I sanded my hardwood floor with 36 grit paper, I have some distinct lines from the sander. What should I do?

Answer 1

What you would need to do is alternate to increasingly higher grit sandpaper after each previous sanding.

36 is a very rough grit, but good for a starter sand-down. I would recommend go up in increments of either 100 or 150 grits until you get up to about 800-1000 grit for the last sand-down.

Hope this helps!

God bless.

Answer 2

Always sand in the direction of the wood grain. So.. .before doing anything else... take a look at your floor, and see if you have any of those sanding marks going ACROSS the wood grain... if you do, then you need to hit that spot again, going in the proper direction, before changing your sandpaper.

Sanding does two things.... it removes layers of wood, and it raises wood grain.... do NOT dip a pieces of sandpaper in WATER to use it on WOOD... I can't believe that was one of the suggestions here.... It will raise the wood grain, defeating the puprose of sanding it in the first place.

Now, to remove material fast... you use a very coarse sanding grit on the wood grain... like youve done with the 36 grit. After you've checked to make sure your sanding has all been done in the proper direction, then you need to go back over it again, with a higher number grit, of sandpaper.... this means the abrasive on the paper is smaller... smaller grit = smaller marks/gouges left in the wood. From 36, I would suggest that you move up to a 60 grit paper... go ahead and use the sander.... just remember to move it in the same direction as the wood.
After sanding with 60 grit, change over to 100 grit, and do it again.
Mind you, each time you are doing this... the goal is not to gut deep furrows with each grit.... instead... all you are looking to do, is reduce the size of the sanding lines left on the wood.
After 100, try 150, or 180.... and then move up to 200, or 220.
Finally, you want to try sanding with a 400 grit sandpaper.... this will leave very little sandmarks when you are done. By using successively increasing grit sizes, you help reduce your work load, and save sandpaper.... it would take you a lot longer, and a lot more sandpaper, if you were to try to go from a 36 grit, to 400 grit, in one jump.... I mean a LOT longer.

So, take the time, use the grit increments, always sand in the direction of the wood grain. When you get to that 200 to 400 grit range, you may want to switch from a belt sander, to an orbital sander. An orbital sander helps eliminate even more marks, by 'swirling' the pad somewhat, as it works.

Make sure you clean up between each sanding.... sandpaper has a tendency to lose a few bits of grit, now and then.... you don't want a large piece of grit getting picked up later, and scratching your finer sanding work.

Finally, to cut those last few raised wood grain fibers, you can use #00 Steel Wool pads....again, moving them with the wood grain.


This will give your wood a nice smooth feel to it, ready for staining. After staining, hit it once again with the steel wool, just to knock down any fibers that got raised by the stain.

At this point, you could, if you wanted to, apply a 'sanding sealer'. This helps 'fix' those raised fibers in place, and doing a very light 'hand sanding' with the steel wool, will help cut those fibers. Then you are ready to put the protective finish coat on it.
Let it dry, hit it with a little steelwool again, and then apply a second finish coat.

Have Fun!

Answer 3

36 grit paper is equivilent to sanding with rocks... just like everyone above me has said...sand with a higher grit paper... you might find that by using a 100 grit.. and then working your way up in 50 grit increments that you will get rid of the lines... definatly do NOT use a sander unless you know how.. your hardwood floor is not the place to learn if you value it. also...most hardwood floors have a sealer on them... like a laquer of some sort... pull the laquer up with some chemicals before sanding..otherwise you will have a fun time sanding and your floors will look faded( scratched laquer) but just increase your grit increments as you sand...kinda like putting layers of paint on.. and you will have a nice smooth wood surface... as always...sand with the grain this will also decrease sand lines.

best of luck

Answer 4

Don't use a sander for one. Then use a fine grit paper dipped in water. My dad told me and he worked with Aircraft for about 35 yrs. Try using about 150 grit then use about 300 for a fine sand job. you'll be amazed.

Answer 5

the wrangler above is right on.

Just a couple of notes.

When we say sand with the direction of the wood, that means you can sand both up and back longwise of the wood grain. That means you do not want the sandpaper to scratch across the wood sideways at all. (I've had people tell me they didn't understand before).

Also, don't panick. When you put your polyurethane top coat on (at LEAST 2 coats) your floor, it will fill in a lot of the medium-minor flaws, and you won't be able to see them.

Answer 6

You can either resand it with a finer grade sand paper or you can put multiple coats of a polyurethane sealer over the top of it and you would never know.

Answer 7

sand with smoother sand paper BY HAND is the key.

Answer 8

SAND AGAIN WITH A SOFTER PAPER