Can You Sand Zinsser Bulls Eye 123 Primer?

Wanting to get the perfect finish but not sure whether you can sand Zinsser 123 primer or not. Then you have come to the right place as I will be putting Zinsser Bulls Eye 123 to the test, including giving it a good sand.

So let’s get this test started, it’s fairly basic as far as tests go, I just slapped some Zinsser Bulls Eye 123 on some wood and then did some sanding.

Here is the sample, on the left, it has a single coat of Bulls Eye and on the right, it has the recommended two coats.

I will now give it a quick sand with a high grit paper (200 Grit) to just give it a level off. I am not really trying to remove much paint but just level the surface. This is what you would do if you are trying to get the smoothest finish possible.

You can see from the photo above that quite a bit of the primer was taken off when sanding, particularly on the single coat.

That is why it is advised to use two coats of Zinsser Bulls Eye 123 primer.

On the piece that was painted twice the sanding has levelled the finish off nicely without removing too much of the paint. Now it is time to overcoat these samples with a finishing paint and see how they look!

Here is the sample that had a single coat of 123 and was then sanded and overcoated. You can see that the top layer of paint has covered well and none of the raw wood is visible.

But I would be concerned with all the raw wood in the long term. After all, that is why you would use a sealer primer like Zinsser 123 in the first place, to cover it all up. If you just sand it all off again then what is the point?

And here is the sample piece that was painted with two coats of Zinsser Bulls Eye and then sanded and then finally finished with a top coat.

This has worked really well and left a very nice smooth finish.

Conclusion

Yes, you can sand Zinsser Bulls Eye 123, although I would recommend applying two coats of the primer to ensure you don’t end up sanding most of it off!