Steel wool, material for sanding profiled surfaces and ageing skids

There are materials used in woodworking and wood finishing that I have known for decades and because I am so familiar with them I feel like everyone knows them. This was also the case with steel wool, which I have mentioned several times in articles without further explanation. The other day I was asked what this wool is and what it looks like, and I realized that some of my explanations about antiqued finish or polishing were not understood. That's why the subject of this article is steel wool, a polishing material with which very delicate work can be done.

What is steel wool

Wool steel is certainly not wool in the usual sense of the term, and sometimes, neither is steel.😊 A carpenter tells the story of how, as a child in his father's carpenter shop, he asked him what steel wool was. "The wool that steel sheep give," was the reply. All kidding aside, steel wool is a material that looks like processed sheep's wool (drawn on a butcher's shop floor), but has very thin metal threads. The wires can be carbon steel (low carbon), aluminum, bronze, stainless steel and even plastic. The wires have sharp edges, the steel wool acting as a abrasive material for sanding of finesse.

Fine metal wires have been used for polishing since the 19th century, when mechanics discovered that the fine shavings from machining could be used to clean metal. It was first registered as a product in 1896. After World War II, it began to be used extensively in the kitchen for cleaning aluminum dishes. It is now used in wood, metal and jewelry working.

Like abrasive paper, steel wool is of several kinds. The metal wires can be of different thicknesses, with the processing being finer or coarser, depending on the size of the wire. As it is used for fine grinding and polishing, the thickness of the wire is not very great even for those considered coarse. Numbers are used to identify the type of wool. Coarse is numbered from 1 to 4 (some brands have 5), where 1 is the finest and 5 the coarsest. Very fine steel wool is numbered 0. As here too there are several degrees of fineness, the more delicate the wool, the more zeros there are. There are 4 types of such wool, from one zero (0) to four zeros (0000), the latter being the finest. The yarn thickness ranges from 100 μm for number 4 steel wool to 25 μm for 0000 steel wool.

The main uses of steel wool are grinding and polishing

Steel wool is used for removing a very thin layer of material from the surface of an object. The thickness of the layer removed depends on the fineness of the wool, which is why coarse wool is used for sanding and fine wool for polishing (polishing).

The biggest advantage of sanding with steel wool is that it molds to the shape of the object to be sanded. Nicks, hard-to-reach places, carvings are much better and easier to sand with steel wool. When sanding with wool, it is a good idea to wear protective gloves because the thin metal wires make very fine cuts on the skin, cuts that you sometimes only recognize when you wash your hands.

Depending on its fineness, steel wool can be used both for sanding wood and for sanding between coats or at the end. It is used on wood when you want to obtain a very finely worked wood (guitars, sculptures, decorative objects). It starts with coarse paper and then the fineness is increased to steel wool. Steel wool can't break the coarse, hard fiber of the raw wood, so it doesn't perform well if used from the very beginning of sanding.

The sanding between layers is used especially when the finish will be very glossy. Sometimes, the fine lines from traditional paper sanding become visible at the end because the high gloss lacquer emphasizes any defects. The wool removes a very fine layer of varnish and the scratches are so fine that they are invisible. However, it leaves behind a fine metallic dust and small bits of thread, so the surface must be wiped and cleaned very well, especially if the large pores in the wood have not been completely covered (closed) with varnish. It goes without saying that the use of wool is recommended when sanding objects with more difficult shapes, narrow places, edges and carvings between layers.

Very fine wool (0000) is used for polishing and for removing skates. The very fine threads remove excess material without scratching the varnish or primer, and the look of the piece stays beautiful. If the furniture is very shiny, and this is no longer to our liking, Gloss can be reduced by using 00 steel wool. Sand the entire surface evenly, giving it a very nice satin finish.

When steel wool is not recommended

It is not recommended for sanding oak and other tannin species because tannin reacts with iron, resulting in blue or black dyes that stain the wood. If bronze or stainless steel wool is used, this does not occur. Sometimes in the large pores of oak Very small pieces of the metal threads may remain and look ugly after varnishing. If steel wool sanding has been done, clean up very, very well by wiping and vacuuming off the resulting dust.

Steel wool is not recommended for sanding water-based products between coats. Any metal dust, however small, left on the surface will rust in contact with water and stain the finish. Steel wool is generally not recommended for water-based products. Only bronze or stainless steel can be used.

Some specialists do not recommend sanding between coats with steel wool, even if the products are not water-based. If primer builds up during orange peel, wool does not have the power to remove the entire wrinkled surface of the primer and the finish will not come out very well, especially in the case of high gloss finishes. It is recommended that, at least for the first coats, sanding should be done with the appropriate sanding paper, leaving the last coat, the one before the final coat of varnish, to be sanded with steel wool.

Other uses

Steel wool can be used for refinishing table tops or wooden furniture. Use furniture wax and steel wool with 00 and 0000. With the 00 wool, the wax is carefully applied along the fiber. The application is made in successive passes until the applied coat is uniform and has penetrated well into scratches and defects. Then polish the wax with 0000 wool. Polish along the fiber, without circular movements. It is passed evenly over the entire surface so that the sheen is uniform. This kind of refinishing takes time and effort, but if you use a quality wax, the result will be very beautiful and long-lasting.

Steel wool is also used toartificial ageing of wood. The method is described in full here.

Because it is fine and does not scratch, very fine steel wool is used to remove paint stains from glass surfaces (windows, tables). You can use it to remove any stubborn stains from glass surfaces.

I hope you find the information useful. As I am convinced that there is still room for additions, I am asking those who have used steel wool in other ways to share their experience with us. Those who are unclear can leave questions below in the dedicated space. I promise to answer each one.