Debate: Should you sand between coats of finish on cabinets?

I had a old timer tell me last month that sanding between every coat of polyurethane is a waste of time and just causes dust nibs, so I tried skipping it on a set of oak kitchen cabinets I just finished. Honestly, the final coat looked smoother and had fewer imperfections than when I used to sand with 320 grit between each layer. Do you guys sand between coats or just rely on proper brushing technique?

3 comments

3 Comments

elliot_gibson2726d ago

Man @wesleyb20 nailed it honestly. I quit sanding between coats years ago on cabinets and never looked back. All that sanding does is create more dust to fight with, and if your first coat lays down clean theres no reason to mess with it. People act like you have to sand or the next coat wont stick but thats just not true with modern polyurethane. The smoother finish you get by skipping the sanding is totally worth it in my experience.

the_jennifer25d ago

Makes sense. But is sanding between coats really that big a deal?

wesleyb2026d ago

Yeah I actually read something the other day in one of those old woodworking magazines my grandpa left me, it was from like the 80s I think, and it said the whole point of sanding between coats is mostly to knock down dust nibs that you got from the previous coat drying. But if you brush clean and have good technique you really don't get that many nibs to begin with. So skipping the sanding makes total sense if your first coat goes on smooth. The old timer was probably right, especially with polyurethane which can be finicky about adhesion if you sand too fine between coats anyway.