't have peeling problems.

You would think in this day and age paint would be perfected enough as not to yellow. Have you heard of Cabinet Coat? It's supposed to be self leveling, but I don't know about any yellowing. It got a lot of hype on the paint forum a few years ago when I was painting my cabinets(didn't use it though), so you might want to ask over there.

If you are looking for durability without the yellowing I would use Sherwin Williams Pro-Classic Acrylic Alkyd on your trim. They say it can go directly over oil, however I tested the theory out on my own house to see if it was true and it wasn't, so you have to prime with an oil based primer. However , it is extremely durable because it is an oil/water hybrid. It cleans up with water and it is flexible and retains color like a acrylic paint but it has a hard, durable and slick finish like oil. It sprays nice and it brushes well also. It is a little costly but the coverage is amazing. Most paints will take two coats to get the coverage that this does in one. A lot of home owners will try to save extra money on cheaper paint but will wind up paying for it by doubling their time of work.

Also I recommend Sherwin Williams Duration satin for interior and exterior walls. It is truly a scrubbable paint. I painted my rental property with it and 8 years later it still looks fresh. It cleans up with just damp rag. One customer called me back 4 years later for a repaint and I said this doesn't need a repaint. I took a damp rag and wiped off all the dirt, they were amazed and tipped me $50. I basically save them a few thousand dollars but having them spend $200 extra in paint. Think about the long run! If you go cheap it will not last.

I have been painting for 15 years, have run my own business for the last 10 and I specialize in historic remodels and high quality painting. FYI do not trust google or these do it yourself shows. I have tested google with the toughest painting questions and it failed miserably. I have watched a lot of these shows and have seen them time and time again give bad advice that involves skipping steps to save time, which result in a low quality paint job that will not last.

Porter oil paints do not yellow. I have an antique secretary that was painted antique white that has never yellowed (20 years), and trim painted in velvet white with a beautiful finish and no yellowing.

There is one thing and one thing only that factors into whether or not your white oil based paint will yellow - and that is daylight.

For example, a windowless closet that you keep closed. The two sides of the closet door will literally be two different colors. The inside of the door and all the inside trim will yellow due to lack of exposure to beams of daylight. While the outside of the same closet door looks as fresh and crisply white as the day it was painted.

It can be difficult to predict what areas painted with an oil base white will yellow because daylight is hard to track - how much do you need to avoid yellowing, once daylight enters through fenestration how far into the space does it reach, ??? etc.

What I would like everyone to do is let go of the urban legends about oil based paint because they simply are not true. Today's oil is not like the oil paint of long ago.

Every brand, at every price point of oil base paint has the potential to yellow based on the quantity of daylight that falls on it.

Oil based paint is no more durable or scrubbable than the top grade modern water based paints. It fact, it can easily be argued that oil is LESS durable than water-based because at a molecular level it is rigid and tight, is not flexible and cracks under duress. Versus modern water-based resins that are flexible and can expand and contract with substrate. I would never, ever, ever in a million years specify oil for an exterior. Ever.

My last house was about 4,000 square feet, 10 foot paneled doors, dentil and detailed moldings throughout, blah, blah, blah. All painted with high gloss white oil-based paint. I would never, ever, ever in a million years specify oil for an interior. Ever.

:)
Yours truly,

funcolors

P.S. I had to have two sets of French doors repainted before we put that house on the market. The painters sanded so there was zero gloss left, swept and wiped the doors down, and put one coat of acrylic in the same color of white directly over the old oil paint. I literally broke out in hives over their not wanting to prime first. Did not believe it would work or come out okay.

Know what? It was fine. Perfectly fine. The water-based bonded to the deglossed oil like a champ.

In my house, oil based paint yellowed noticably within a few years -- I think it was 2-3, 4 at the most. I can't stand that dingy look, so nevermore........ I think the duraility of latex paints is great -- if the surface has been prepped and the application is done properly

It also depends on the color and sheen of the oil based paint you use on your trim. If you go with a bright white, base one white or with a factory white with a semi-gloss or gloss paint, then you will noticr the yellowing in a few years. especially, if you paint the walls a lighter color. the antique whites that you painted the trim with are colors that are already yellow in tone, so you won't see the yellowing as easily or as soon. I post a picture below to show you how the antique whites are already tinted to a yellow hue.

It also depends what color and what type of sheen, you use to paint the trim. If you use an off white, you won't see the yellowing is much, such as an antique white. However, if you paint oil with the factory white, bright white or base one white with a sheen of sem-gloss or gloss, you will notice the yellowing alot sooner. It is especially noticeable if your walls are a lighter color. Here is a sample of Porter Paints antique white, you can see it already had a yellow hue to it mixed into the can(that isnthe reason it is called antique, its supposed to mimic an older look). Most antique whites do, so it is alot harder to see the yellowing that occurs but I gurantee it is happening.

I have yellowed oil based trim, bathroom cabinets, and doors in a 3000 sq ft two story 3/2 house. A painter told me it would take him 3 months to completely sand down and repaint my trim. What the heck? I'd have to move out from dust and stink probably. Also how much would this cost? Ball park?

3mo!? I DIY my 4000sq Ft house in less than that.