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A sandpaper grit chart sorts abrasives by the size of their particles: the higher the grit number, the finer the sandpaper. Coarse 40 to 60 grit strips paint and shapes wood, medium 80 to 120 removes machine marks, fine 150 to 180 is the last step before paint or stain, very fine 220 to 240 goes under clear finishes, and 320 and up is for sanding between coats and wet sanding before polishing.
Below is the full chart from 24 grit to P5000, a grit finder that gives you the sequence for 14 materials and jobs, and a converter between US grits, European P grades and microns. That last part matters more than most charts admit: above 220, a sheet marked P400 is a different grit from one marked 400, and mixing them up is the most common reason a “fine” sheet leaves scratches you didn’t expect.
Jump to: grit chart · grit finder · what each grit is for · CAMI vs P vs micron · by material · FAQ
Sandpaper Grit Chart: Coarse to Ultra Fine
Abrasive makers don’t agree on the names. Klingspor calls everything from 150 up “fine”, Family Handyman splits the same range into four grades, and Mirka’s own sanding pads put 220 in “super fine”. The grades below follow the names you will see most often on US packaging, with the CAMI grit (the plain number used by US brands) and the matching European P grade.
Top number: CAMI grit (US). Bottom: FEPA P grade. Coarsest first, finest last.
| Grade | CAMI grit | P grade | Average particle size | Use it for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Extra coarse | 24-36 | P24-P36 | 535-715 µm | Floor sanders on cupped or very uneven floors, stripping thick coatings, heavy shaping. |
| Coarse | 40-60 | P40-P60 | 268-428 µm | Stripping paint and varnish, leveling rough or weathered wood, deck boards before stain. |
| Medium | 80-120 | P80-P120 | 116-192 µm | Removing planer and saw marks, the first grit on most bare wood, shaping body filler. |
| Fine | 150-180 | P150-P180 | 78-93 µm | The last grit before paint and most stains, drywall joint compound, feather-edging car paint. |
| Very fine | 220-240 | P220-P280 | 53-66 µm | The last grit before a clear finish, sanding primer, scuffing between coats. |
| Extra fine | 320-400 | P320-P800 | 24-36 µm | Between coats of varnish or paint, wet sanding car primer, acrylic and 3D prints. |
| Super fine | 500-1000 | P1000-P2000 | 9.5-20 µm | Wet sanding clear coat defects, plastics and resin prints before polishing. |
| Ultra fine | 1200 and up | P2500 and up | under 9 µm | Final refining before polishing compound: clear coat, headlights, high-gloss resin. |
Grit Finder: What Grit Sandpaper for Your Project
Pick what you are sanding, then the job. You get the grit sequence in order, the equivalent grade on the other scale, and the maker whose instructions the sequence comes from. Where no maker publishes a sequence, it says so.
Grit finder
Your grit sequence
Bare wood: Before stain
- 120≈ P120Start
- 150≈ P150Smooth
- 180≈ P180Final
On closed-grain wood under an oil-based stain, stop at 150 to 180 so the stain can still soak in evenly.
Grits based on: General Finishes. Plain numbers are CAMI (US) grits; a P marks European FEPA grades.
3M Aluminum Oxide Sandpaper, 100-150-220 assortment
Hand-sanding sheets in the three grits most wood projects end with.
We earn from qualifying Amazon purchases. The grit sequence never depends on that: it comes from the abrasive, finish or material maker named under each result.
What Each Grit of Sandpaper Is Used For
These are the jobs each grit is usually sold for. Where a maker gives a figure, it is named; Klingspor, for example, measures how much a wide sanding belt removes per pass at each grit.
