Wet sanding with a spray bottle

[Jeff in Farmington, MI]

In a recent post concerning ventilation of the shop in winter, there was mention of moving the boat outdoors to wet sand. I wanted to let everyone know that a large amount of water is not necessary for wet sanding, and that it can be done almost anywhere indoors with just a spray bottle ... and wet sand paper of course. On my last project, I was at the stage of fiberglassing and varnishing in the cold of the Michigan winter. Moving the boat outdoors was out of the question, so I tried wetting a small area of the hull with a spray bottle. It turns out that very little water is required, and so very little water drips on the floor.

My process was to wet down about 6-10 square feet of hull at a time, then sand the surface, rewetting the hull as required to lubricate the paper and carry away the sanding sludge. I kept a bucket with 4-6 inches of warm water on hand (feels nice in the winter), and wiped off the varish sludge with a wet rag. Change the water often. After the entire hull was wet sanded, I wiped it a couple more times with the wet rag, then wiped a final time with a second wet rag that I only used for the final wipe down. When the hull was completely dry, I wiped it with a tack rag to catch any remaining dust.

I found wet sanding this way so much faster, easier, and cleaner than dry sanding. Enjoy!

- Jeff

[Patricks Dad]

If this were on facebook, I'd "like" it. Good advice.

[Denis]

"Like"

[Snowman]

I like to carry/apply my water during wet sanding applications in a smallish sponge. It allows controlled application (squeeze or wiping) as well as sludge removal by wiping. With a small bucket of water you can easily "refill" the sponge and clean out the removed sludge from the sponge..