egnald
Member
Greetings from Nebraska.
I have a general question for all of you that have wet sanding as part of your regimen. I used to use tap water with a drop of Dawn dishwashing soap. This is something that I picked up many years ago when I spent some time in auto body shops. The idea is that a little bit of soap lowers the surface tension of the water which helps wet the paper and the material more thoroughly therefore reducing scuffing.
The Scientific Mumbo Jumbo: Surfactants are chemical compounds that reduce surface tension of water which helps wash away oil and grease. Most dish soaps, as well as laundry soaps, hand soap and body washes contain Anionic or negatively charged surfactants. They are widely produced and are made from a range of raw fats and oils like soybean, palm, tallow and coconut.
Recently, I took this one step farther by switching to a drop or two of a nonionic surfactant instead of "dish soap". I think it reduces the surface tension of the water more than soap and it not only helps wet the paper and the material more thoroughly, it also helps de-wet the surface when the slurry is being removed when wiping the blank with paper towel after each grit. The most conspicuous observation is that blanks start to de-wet when I get about half way through the MicroMesh grits. It is an obvious indication regarding the surface tension of the liquid. In addition, although it is entirely subjective, I think the level of gloss is higher than when I was just using the soap.
More Mumbo Jumbo: Nonionic surfactants contain no charge which makes them less likely to form a "soap scum" in hard water. As for cleaning ability they are much less effective so they are usually marketed as a rinsing or drying aids such as Jet-Dry.
So my question is whether or not you use any kind of additive when you wet sand.
Regards,
Dave
I have a general question for all of you that have wet sanding as part of your regimen. I used to use tap water with a drop of Dawn dishwashing soap. This is something that I picked up many years ago when I spent some time in auto body shops. The idea is that a little bit of soap lowers the surface tension of the water which helps wet the paper and the material more thoroughly therefore reducing scuffing.
The Scientific Mumbo Jumbo: Surfactants are chemical compounds that reduce surface tension of water which helps wash away oil and grease. Most dish soaps, as well as laundry soaps, hand soap and body washes contain Anionic or negatively charged surfactants. They are widely produced and are made from a range of raw fats and oils like soybean, palm, tallow and coconut.
Recently, I took this one step farther by switching to a drop or two of a nonionic surfactant instead of "dish soap". I think it reduces the surface tension of the water more than soap and it not only helps wet the paper and the material more thoroughly, it also helps de-wet the surface when the slurry is being removed when wiping the blank with paper towel after each grit. The most conspicuous observation is that blanks start to de-wet when I get about half way through the MicroMesh grits. It is an obvious indication regarding the surface tension of the liquid. In addition, although it is entirely subjective, I think the level of gloss is higher than when I was just using the soap.
More Mumbo Jumbo: Nonionic surfactants contain no charge which makes them less likely to form a "soap scum" in hard water. As for cleaning ability they are much less effective so they are usually marketed as a rinsing or drying aids such as Jet-Dry.
So my question is whether or not you use any kind of additive when you wet sand.
Regards,
Dave