![]() Wet sanding drywall is somewhat tedious, but resist the temptation to speed the process by scrubbing aggressively at lumps and rough patches in the drywall mud. For small patching jobs, one drywall sponge should be sufficient. If sanding a full wall, have two or three sponges available, in case one wears down too much or tears during use. Submerge the sponge fully in water until it’s soaked, then squeeze out the excess so that the sponge damp but not dripping. These specialty sponges are thick and stiff, with one side slightly abrasive for the first pass of sanding and the other side is soft and fluffy, for the second pass of smoothing the drywall mud. While any stiff sponge will do the job, you’ll get the best results with a drywall sponge specifically designed for wet sanding (like this one, available on Amazon). This way, you won’t have to stop and refill your bucket too often. Wet sanding calls for plenty of water, so use a five-gallon bucket, and fill it three-quarters of the way with warm water, which helps soften the drywall mud. Just use your sponge to dab, wiggle, and pat the drywall mud-which is used to conceal the tape that holds sheets of drywall together-until it matches the texture you’d like to duplicate. This can be turned to your advantage if you’re patching a textured wall it’s much easier to match texture with a damp sponge than with sandpaper. Wet sanding drywall generally leaves very gentle waves in the finished surface, due to the flexible nature of the drywall sponge. RELATED: The 4 Messiest DIY Projects-And How to Make Cleanup a Breeze DON’T expect perfection. Wet sanding drywall requires minimal cleanup, so the overall time spent is comparable for the two methods. Though keep in mind, when you dry sand, you’ll still spend quite a bit of time cleaning up the dust. Wet sanding is time-consuming: If you’re really in a hurry to finish prepping drywall for paint, you’re better off dry sanding. Read on for pro tips so you’ll know what to do-and what not to do-to achieve flawless results. 3M recommends replacing both pancake and cartridge filters within six months of opening their packages (PDF), or, in environments where oil aerosols are present, after only 40 hours of total use or 30 days after the first use, whichever comes first.Fortunately, with the right technique, you can wet sand drywall to cut way down on dust and still get an ideal surface for paint. The cartridges are more expensive and weigh far more-8.6 ounces per pair on our scale-but they’re also sturdier, and they might be the better choice if you’ll be doing strenuous physical work, such as a kitchen demolition, while wearing your respirator. The pancake filters weigh just half an ounce per pair, and they’re our first recommendation for typical use outdoors and around the home. NIOSH approval means that, at the equivalent rating (P100 in this case), pancake-style filters, such as the 3M 2097 filter we recommend, protect you just as effectively as hard-plastic cartridge filters like the 3M 60926. And as P-designated filters, they also protect against oil-based substances in the air, such as paint fumes, as well as some caustic vapors. The “100” designation indicates that they capture 99.97% of fine particulates, such as wildfire smoke. P100-rated filters are the most widely available kind that meet that criterion.
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