Stearated vs not--how do you know?

[Rob Blaustein]

Is there an easy to way to tell if sandpaper is stearated? I've been using Norton 3x and Norton Wetsand recently and for some reason just assumed that neither was stearated. I can't find anything on the boxes that says it is or isn't. But I just went to their website and it looks like the 3x is stearated though I can't find mention of stearated in the description of the Wetsand product, so I assume it isn't. I've been using them pretty much interchangeably lately on some panels that I've been finishing using water-based poly and thinking I was doing the right thing since the finishing gurus advise against using stearated between coats of water-based poly. Fortunately I don't see any ill effects but it got me wondering--is there an easy way to tell? Are other brands labelled more clearly?

[John Huber]

Rob,

This may not answer your specific question, but here's some info. I switched to stearated sandpaper for sanding between coats of wipe-on urethane and also for brushed polyurethane. When using garden-variety sandpaper, it clogs or loads and forms lumps of finish which are nearly impossible to dislodge. With stearated sandpaper, no such loading occurs and the dust is just brushed off the sandpaper.

I can't say that I have been able to observe a difference in the finish, but somehow it doesn't seem right to be sanding the finish with a lump in the way.

Another advantage is that the stearated sandpaper can be used over and over. I had to throw away ordinary sandpaper after just one use.

[Doug Shepard]

Dont know if this is true of all stearated papers, but all the one's I've bought are a whitish-gray color instead of the darker slate gray color of wet-dry papers.

[Jamie Buxton]

This isn't an answer to your question, but there seems to be some disagreement about whether stearated paper is okay with waterborne finishes. I've read finish cans which forbid it, and I've read finish cans (or maybe it was web sites) which explicitly allow it.

[Rob Blaustein]

This isn't an answer to your question, but there seems to be some disagreement about whether stearated paper is okay with waterborne finishes. I've read finish cans which forbid it, and I've read finish cans (or maybe it was web sites) which explicitly allow it.
Maybe it depends on the brand of finish? Lately I've been following Jeff Jewitt's finishing advice by reading his book Hand Applied Finishes, and various articles on-line. Here (http://www.targetcoatings.com/home/technician_jeff.html), for example, he advises against using stearated paper with Target Waterborne finishes:

"NEVER use stearated sandpaper between coats. Use a quality sandpaper such as 3M 216u or 246u Gold, or wet/dry sandpaper with a small amount of water instead."

Well, I guess that also gives me some other papers to try.

[Rob Blaustein]

With stearated sandpaper, no such loading occurs and the dust is just brushed off the sandpaper. Come to think of it, I did notice that I could brush the Norton 3x sandpaper and keep using it, but I didn't know that that was unique to stearated. And Doug, the Norton 3x is a much lighter color compared to the Norton Wet/dry paper which is black. Thanks for the tips guys.
-Rob

[Alan Turner]

It is intereesting what Jeff said. I love the 320 grit 3M #216 fre-cut paper for sanding between coats as it does not get the corns that other papers get. But, I thought that was because it was sterrated. Oh well.

[Matt Meiser]

I was advised that the Mirka Gold and Festool brilliant papers, both of which are sterrated are fine with the Target products. I wonder if the sterrates have been updated since WB finishes have become more commonplace?