Do I need latex primer to paint my walls?

I dabbed an alcohol swab on a cutip. Then I rubbed the cutip against my wall(kind of roughly too). The paint came off. There was a test on howstuffworks.com that said if the paint comes off after rubbing a coton ball (i used a cutip instead) on your wall, it is latex paint.





Since it did come off, I bought latex primer.





I've prepared everything for painting this wall, but I'm really not sure that it is latex paint on it or not, i needed to apply a bit of force to get the paint off(not too much though).I was wondering if there was a better way of determining what the paint on my wall is, and if that requires a certain type of primer?





Also, my wall is a light yellow color.Kind of like a yellow vanilla. It's ver light, a few shades yellower than white. Would I need primer if I am going to paint it a shamrock green?





Thanks for everyone's advice.





Also, my house is relatively new, about 8-9 years old. I heard latex paint was a newer technology, just in case you need that information.Do I need latex primer to paint my walls?
you did exactly the right thing to test what type of paint you have on your walls and good for you for doing so because most painters don't even do that.





you say that you have prepared your walls does this mean that you have repaired any cracks or screw heads that have popped? if so have you primed them? what i do is if there is alot of repairs then i apply a coat of primer that is tinted close to your finish coat but if there are very few or no repairs then no you don't need to prime just us your finish coat. if you juts spot prime the walls then sometimes it will show through your new finish coat. as far as the finish for your new paint do you have young children and what room {s} are you doing? if you have young children and or you are painting a bathroom and or kitchen then you want a scrubable finish not a washable finish. also my advice would be to not by that crap that they sell at home cheapo or any of the other box stores. deal with your local independant paint store like a benjamin moore or pratt and lambert. not only will you be supporting a local business but you will get very sound advice from them.Do I need latex primer to paint my walls?
latex paint has been around for many years now. i wouldn't worry about a primer because you're going from a light shade to a darker shade. however i'm willing to bet you that ONE coat of paint WON'T be enough to cover the older paint. regardless of what the paint manufacturer says that one coat will cover all. i've never found that statement to be true. having said all that what is new with latex paint is you can now BUY WASHABLE LATEX PAINT. the old stuff was not really washable. i have the washable stuff in my bathroom and after 5 years it still looks great, even though there is a lot of moisture in there. Latex paint is WATER and SOAP clean-up.


where as ENAMEL (which is a great paint) is not. think i bought the washable latex paint at home depot. make sure the can says washable latex.