| Grit | Grade | What it is used for |
|---|---|---|
| 40 | Coarse | Heavy removal: stripping old finish, shaping, leveling rough boards. Mirka uses P24 to P80 when a lot of material has to go. |
| 60 | Coarse | Stripping paint (3M rates 60 for heavy paint removal) and weathered deck boards before stain. |
| 80 | Medium | Moderate paint removal, leveling, machine marks. The finest grit deck stain makers allow before a penetrating stain. |
| 100 | Medium | Surface leveling on bare wood. On a wide-belt sander Klingspor puts 100 to 120 at about 1/32 to 1/64 inch per pass. |
| 120 | Medium | The starting grit on most bare wood, scuffing sound paint, sanding wood filler. |
| 150 | Fine | The last grit before paint. USG’s coarsest paper for drywall joint compound. |
| 180 | Fine | The last grit before stain on open-grain wood. Mirka says ordinary paints cover P180 scratches. |
| 220 | Very fine | The last grit before a clear finish; sanding between coats of polyurethane (Minwax). |
| 320 | Extra fine | Scuffing between coats of finish (General Finishes uses 220 to 320 pads). In auto work, P320 is the last grit on filler before primer. |
| 400 / P400 | Extra fine | Wet sanding primer, acrylic and 3D prints. Remember CAMI 400 is about P800. |
| 600 / P600 | Extra fine to super fine | Final wet sanding of acrylic before buffing (ACRYLITE); the start of polishing on metal (Mirka). |
| P1000 | Super fine | Blending and Trizact wet sanding around a paint repair; the wet step on headlights (3M). |
| P1500 | Super fine | Leveling clear coat runs and dust nibs before polishing (3M). |
| P2000 | Super fine | Final wet grit on resin prints (Formlabs) and in sandpaper-only headlight kits (Sylvania). |
| P3000 to P5000 | Ultra fine | Refining sanding scratches before compound on clear coat and headlights (3M Trizact). |
What Is 80 Grit Sandpaper Used For?
80 grit is the bridge between removal and smoothing. It strips a worn finish, levels a glue joint and takes out planer marks without the deep gouges of 40 or 60. Mirka puts it at the top of its heavy-removal range (P24 to P80), and it is the coarsest grit the deck stain makers allow before a penetrating stain. It is never a final grit: its scratches show through paint and stain.
What Is 120 Grit Sandpaper Used For?
120 grit is where most bare-wood projects start. General Finishes begins every one of its wood prep sequences at 120, and Minwax calls it a medium grade to start with before working up to 220. It also removes the scratches left by 80 grit, sands dried wood filler and scuffs sound paint before you repaint.
What Is 180 Grit Sandpaper Used For?
180 grit is a finishing grit for wood. It is the last step before stain on open-grain woods such as oak, and General Finishes’ limit for softwood under an oil-based stain. Mirka notes that ordinary paints and lacquers cover a surface sanded to P180, sometimes P150. Klingspor treats 150 and finer belts as finishing belts, not cutting belts.
What Is 220 Grit Sandpaper Used For?
220 grit is the finest grit most bare wood needs, used before a clear finish on smooth hardwoods and for a light pass on primer. Minwax sands between coats of polyurethane with 220. On drywall it is the finest paper most finishers use, for a light pass after primer.
What Is 400 Grit Sandpaper Used For?
Here the scale matters. CAMI 400 is roughly P800, while P400 is roughly CAMI 320. In either form, 400 is an extra fine grit for sanding between coats of paint or finish and for the first wet sanding steps on primer, plastic and 3D prints. Mirka uses P240 to P400 to even out a surface before the final coat.
CAMI vs P Grade vs Micron: Grit Conversion Chart
There are two grading systems for coated abrasives. US brands mostly use CAMI (ANSI B74.18) and print a plain number. European brands such as Mirka, Klingspor and Indasa use the FEPA P scale and print a P in front. Up to 220 the numbers match closely enough to swap. Above that they split, and the same number on the P scale is coarser than on the CAMI scale.
| CAMI grit | Average particle (CAMI) | Nearest P grade | Average particle (P) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 | 715 µm | P24 | 740 µm |
| 30 | 638 µm | P30 | 622 µm |
| 36 | 535 µm | P36 | 524 µm |
| 40 | 428 µm | P40 | 412 µm |
| 50 | 351 µm | P50 | 326 µm |
| 60 | 268 µm | P60 | 260 µm |
| 80 | 192 µm | P80 | 197 µm |
| 100 | 141 µm | P100 | 156 µm |
| 120 | 116 µm | P120 | 127 µm |
| 150 | 93 µm | P150 | 97 µm |
| 180 | 78 µm | P180 | 78 µm |
| 220 | 66 µm | P220 | 65 µm |
| 240 | 53.5 µm | P280 | 52.5 µm |
| 320 | 36 µm | P400 | 35 µm |
| 360 | 28.8 µm | P600 | 25.75 µm |
| 400 | 23.6 µm | P800 | 21.8 µm |
| 500 | 19.7 µm | P1000 | 18.3 µm |
| 600 | 16 µm | P1200 | 15.3 µm |
| 800 | 12.3 µm | P1500 | 12.3 µm |
| 1000 | 9.5 µm | P2000 | 9.5 µm |
| 1200 (Mirka pairing) | not listed | P2500 | 8.4 µm (Mirka) |
| none in common use | P3000 and P5000 | not listed in these charts |
Particle sizes are the average micron figures from Klingspor’s grit grading chart, which lists both scales side by side; the pairings above 220 follow Mirka’s comparison table. Use the converter to check any sheet:
Grit converter
CAMI 400 is about
P800 · Trizact A20
Extra fine. Between coats of varnish or paint, wet sanding car primer, acrylic and 3D prints.
