What paint did you use?

Did you prime?

How did it look before your paint?

Did you wash/clean the rail before you started your process?

What is "rubbing off"? Do you get paint on your hands?

Hi! I used a trim paint. Yes- cleaned, primed. Before I painted it was a dingy white, not like it is now.
The paint is rubbing off. It’s been gradual, so it’s not noticeable on your hands but it looks worn. The pores/little holes in the paint were not there after I re-painted but have appeared.

The handrails need to be stripped and then sanded well, and primed with a sealing bonding type primer, and then two coats of good quality trim paint. If I were going to do them, I would use BM Advance or a good quality cabinet paint. Painted handrails, just dont hold up as well as stained ones though.

hmmm, Seems like something is not playing well with other. Either old finish and new primer not bonding, or new primer new finish having issues with each other. What was use to clean before paint? If you can imagine years of dirty hands using those railing every day. Heavy duty degreaser (probably not citrus based) and much scrubbing. Scrubbing with scotch-brite can aid in deep cleaning, as well as scuff the surface to help adhesion. At this point I think you will have to remove the finish from the problem areas.

I am not a hater of Big Box paint brands, but there are not many topcoat I would buy there. Good quality bonding primer and and a quality enamel topcoat. BM Advance is good if you want a user friendly oil-like (ish) paint. It cures pretty slow though. BM Command will stick to just about anything and dries hard and fast (maybe too fast for brush/roll).

Thank you @chris - I used TSP to clean before.