Our sandpaper tub is a huge, disintegrating plastic bin, filled with used-so-often-they’re-opaque ziploc bags. Faded writing on the bags say things like “120”, “80”, and “Mixed”. At last count, there was sandpaper for use by hand, with soft sanding blocks, with hard sanding blocks, and three (or 4, depending on how you count it) DIFFERENT kinds of power tools. One of the power tools has 2 different ways the sandpaper can be attached.

It’s enough to make your head spin. Maybe some basics are appreciated?

GRIT

• Sandpaper comes in various grits. Basically, the lower number the coarser the sandpaper. It means the bits of “sand” are larger, meaning fewer of them would fit through some imaginary sieve.

• 40, 60, and 80 grit sandpaper (coarse to medium) will make quick work of paint removal. It will also make quick work of any sub-surface removal, and will leave visible gouge marks. We use 40 only as a grinder level grit, on fiberglass.

• 120 and 220 grit are the powerhouses in our arsenal, used so often we have been known to search out packs of 100 sheets. Considered “fine” and “very fine”, they're good at smoothing out the gouges left by more aggressive sanding but also leave enough tooth for the next paint layer to adhere. We tend to use 120 between primer coats and 220 when we’re dealing with paint layers.

• 320 and up (you can get to 1600!) are for fine detail work. The bigger number, the smaller the scratches; polishing metal is best done with something around 600 or more.

ADHESION

I’m not sure how to label this section. It’s all about how you fix the sandpaper to whatever it is you’re sanding with. It matters! Bottom line: be mindful of what system your sander needs and make sure to buy the appropriate paper. I was rummaging for 60 grit discs and was thrilled to find a huge roll, only to be brought back to earth when I realized they wouldn’t work with the sander we’ve got.

• Plain paper. You can use this with your hands, with sanding blocks, and with power sanders that use some kind of mechanical fastening - usually a pressure arm kind of thing.

• Sticky paper. Only good with special sanding pads designed to take this paper; I’m unsure if you can buy orbital sanders with this kind of pad. We use these with the pad fit onto the drill, as a grinder.

• Hook and loop paper. Kind of like velcro. Only good with sanding pads designed to take this paper; the orbital sander we have came with a hook and loop pad so this is the kind of paper we need to have to use it.

A word about cost. Sandpaper is expensive. Buying it by the individual sheet can cost up to $4 EACH; I can go through 5 sheets in one good day of sanding the bulwarks. You can save money by buying it multi-packs. On the last purchase round, we opted to try a cheaper brand that was $10 for 25 sheets, instead of the 3M brand that was $14 for 20 sheets.

TLDR? We’d spend the money for the 3M next time. Often we fold the paper, or bend it, in order to get into the little nooks and crannies. I like to take a quarter sheet folded into 3rds and use each part systematically. The cheaper version, from a company called Fandeli, seems to have a thick coarse backing paper that essentially breaks when you fold it. And forget bending it into a curve to get at a rounded part. Trying to fit it onto a palm sander would be an exercise in frustration.

Happy sanding!