Average particle: 23.6 µm (CAMI 400) vs 21.8 µm (P800)
Why P400 Is Not the Same as 400 Grit
P400 particles average about 35 microns. CAMI 400 particles average about 23.6 microns, close to P800 at 21.8. So a woodworker who follows a US guide that says “400” and buys a European P400 sheet ends up a full step coarser than intended. The gap grows at the fine end: CAMI 600 is about P1200 and CAMI 1000 about P2000. Mirka’s brochure puts it plainly: the standards are not directly comparable to each other.
Micron-Graded Abrasives: Trizact and Abralon
Some fine abrasives skip grit numbers and print the particle size instead. 3M’s Trizact uses A grades, where the number is the average particle size in microns: in 3M’s own table A45 pairs with P400, A20 with P800, A16 with P1200 and A5 with P3000. Mirka’s Abralon foam pads are sold as 180 to 4000, a silicon carbide range Mirka recommends for wet sanding glossy paint before polishing.
How to Tell Which Scale Your Sandpaper Uses
Look for the P. If the back of the sheet or the box says P180 or P1500, it is FEPA. A plain number is usually CAMI on US-made paper, but some imports print a plain number on FEPA grit, so check the brand’s own grade list when you are buying above 220. Below 220 you can ignore the difference.
What Grit Sandpaper for Each Material
Wood
Start at 120 on new lumber, or 80 if you need to remove marks or an old finish. Finish at 150 before paint, 150 to 180 before stain and up to 220 before a clear finish. General Finishes warns against sanding finer than that, because a surface that smooth won’t take a finish well. My full table, with softwood and hardwood rules, is in what grit sandpaper for wood.
Drywall
USG, which makes Sheetrock joint compound, says to dry-sand its compound with nothing coarser than 150-grit paper or 220-grit mesh cloth. Coarser paper digs into soft mud and roughs up the face paper. The stage-by-stage answer is in what grit sandpaper for drywall, and the power tools for whole rooms are in my best drywall sanders.
Deck
Before a penetrating deck stain, stop at 60 or 80 grit. Sikkens, Ready Seal, Wood Defender and SuperDeck all say finer sanding closes the pores and keeps the stain from soaking in. See what grit sandpaper for a deck, and the deck stain calculator for how much stain to buy afterwards.
Hardwood Floors
Bona’s standard refinishing sequence is 50, 60, 100 and 120, with 36 first on badly uneven floors. Floor sanders use their own large discs and belts, and the edges follow a separate 60, 100, 120 sequence with an edger and an orbital.
Metal
3M strips paint and rust to bare metal with P80 to P120 discs, feathers the edges at P180 to P320 and DA-sands primer at P400 to P800. For a polished finish, keep going wet with silicon carbide paper, then switch to compound: Mirka sands top coats from P600 up to P4000 before polishing.
Car Paint and Clear Coat
Automotive grits are almost always P grades. 3M’s repair sequence shapes body filler at P80 to P220, sands primer at P320 on a block and P400 to P800 with a DA, removes clear coat runs and dust nibs at P1500, and refines with P3000 and P5000 Trizact discs dampened with water before compounding.
Plastic and 3D Prints
Plastic heats up and smears, so sand it wet. ACRYLITE starts acrylic at 240 or 320 and goes to 400 and 600 with plenty of water before buffing. Formlabs suggests 150, 220, 400, 800, 1000 and 2000 for resin prints, wet with water or mineral oil, and says parts sanded to 3,000 turn glossy. Prusa says sanding PLA needs water cooling, so wet sand it too.
Concrete, Glass and Headlights
Concrete wears out sandpaper in minutes, so use diamond pads, which have their own grit scale. Glass edges are smoothed wet with silicon carbide paper, usually 120 up to 600, then polished with cerium oxide. For headlights, 3M’s professional kit sands at P800 dry, then P1000 and P3000 wet, adding P500 first on pitted lenses.
