Tiny paint bubbles all over newly painted wood

[pcdj]

I've just gone ahead and tried to re-paint some radiator covers. I've not primed the wood as they were previously painted in white already, so i simply sanded them down and dusted them off.

The finish is somewhat spoiled by a number of tiny little bubbles all over the surface and i'd like to know what's causing this. I'm using some dulux "professional" gloss, i've only applied the one coat so far, and i'm not using a cheapo brush.

Anyone any ideas what i'm doing wrong?

 

[goodmow]

Did you shake the can first or just open the lid and stir the paint.?
I think shaking can cause the bubbles.

 

[pcdj]

The can may have been shaken up a bit in the car on the way home, but no i didn't intentionally shake it - just gave it a quick stir before slapping it on.

This morning i've noticed that there's a higher concentration of bubbles on the areas where i filled in some damage to the wood with polyfilla, but there are still a few specks generally all over the surface.

 

[joe-90]

These are air bubbles from the surface. When you paint, wait a few minutes and then very lightly draw your brush across the painted surface to get rid of them. Leave your brush tip soaking in a bit of paint half and hour before you paint to get the right level of spring in the bristles.

 

[pcdj]

Thanks for the tip!

Would it be ok to now give these bubbles a light sanding before my next coat so that i can improve the finish? I've read that you need to be rather gentle so as not to scratch the gloss too much - could you suggest any particular grade of sandpaper or should i be going for some wet and dry?