How to Clean Furniture After Sanding to Prepare for Minwax

Sanding is one of the toughest parts of refinishing. And it's not just all of the elbow grease that it requires. Sanding dust is the most problematic part of sanding. Those tiny wood particles not only create a mess, but they can ruin your finish. Before you apply Minwax paint or stain to your furniture piece, you must make sure that the surface is clean. Minwax magnifies tiny dust particles and turns them into unsightly bumps. And once they're dried on, you'll have to sand again and reapply the finish.

Things You'll Need

• Rubber gloves
• Vacuum
• Tack cloth
• Rag
• Denatured alcohol

Show More

Instructions

1. • 1

     Brush the sanded piece off with a rag and move it away from the area where the sanding dust lies.

   • 2

     Vacuum up all of the sanding dust. If you don't have a vacuum cleaner, sweep twice to make sure you get all of the sanding dust that might otherwise get kicked back up into the air.

   • 3

     Move the furniture piece back to your work station.

   • 4

     Wipe the furniture piece down with a tack cloth. A tack cloth has a rough almost rubbery surface that catches fine particles that dusting won't get. Always wipe in the direction of the wood grain.