What Grit Sandpaper for Wood? The Grit to Start and Finish With

How I choose the sanders I recommend

For most bare wood, start sanding at 80 or 120 grit and finish at 150 to 180 grit before paint or stain, or 220 before a clear finish on smooth hardwoods. Go no coarser than you need to remove the marks you can see, and move up one grit at a time. Between coats of finish, switch to 320 grit or finer and barely touch the surface.

That is the short answer. The right grit still depends on three things: what state the wood is in, what finish goes on next, and whether the wood is open-grained like oak or closed-grained like maple. Below is a grit chart, a job-by-job table, the rules for stepping through grits, and the mistakes that show up only after the stain goes on.

Wood Sandpaper Grit Chart

The grit number counts how fine the abrasive particles are: the higher the number, the smaller the particles and the finer the scratch they leave. Here is what each range is for on wood. For other materials (drywall, metal, car paint, plastics) and a grit finder that gives you the whole sequence, see the full sandpaper grit chart.

Swipe to compare →

CAMI vs “P” Grits: Why Two Sheets Marked Differently Can Be the Same

Most sandpaper sold in US hardware stores uses the CAMI scale. European brands use the FEPA scale, marked with a “P” in front of the number (P120, P220). Up to about 220 the two scales are close enough to treat as the same. Above that they drift apart, and a P grade is coarser than the same CAMI number: a CAMI 320 is roughly a P400, and a CAMI 400 is roughly a P800. If you mix brands for fine work, check which scale each one uses. The full conversion, with particle sizes in microns, is in my sandpaper grit chart.

What Grit Sandpaper for Each Wood Job

Swipe to compare →

What Grit Sandpaper for Wood Before Painting

Paint hides scratches that a stain would show, so you can stop earlier. On bare wood, 120 followed by 150 gives primer enough tooth to grip. On wood that is already painted and sound, you are not trying to reach bare wood at all: scuff the old paint with 120 to 150 until the gloss is gone, then clean off the dust. Sand the primer coat lightly with 220 before the topcoat. My guide on how to sand furniture to paint walks through the whole job.

What Grit Sandpaper for Wood Before Staining

Stain is where grit matters most, because the scratches you leave become the pattern the stain soaks into. General Finishes, a finish manufacturer, recommends 120, 150 and then 180 on open-grain woods like oak, ash and mahogany. For closed-grain woods such as pine, maple and cherry it recommends stopping at 180 under an oil-based stain, and 150 then 220 under a water-based stain. Sand end grain one grit finer than the faces, because it soaks up more stain and turns darker. The full process, from the grit table by wood type to conditioner and wiping, is in how to stain wood.

What Grit Sandpaper for Wood Before Varnish or Polyurethane

A clear finish shows every scratch, but it still needs something to hold on to. General Finishes suggests sanding up to 150 under an oil-based clear coat and to 150 or 220 under a water-based one. On a smooth hardwood with no stain, 180 or 220 is a good final grit.

What Grit Sandpaper for Wood Furniture and Tables

For a piece with an old finish, start at 80 to break through the finish, go to 120 to remove those scratches, and finish at 180 for stain or 220 for a clear coat. Use a random orbital sander on the flat top and hand-sand or use a detail sander on legs and edges. I cover the whole process in how to sand and refinish a table.

What Grit Sandpaper for Wood Floors

Floors are the exception to “start fine”. A drum or orbital floor sander usually begins at 36 or 40 on an old finish, then 60, then 80 or 100, and finishes at 100 to 120 so the floor finish can grip. The full sequence, including the edges, is in my guide on how to sand hardwood floors.

What Grit Sandpaper for Wood Filler

Let the filler dry completely first. Level it with 120 grit on a sanding block, keeping the block flat so you don’t dish the soft filler below the wood around it, then finish the repair with the same grit as the rest of the surface.

How to Step Through Grits

Start With the Finest Grit That Does the Job

The first grit has one task: to remove the worst defect on the surface, whether that is a planer ridge, old finish or a dent. Try a medium grit first. If it has not removed the defect after a minute or two of sanding, drop to the next coarser grit. Starting coarser than you need only creates deeper scratches you then have to remove.

Move Up One Step at a Time

A common sequence is 80, 120, 150, 180, 220. Each grit’s only job is to remove the scratches of the one before it. When the surface looks evenly scratched at the new grit, with no deeper lines left from the previous one, move on.

