Sanding Disc Grit Chart: What Each Grit Is For and How to Choose

Grit number tells you how coarse or fine the abrasive is - lower numbers are coarser and remove material faster; higher numbers are finer and leave a smoother finish. Picking the wrong grit either wastes time (too fine for the material you're removing) or damages the surface (too coarse for finishing work). Here's how the numbers break down and how to move through a sanding job.

Grit chart

• 60-80 (coarse): Heavy stock removal - stripping old finish or paint, leveling rough wood, removing rust or heavy surface defects on metal. Leaves a rough surface that needs further sanding before finishing.
• 100-120 (medium-coarse): Smoothing after coarse-grit shaping, removing coarse-grit scratch patterns, general prep work on wood and metal.
• 150-180 (medium): Standard pre-finish sanding on wood, removing tool marks, general-purpose surface prep before paint or stain.
• 220-240 (fine): Final sanding before stain or finish on wood, smoothing painted surfaces between coats, light deburring on metal.
• 320-400 (very fine): Sanding between finish coats (lacquer, polyurethane, paint), fine surface prep on automotive and metal finishing work.
• 500-600 (extra fine): Final finish sanding before polishing, wet-sanding automotive clear coat, high-end wood finishing.
• 800-1200 (ultra fine): Polishing and final wet-sanding stages - automotive clear coat correction, plastics polishing, mirror-finish metal work.

Work through grits in sequence - don't skip too far

The most common mistake is jumping straight to a fine grit to save time. Each grit is meant to remove the scratch pattern left by the grit before it; skip too far ahead (say, 80 straight to 320) and the fine grit can't remove the coarse scratches, so they stay visible under the finish. As a rule of thumb, don't more than roughly double the grit number in a single jump - 80 to 150 is fine, 80 to 320 usually isn't.

Hook-and-loop vs. PSA (adhesive-backed)

Beyond grit, sanding discs come in two attachment styles, and they're not interchangeable with the same backup pad:

• Hook-and-loop: Discs attach and release from a matching hook-and-loop backup pad, so they can be swapped mid-job and reused until the abrasive wears out. This is the more economical choice for any job where you're changing grits repeatedly.
• PSA (pressure-sensitive adhesive): Discs stick directly to the pad or work surface and are meant to be used until worn out, then discarded and replaced. PSA is common on random orbital sanders in production settings where discs aren't swapped as frequently.

Check which style your sander or backup pad takes before ordering - the disc itself won't tell you if it's compatible with your equipment.

Disc size matters too

5" and 6" are the standard sizes for random orbital sanders; match the disc size to your sander's pad, not just the hole pattern (some pads use a specific number and layout of dust-extraction holes). Buying a mismatched hole pattern won't stop the disc from sanding, but it will cut down on dust extraction.

Buying by the job vs. by volume

For one-off or occasional jobs, buy single discs in the grits you need. For any recurring sanding operation - production finishing, a body shop, a cabinet shop - buying by the sleeve or case in your most-used grits (typically 120, 180, and 220 for general wood and finish work) is the more economical route once usage is established.

Quick buying checklist

• Start coarse enough to remove material efficiently, but no coarser than needed
• Move through grits in sequence - don't skip more than roughly double the previous grit
• Match hook-and-loop or PSA to your existing backup pad, not the other way around
• Match disc size (5" vs. 6") and hole pattern to your sander
• Buy by the case once a grit becomes a regular consumable on your floor

Browse the full range - Sanding Discs in both 5" and 6" sizes across 60 to 1200 grit.