I'm in the process of refinishing the woodwork in my house. The woodwork
was originally painted with an alkyd paint which has significantly
yellowed and darkened. I don't ever want to go through this effort
again, so I'm using a latex enamel.

Prior to painting, I've roughed up (ie, de-sheened) the woodwork using
sandpaper. This sanding prep work is really tedious and has to be done
by hand (eg, the baseboard has 5 faces, two of which are curved, and 3
very small ledges where faces join).

I don't know how much more of this prep work my hands can endure. Is
there some sort of magic non-toxic goop I can apply to the woodwork to
minimize the amount of sanding I have to do? (Note: I do not want to
totally strip the woodwork of paint, I just want to rough up and
de-sheen the surface so the new paint can grab.)


Thanks,

Jean