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I’m prepping a room for repainting (building built in 1920′s). One curious thing: I have interior doors that when I take a putty knife to them, the paint comes off pretty easily in sheets. I have ‘sheets’ of paint that are flexible and that are the size of a poncho. I can get a piece like this stripped off pretty much just by pulling on it with one hand and using a putty knife behind it to separate it easily from the door…when I do this, a very fine powdery dust is released from the underlying paint surface (the paint underneath is a different color). My suspicions are that the ‘sheet’ is thick latex paint (maybe a few coats) that was painted over a previous oil-base paint and that it didn’t adhere well. Btw, the underlying paint isn’t glossy

Anyway, before repainting these doors, are there any recommended preparation procedures and/or product(s) recommended to use to assure proper adhesion with the new paint? Maybe a certain primer? I was thinking of wiping the doors down with either water or mineral spirits (in the event there is a fine dust layer still there). I’ll be repainting the doors with latex interior paint, probably Benjamin Moore).

Thanks.