Cover vents, doorways, and light fixtures with plastic sheeting. This is not a bad idea for any sanding job, to make dust cleanup easier. Attach a HEPA-filter vacuum to the sander. A “dust free” setup is not actually dust free, but it helps. Wear a HEPA-filter respirator and old clothes. Do not wear the clothes outside the work area. Keep pregnant women and children out of the house until the day’s work is done and the area has been vacuumed with a HEPA-vac or wet/dry vac.
If your floor is flat with no noticeable warp, you may use a standing orbital sander instead (not a handheld one). This is easier to use without damaging the floor, but it tends to take longer. [4] X Research source
You’ll often need to even out the sandpaper by putting sandpaper shims in the drum’s loading slot. Cloth-backed sandpaper is more expensive, but less likely to tear on the drum machine. [6] X Research source
If you get dust clouds, stop and make sure the dust bag is properly attached. A respirator or at least a dust mask is a good idea in any case. Eye and ear protection is also recommended. If you see a tight repeating pattern of marks — “chatter” — there is likely something wrong with the machine. Make sure the sandpaper is loaded flat, the belt is not worn or compressed, and the parts are tightly assembled.
This is not a major concern with orbital sanders, which are not powerful enough to cause immediate damage when they stop in one spot.
If you are sanding a large room, you will likely need to replace the sandpaper at least once. A drum sander cannot reach the edge of the wall. Just leave the edges unsanded for now — you’ll use an edge sander for those areas later.
Keep your respirator on until the dust is clear. Empty the sander’s dust bags when they get half full.
Never skip directly from coarse sandpaper to fine, such as 36 to 80. This can leave deep scratches in your floor.
You may use this technique on any of the finer grit sanding steps below as well.
Remember, never turn your sander on or off while it is in contact with the floor.
If using an orbital sander, you probably already reached the walls. In this case, you can skip this section, and remove the finish at the corners with any handheld sander.
If you want to finish with 100-grit sandpaper, you’ll need special techniques to avoid burning the floor and paper. You’ll need a sander with a slow speed setting, and preferably an “open coat” sandpaper. [14] X Research source
