I tried painting over varnished wood and now it scratches off. What can I Do?

I am painting trim and doors with interior semi gloss paint, and some of the wood has poly or varnish (not sure) on it and the paint is scratching off is there anything I can topcoat the paint with to prevent it from scratching off?I tried painting over varnished wood and now it scratches off. What can I Do?
Likely, your paint is water based latex. That would explain why it peels off easily.





rough up the varnish with medium sandpaper. Wipe off all the dust. Prime the varnished wood with OIL BASED primer. One coat is enough. Let it dry completely. Paint over this with any kind of paint, including latex.





Enjoy your new space!I tried painting over varnished wood and now it scratches off. What can I Do?
No, there is nothing you can put over the new paint to make it stay on the varnish better. The problem is with the bond between the varnish and the paint; namely, there isn't much of a bond. The only real solution is to scrape, sand or chemically dissolve the new paint to remove it, and start from scratch with sanding and primer on the varnish.
Before putting on any paint, you should scuff up the surface with sand paper, then go over it with a primer, and then paint it. The problem is that the cured varnish has no pores in it whatsoever. So, the paint has nothing to hold onto. By scuffing the surface with the sandpaper, you give the primer something to hold onto. The paint then holds onto the primer.
I don't think there is anything you can do now. You should have used primer before painting the trim and doors.


I always use primer before painting anything. I have found Kilz to be the best primer.
You can use a product called ';Bite';, or you can get some sandpaper and rough up the vanished surface to make it more accepting of the paint.
you should have sanded and used primer, if you paint over anything with a finish or gloss it will peel right off. Start over!