Polyurethane On Stain - What's Your Preference - Steel Wool or Sandpaper?

Try 3M sanding pads.

You don’t need anything too severe. Just enough to remove dust nits and to give a little mechanical advantage for the poly to grab onto.

-- jay, www.allaboutastro.com

Use steel wool on solvent based poly only, use 3M pads on water based poly.

-- Sam Hamory - The project is never finished until its "finished"!

If you’re happy with what your results with the current, no reason to change. But if you do change for some reason, do not go to steel wool…..especially with waterborne finishes.

-- I long for the days when Coke was a cola, and a joint was a bad place to be (Merle Haggard)

I just find steel wool easier than sandpaper, but it’s really as simple as trying both and sticking with the one you like best. I have heard, though, that steel wool should NOT be used with water-based poly because of the possibility of steel remnants rusting in the finish.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

After getting rid of the nubs left by the first coat, sanding between successive coats is a waste of effort. Follow-on coats should level out by themselves. When you get the desired build, wait a couple days, and rub out with 0000 steel wool and cheap paste wax.

Also, what’s the point of laying waterborne on top of oil poly? Drop the oil poly and put the waterborne directly on the cured ZAR. It works perfectly; that’s exactly what I do.

-- Clint Searl.............We deserve what we tolerate

I like #00 steel wool but i only use solvent based poly.

-- Building quality in a throw away world.

No question about it – - – Quad Naut (0000) Steel wool! I swear by it.

-- Max the "night janitor" at www.hardwoodclocks.com

I always leave little pieces of steel wool on the project…...someplace. They only show up after the next coat is applied. I never use it because of this. After the last coat if I need some smoothing I might go to steel wool but not between coats. Just my way of doing it. I sand between coats if there is much lapse time between them.

Interesting. So it looks like the consensus here is about as split as with the few people I’ve spoken with around here as well. Ha. Goes to show everyone has a different approach I guess.

It does sound like I had the right idea though, to go with sandpaper since I’m using a water-based poly.

I definitely appreciate all the feedback.