What Grit Sandpaper Should You Use to Prep for Paint?
The right grit depends on the goal — 80-120 for removing material, 150-220 for smoothing bare wood, and 320-400 for scuffing between coats, and using the wrong one in the wrong spot causes real problems.
Sandpaper grit numbers indicate abrasive particle size — lower numbers are coarser, cutting faster and more aggressively; higher numbers are finer, removing less material per pass but leaving a smoother result. Matching the grit to the specific job at hand, rather than defaulting to one grit for everything, is what actually determines the final surface quality.
1. 60-80 grit: heavy material removal
Reserved for aggressive work — stripping old paint or varnish down to bare wood, or leveling significant surface damage. Too coarse for general prep work; it leaves deep scratches that a finer grit then needs to remove afterward, adding an extra step if used unnecessarily.
2. 100-120 grit: general surface prep and bare wood
A reasonable starting point for sanding bare, rough wood, or for the first pass removing loose or flaking old paint before moving to a finer grit. This grit still leaves visible scratches that need to be smoothed out with something finer before painting for a quality finish.
3. 150-180 grit: intermediate smoothing
The step between coarse leveling and final smoothing — removes the scratch pattern left by 100-120 grit, preparing the surface for a final fine-grit pass.
4. 220 grit: the standard final-smoothing grit for bare wood or general surfaces
This is the most commonly recommended grit for the final sanding pass before priming most wood surfaces — smooth enough to leave a good painting surface, without polishing the wood so much that it becomes too slick for primer to grip well (a real risk with grits finer than roughly 320 on bare wood specifically).
5. 320-400 grit: scuffing between coats, not initial prep
This fine range isn't meant for initial surface preparation — it's for the light scuff-sand between primer and topcoat, or between topcoat coats, that removes minor texture and dust nibs without cutting into the coat underneath significantly. Using this grit for initial bare-wood prep wastes time, since it removes material too slowly to be practical for that job.
6. Wet-sanding grits: 600+ for a glass-smooth finish
Very fine wet-sanding grits (600, 1000, or higher) are for polishing a fully cured finish to an exceptionally smooth, glossy result — common in high-end furniture and automotive finishing, well beyond what typical home painting projects need.
7. A practical progression for a typical paint job on bare wood
1. 100-120 grit — initial smoothing of rough or damaged wood
2. 150 grit — remove the coarser scratch pattern
3. 220 grit — final smoothing before primer
4. Prime
5. 320 grit — light scuff-sand between primer and topcoat
6. Topcoat8. Metal and other surfaces need their own grit logic
Metal typically starts coarser (80 grit to remove paint or rust) and works up through similar intermediate steps to around 220 for a paint-ready surface — the same general coarse-to-fine progression applies, just adjusted for how much material actually needs to come off at the start.
Guides are researched against primary documentation and observable evidence. Archived material is rewritten, checked, and substantially improved before publication.