Dealing with peeling one coat gloss

[LtheWife]

Just moved and the previous owners had done a quick freshen up before putting the house on the market. Unfortunately they used one coat gloss on the woodwork without doing any prep so of course it's now peeling off like pva glue. The older gloss underneath is very yellow but otherwise seems sound. Is there a recommended way of removing the peeling paint before sanding everything down to repaint?

[moreismore]

I would just peel off any big bits and then sand the lot. As long as you take off any loose paint and rough up the surface underneath you should be fine. I'm not an expert though!

[LtheWife]

I had feared that might be the only way moreismore. 17 Doors, 17 window frames and what feels like miles of skirting boards, picture rails and stair spindles. And it's all loose enough to peel off if knocked. It wouldn't be so bad if they'd put a thick enough coat on that it came off in sheets, but a thin coat and brush marks mean it mostly tears off in little strips.

It's going to be a long job. I can see why they chose to use a one coat paint!

[Emily7708]

We had exactly this situation in a previous house and used spray bottles of sugar soap with a heavy duty sponge. The one cost gloss came right off and left the old stuff intact.

[LtheWife]

Oh that sounds promising Emily, I'll give it a try.

[BaggyAnn]

You could also try nitromors