Can we talk about wet sanding clear vs dry sanding and buffing? Switched sides after a job in Fort Wayne

Jordan Bell · 2026-10-29T00:20:04.452288+00:00

I used to be all in on dry sanding with 800 then buffing straight off that, mostly because it saved time and I hated dealing with the slurry everywhere. Last month I had a black Silverado bed side that I just could not get the swirls out of, and I fought it for two days with the DA and a wool pad. A guy named Rick who runs a small resto shop over in Fort Wayne looked at it and asked why I wasn't blocking it wet with 1500 first. I tried it on a scrap panel with a soft block, keeping the paper soaked, and the scratches cut way faster and way more even than my dry passes. When I buffed it out the finish came up clean on the first round instead of the third, and I barely touched the edges. So now I keep a bucket and a spray bottle at the bay and I reach for wet paper on any panel where I care about the final gloss. Anybody else flip their process like that, or am I late to the party on this one?

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Can we talk about wet sanding clear vs dry sanding and buffing? Switched sides after a job in Fort Wayne | Auto Body Repairers - Chatter Central