How to Step Through Grits
Start with the finest grit that removes the worst defect, then move up one step at a time. Klingspor’s rule is never to skip more than one grit, and Mirka gives the example that P80, P120, P180 works while P60, P120, P220 often causes problems. Each grit only has to remove the scratches of the one before it.
- Test first. If a medium grit hasn’t removed the defect in a minute or two, go one step coarser.
- Clean between grits. A stray coarse particle drags across the surface under the next, finer sheet.
- Change worn paper. A dull sheet polishes instead of cutting, so pressing harder only heats the work.
- Know where to stop. Finer is not always better: stain needs some tooth, and so does paint.
Types of Sandpaper Abrasive
- Aluminum oxide: the standard mineral on sheets and sander discs for wood, paint and metal.
- Silicon carbide: very sharp, usually on waterproof black paper for wet sanding finishes, plastics, glass and stone. ACRYLITE and the automotive makers wet sand with it.
- Ceramic: the most aggressive and longest-lasting, for coarse grits on belts and floor sanders.
- Mesh: an open net such as Mirka Abranet, which pulls dust through the whole disc and clogs less on a random orbital sander.
The Sandpaper I’d Keep in the Shop
Four packs cover almost every row of the chart above. For the sanders that use them, see types of sanders.
3M Aluminum Oxide Sandpaper, 100-150-220 Assortment
Five 9 x 11 inch aluminum oxide sheets in 100, 150 and 220 grit: the medium-to-very-fine steps most wood projects finish with, from leveling to the last pass before a clear coat. Cut them into quarters for a 1/4-sheet sander or wrap one around a block for hand sanding.
Mirka Abranet 5-Inch Mesh Disc Assortment
35 hook-and-loop mesh discs for a 5-inch random orbital sander, in 80, 120, 180, 240, 320, 400 and 600. Mirka grades on the FEPA P scale, so the 400 and 600 discs here are about CAMI 320 and 360: worth knowing if you follow a US finishing schedule. The open mesh pulls dust through the whole disc and fits any hole pattern.
3M Wetordry Sandpaper, 1000 to 2500 Assortment
Waterproof sheets in 1000, 1500, 2000 and 2500 grit, 3-2/3 x 9 inches, for the wet steps at the fine end of the chart: clear coat nibs, plastics, resin prints and polishing metal before compound. Keep a bucket of water with a drop of soap next to you and rinse the sheet often.
3M Headlight Lens Restoration System 39008
3M’s consumer kit for the headlight row of the grit finder: sanding discs that run on a household drill, working from coarse to a fine finishing disc, plus compound to bring back the clarity. It saves buying four separate grits for two headlights.
🏆 The Bottom Line
Higher numbers are finer. Use 40 to 60 to strip and shape, 80 to 120 to remove marks, 150 to 180 before paint or stain, 220 before a clear finish, and 320 and up between coats and for wet sanding. Above 220, check for the P: P400 is about CAMI 320, and CAMI 400 is about P800. Step up one grit at a time and stop where the finish needs you to.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
Which is rougher, 80 or 120 grit?
How do I know which grit sandpaper to use?
Is 220 or 320 grit sandpaper finer?
Is 600 grit sandpaper finer than 400 grit sandpaper?
What does the P mean on sandpaper?
What grit sandpaper is used for metal?
Sources
Grit sizes and sequences come from the makers’ own documents, read on October 1, 2026:
- Klingspor, Grit Grading System Chart (CAMI and P grades with average particle sizes), coated abrasives basics and wide belts FAQ
- Mirka, Effective Wood Sanding brochure (FEPA grit table and ANSI comparison)
- 3M, Trizact abrasives brochure (A grade to P grade table), automotive standard operating procedures and headlight lens restoration system instructions
- General Finishes, what grit to use when prep sanding raw wood and how to prepare wood for stain; Minwax, wood finishing basics
- USG, Sheetrock Plus 3 joint compound submittal
- Bona, sanding sequences for wood floors
- Deck stain makers: Ready Seal FAQ, Wood Defender FAQ, Sikkens Cetol DEK technical data, SuperDeck
- Plastics and prints: ACRYLITE finishing manual, Formlabs, Prusa
Spotted a grit on your own sheets that doesn’t match the chart? Tell me in the comments with the brand, and I’ll check it against the maker’s list.
