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Hi, could do with some advice about a problem iv'e got with emulsion paint bubbling on some walls today, at a bit of a loss to what might be causing it never had it happen before! It's previously painted walls that i have sanded back and then cleaned down with warm water and diluted sugar soap. On the first coat the paint produced small bubbles in patches (mainly around the sockets and switches funnily enough) over the walls, when they are touched they dont burst its almost like bubbles you might expect under paper. The paint im using is Crown trade vinyl matt emulsion and roller sleeve is a Hamilton superlight. At first i thought it might be leftover residue from the sugar soap or something but the walls were fully dry as i did the ceiling and other bits and bobs before the walls. I've left it at the first coat for now as I wanted to leave it overnight and hopefully be ok tommorrow. Any ideas what may cause this? thanks in advance

Sugar soap needs plenty of rinsing with clean water ... but I don't think this is your problem. A previous coat of paint has not adhered to the plaster or to some coat of paint since the walls were plastered. Where you washed the surface the paint got wet and ready to bubble when you put the paint on which stays wet longer it penetrated and you get the bubbles. You can leave them alone if they go flat and they will come up next time you decorate until one day they lift and you end up seeing bare plaster (you don't want this last step as it is painful).

The cavalry will recommend this product http://www.zinsseruk.com/product/peel-stop/ but as I have not used anything like it I will let others tell you what to use.

It's a weird one that occasionally happens due to gas release from the paint or filler. There's nothing much you can do apart from sand and fill the bubbles, dab in with a thinned coat and re roll the area.

These blisters are not uncommon and in most cases they will go away when the paint dries. If your walls are prone to them then don't overoll your walls as the blister can (if it gets too wet) detach from the wall and wrap around your roller sleeve and then disperse and re-deploy over your neatly rollered walls in the most miniscule of pieces

If they don't dry back you will have to pick them off and fill them, recommend a bit of peelstop from Zinsser around the edges and another drop over the sanded filler and edges prior to repainting.

This sort of thing can cause a severe downsizing of your sense of humour