Filled a hole in plaster - it looks rubbish, can anyone help please?

[Kidsarekarma]

I've filled in a smallish hole in my kitchen wall with good quality filler (polyfilla), sanded it smooth and painted.

It looks rubbish and lumpy, although it feels really smooth. There's a picture on my profile (left hand side of photo).

Can someone please let me know what I've done wrong and what I can do to sort it? Any advice would be very welcome.

TIA

You need to continue to sand until flush with the wall not just until its smooth. Can take ages so you have my sympathy

Thank you coffee, it looked so good until it was sanded

I'll give it another go tomorrow.

I have rough and smooth sandpaper and used the smooth one. Should I have used the rough one?

Start with rough sandpaper and finish with smooth.

I stopped using polyfilla on advice of of a plumber friend. I now use self-mix powder stuff that came in a box. Much better as you can add more water/powder till you get the consistency just right, and you can faff with it for a while before it dries to get it as smooth as possible.

When you sand, wrap the paper round a block of wood so you know you're only sanding the bits that are proud of the hole.

Buy an electric sander, start with rough. Finish with smooth.

My whole house looks like that...it's not that bad.

Interesting (if you can call filler that!) about the powder stuff. I did consider that when shopping but decided that I wouldn't know how much water to add.

I was hoping this is the one and only hole I will have to fill. Fat chance. I am going to have to hone my DIY skills as I'm the only one to do repairs around here.

Good tip about the sanding block Turnip, I'm sure there's one in the shed somewhere...

Oh, I have an electric sander and have never used it. I didn't think of using it for such a small job I wonder where it is

I bought it a while ago with the intention of stripping down and painting some bedroom furniture. You know, One Day

My dad showed me a really good trick
Just smooth over with a bit of water, wet cloth when it's still not dried
He did loads in our house, with no sanding required!

I wish I'd known that Pinkpot, sounds much easier.

I HAVE FOUND THE SANDER. The instructions are in pictures so that's hopeful.

I have done it with the electric sander (it was so easy ) and it looks a million times better, thank you Lynette - and all of you for your great suggestions. Phew!

I would not have sanded it.

Apply it with a broad metal knife and scrape it flush with the surround before it has set.

You can also scrape set plaster flat, using a broad scraping knife, but poilyfila sets too hard for that to work well. It is less dusty if you moisten it.

Apply the minimum possible amount of plaster or filler, and press it well into the hole. Thers is no point in applying an excess since you will have all the effort of taking it off.

Sanding is very very dusty and messy. A scraper is much cleaner.