How To Clean Wood After Sanding Before Staining

Using a soft-bristle attachment thoroughly vacuum the floor baseboards and windowsills.

How to clean wood after sanding before staining. To remove those last bits of finish palm sand with medium sandpaper 150 grit until you see the bare wood. Then switch to fine sandpaper 200 grit until the entire piece is uniform. The mineral spirits will clean any grime or grease off of your surface making it ready for painting or staining.

Fold the tack cloth to a small piece of cloth. The mineral spirit evaporates fast without posing any threat to the wood. It also attracts and picks up the finest dust particles and gathers them on the rag.

A white cloth will allow you to see how much dust you are collecting as you wipe down your woodworking surface. After you have done that final light polishing you can begin the cleaning process. This provides an excellent way of cleaning the woods surface.

Always sand down to clean wood if you have enough meat left of the wood before applying any stain. You will need a hand brush to clean the dust. Wipe down the whole surface with a tack cloth to remove any dust from sanding.

In some cases this may involve first using some kind of chemical brightenercleaner on wood that has grayed with age or wood that is stained with dark tannins. Mineral spirits can also be used for cleaning wood projects before applying any finish. Pour the mineral spirits over the stripped area and use the steel wool to wipe away any remaining stripper residue be sure to follow the wood grain.

Look out for any swirl marks from orbital sanders which may be hard to see initially but they will pop out like a sore thumb after you apply stain if you miss them. Next wipe down the wood surfaces with a dry clean cloth. After the deck dries the fuzzy wood fibers need to be removed by sanding.