How to Sand drywall without drywall dust or perform dustless drywall sanding or Wet sand drywall

Don’t you just hate sanding drywall mud after you apply it? It makes a big mess and puts dust all over the place. I have ripped down and replaced nearly every outside wall in my house. I skim coated my living room and kitchen ceiling. I have remodeled my garage and basement and never once sanded the mud. My walls and ceilings look perfectly smooth and no one would ever know that I didn’t sand them the traditional way.
This article discusses how to sand the walls with a sponge and no dust at all!

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Water
• Grout sponge

1. 
    

   After the last coat of drywall mud is applied, let it dry at least 24 hours.

2. 
    

   Pick out your sanding sponge. Although the home center stores sell a sanding sponge, do not use it. I have never had success with the sanding sponge. My success has come from using the grout sponge and my own hands. Buy a grout sponge.

3. 
    

   Take your taping knife and scrape down any ridges left from your last coat of mud.

4. 
    

   Dip your sponge and ring it out until it stops dripping. It needs to be wet enough so that when you place it on the mud, water is left on the mud but not wet enough that it will drip all over the place. This image shows the drywall screw patch being wetted.
   Wet the area of mud first with the sponge before you try to sand it smooth. This will make the sponge slide easier. Do not try to sand a big area at once.
   The best way to sand an area is from the middle out. So, in other words, do not go back and forth like tradition sanding. Only go in one direction, from the center of the mud to the uncoated drywall.

5. 
    

   Your finger tips have millions of nerve endings and can feel almost anything. They are better at detecting ridges that your eyes, even with latex gloves on. So, run your fingers over the area you just sanded with little or no pressure and feel for ridges. If you hands can feel it, your eyes will see it after you are done painting the wall.
   If you feel any ridge, continue wet sanding it.
   Don’t worry about waviness in the wall, just worry about consistent bumps and ridges. Waviness is okay because the eye will not be able to see it unless light is shined on the wall at an angle. Bumps and ridges will be noticed no matter what kind of light is in the room.

6. 
    

   Do a section at a time. For big areas, like around the window, do one edge of the window at a time. Wet the entire section with the sponge first, then sand it.

7. 
    

   Once you are all done and the wall is completely dry, take your bare fingers and go over the walls. It’s actually better to do this with your eyes closed so that your eyes do not fool your hands. In this picture, I found a ridge at the top of my index finger that my eyes did not see. Keep in mind that my eyes would have seen this once the wall was painted.

Tips & Warnings

• It’s the eyes that matter here and the eyes can be fooled. A wavy wall will not look wavy to the eyes unless light hits it a certain way or you look at it from the end. Take the lighting into account when determining how perfect the walls should look. The eyes will notice sharp ridges and consistency.
• If you have very thick coats of drywall mud, do not try wet sanding. Wet sanding will not work and you will ruin your walls.
• I am not going to discuss how to apply the mud in the article, but I will say that very thin coats is the key to your success. There is absolutely no reason to have 1 thick coat that you have to spend 6 hours sanding off. It’s better to have 6 thin coats that require 1 hour of sanding.
• The eyes are more keen at picking up consistency then inconsistency. So, when you are sanding, make sure the edges of the mud patch are as inconsistent as possible as shown completed wall picture.
• The completely sanded wall looks pretty bad with mud smeared all over the place. The more of a haze of mud, the better. The paint will actually mix with the smeared mud and make the wall look smoother.
• The key to a good sanding job is a good job applying mud properly. If you can apply the mud properly, you will not have to sand much.
• This takes patience and practice. The first time I did this I really messed it up and my bedroom ceiling looked terrible when the sun shines in the room. If you want perfection, sand carefully the traditional way.

[texasparky]

on 3/25/2009 This is valuable information! Nice work. And yes, I hate sanding drywall. I hate sanding anything.

[MyJB]

on 3/20/2009 Good information to have and thanks for sharing about using your fingers to find bumps and ridges that will be noticeable once the paints dries* recommend.