Clean the Surface Between Grits

Loose grit from a coarse sheet gets dragged around by the next, finer sheet and leaves stray scratches. Vacuum or wipe the surface every time you change grit. A dust port connected to a shop vac helps a lot.

Check Your Work Under Low Light

Hold a light low and to one side of the surface, or wipe it with mineral spirits. Scratches that are invisible under overhead light show up clearly, and it is much easier to fix them now than after the stain has made them permanent.

The Golden Rule of Sanding (and Other Rules That Matter)

There is no single official “golden rule”, but the one most woodworkers mean is this: don’t skip grits. Each finer grit is designed to remove the scratches of the previous one. Jump too far and the finer paper polishes the tops of the deep scratches instead of removing them, and they reappear under stain.

• Sand with the grain when you hand-sand or use a belt or sheet sander. Cross-grain scratches are the hardest to hide.
• Let the tool or the paper do the work. Pressing harder does not cut faster once the paper is dull; change the paper instead.
• Don’t over-sand. General Finishes warns that sanding too fine creates a surface so smooth it will not accept a finish properly. For stain, that means blotchy or pale color.

Can You Go From 60 Grit to 120 Grit?

You can, but it is a big jump, and it only works well with patience. The 120 grit has to remove 60-grit scratches that are about twice as deep as its own, which takes much longer than going 60, 80, 120. On a painted surface you will probably get away with it. Under stain, you will usually see leftover 60-grit swirls. If you want to save a step, skip in the middle of the range, not at the coarse end: going from 120 straight to 180 is much safer than 60 straight to 120.

Is 80 Grit Too Rough for Wood?

For a final surface, yes: 80 grit leaves scratches that show through paint and especially stain. As a starting grit it is often the right choice, for stripping an old finish, leveling a glue-up or removing machine marks. On new, smooth lumber from the store, 80 is usually more than you need; start at 120.

Types of Sandpaper for Wood

Abrasive Minerals

• Aluminum oxide: the standard for wood, used on most sheets and sander discs. Tough, and the grains break down to expose fresh edges.
• Ceramic: the most aggressive and longest-lasting, good for coarse grits and heavy stock removal.
• Silicon carbide: very sharp, usually on waterproof black paper for wet-sanding finishes between coats.
• Garnet: a natural mineral that wears quickly and cuts gently, still liked for hand-sanding bare wood before finishing.

For how these minerals compare, including aluminum oxide vs silicon carbide and zirconia, see types of sandpaper explained.

Sheets, Discs and Mesh

Hand sanding and sheet sanders use 9″ x 11″ sheets that you cut or fold. A random orbital sander uses round hook-and-loop discs with holes that must line up with the dust holes on the pad. Mesh abrasives, like Mirka Abranet, pull dust through the whole surface instead of a few holes, so they clog less. If you need help choosing the tool itself, see my comparison of random orbital sanders and sheet sanders.

Anti-Clog Coatings

Many sheets and discs have a stearate coating, a dry lubricant that stops paint, finish and resinous softwood from loading up the paper. It is worth paying for when you are sanding old finish or between coats.

The Sandpaper I’d Keep in the Shop

For hand sanding, two grits of sheets cover most finishing work, and one assortment of discs covers the random orbital sander from stripping to between-coat sanding. For a full comparison, see my guides to the best sandpaper for wood and the best sanding discs for random orbital sanders.

3M Pro Grade Precision Sanding Sheets, 150 Grit

150 is the grit you will use most before paint and stain. These 9″ x 11″ sheets have 3M’s No-Slip Grip backing, which helps against tearing when you fold them, and 3M says they work wet or dry. Cut each sheet into quarters for a 1/4-sheet sander.

Check price on Amazon

3M Pro Grade Precision Sanding Sheets, 220 Grit

The same line in 220 grit, for the last pass before a clear finish and for sanding primer. Keep it separate from your coarser sheets so stray grit doesn’t end up on your finish work.

Check price on Amazon

Mirka Abranet 5″ Mesh Disc Assortment

For a 5″ random orbital sander, this pack of 35 mesh discs covers the whole grit sequence in one box: 80, 120, 180, 240, 320, 400 and 600. The open mesh fits any 5″ hook-and-loop pad regardless of hole pattern and pulls dust through its whole surface when a vacuum is attached.

Check price on Amazon

Not sure where to start on your project? Tell me what you’re sanding and what finish is going on in the comments, and I’ll suggest a grit sequence.