First time skirting board painting -- tips?

[Heartsease]

I foolishly told my DP that I would paint the upstairs skirting boards this weekend while he is away. I am quite handy around the house but have never done this before. I was planning to prep them by scrubbing with sugar soap, filling holes, then sanding down with one of those spongy sanding blocks before another quick wipe and then eggshell.

Will this be OK? Is it worth buying a mouse/detail sander to help with the prep? Should I use an undercoat? They aren't fancy skirtings, and have many coats of paint on already (which I cannot be bothered to strip right back -- they just need to look OK).

You are doing a lot more prep than me! I just slap another coat on . So yes to me that prep sounds more than ok!

You don't need a detail sander as I assume you are painting them the same colour so not removing the paint just giving it a key so it takes a new coat.

Everything you are doing is good, the more prep you do the better the finish.

I find that the mouse sander is actually very helpful for that kind of fiddly work. You don't have to stick to their ready-sized sanding paper kits - you can cut your own cheap sanding paper to fit.

Oh thanks all, this is very reassuring! I feel strangely drawn to the mouse sander, not quite sure why. My idea of a frivolous and amusing purchase seems have changed over the years .

no point buying a sander really, just need to fill the holes and lightly sand to give a key for the new paint

sand, fill, sand the filler, u/coat, eggshell. LOL at 'frivolous and amusing purchase'. I have decorated two bedrooms in the last mont. How I managed without a mouse sander, I will never know...

Do I have to undercoat? Hmm.

Re the frivolous sander -- we have already put three coats of emulsion on all the walls of a 3 bed house, and I'm so booooooooooorrrred now. I am evidently craving novelty. Vanilla decorating just doesn't do it for me any more .