Quick Tip: Sanding Between Coats Smooths Results

Light sanding between finish coats removes dust nibs and creates tooth for the next coat to grip. This step transforms good finishes into professional-quality work.

Grit Selection

Use 320 to 400 grit sandpaper between coats. Coarser grits scratch through finish while finer grits dont provide enough tooth. These medium-fine grits work perfectly.

Sandpaper varieties for wood finishing

Light Touch Required

The goal is scuffing the surface, not removing finish. Two or three light passes suffice. The surface should look uniformly dull without visible scratches or shiny spots.

Clean Before Next Coat

Sanding creates dust that must be removed completely. Vacuum first, then wipe with tack cloth. Any remaining particles get trapped in the next coat.

This simple step adds ten minutes per coat but dramatically improves the final appearance. Professional finishers never skip it.

Jennifer Walsh

Jennifer Walsh

Author & Expert

Senior Cloud Solutions Architect with 12 years of experience in AWS, Azure, and GCP. Jennifer has led enterprise migrations for Fortune 500 companies and holds AWS Solutions Architect Professional and DevOps Engineer certifications. She specializes in serverless architectures, container orchestration, and cloud cost optimization. Previously a senior engineer at AWS Professional Services.

100 Articles
View All Posts

Subscribe for Updates

Get the latest articles delivered to your inbox.