Re painting stair banisters- Gloss or satin/eggshell?

[pigleychez]

Just that really. Painting over some rather yellowy old gloss paint we have inherited having recently moved house.

Whats best?

Either satin or egg shell. I like egg shell personally. Water based won't yellow but is less hard wearing that oil based according to my decorator.

Ours are eggshell and look lovely.

Eggshell, nobody does gloss any more. Much nicer finish and it doesn't turn yellow

I would agree that gloss is a far less popular choice now. Eggshell gets my vote.

I have no idea about this either. Do you need to sand it down to put non-gloss on it? Or do you need to sand it down either way?

Egg shell looks great but it isn't as hard wearing as gloss or satin.

Always sand. I do the 2 coats of flat (white undercoat) then 1 of satin. Not everyone does this but it has served me well.

I find eggshell holds dirt. Prefer satinwood. Also, to my eye, eggshell looks like undercoat.

For actual handrails, oil gloss is hardest wearing and easiest to keep clean.

p.s.

If you are painting over gloss you have got to sand the shine off.

I read recently (probably a thread on this forum) that modern gloss paint yellows quickly because the chemical content isn't the same as it used to be. The consensus was not to bother with gloss paint any more.

When low-VOC paints first came out, they were prone to yellowing if indoors and away from windows (sunlight keeps it white).

The formulae have since been improved.

Thanks PigletJohn. I've been trying to find the thread but I don't see it anywhere - just lots of other threads from the past 2 years extolling the virtue of gloss paint!

I was going to gloss mine.

I'm a nobody apparently