It's my understanding there is sort of defacto standard among these.

For 3M Scotch-Brite the maroon pad is about 000 steel wool equivalent and the white has little to no abrasive. One finer than maroon is light gray and one more coarse is dark gray.

Do avoid using steel wool on oak as the metal shards will react with the tannins and make black stains.

Thank you. I won't use steel wool. What do you think about using lint-free fabric for buffing? Is the white pad more abrasive/will it work better?

You haven't described your project but had good luck using ultra-fine sandpaper with oil finishes for furniture. 1,000-2,000 grit sandpaper is available at almost any auto supply store. I never liked the fiber pads, especially with open pore woods like oak because I always seemed to get little fibers from the pads caught in the pores.

"I never liked the fiber pads, especially with open pore woods like oak because I always seemed to get little fibers from the pads caught in the pores."

Fill the pores.

BEHLEN Pore-O-Pac Paste Wood Grain Filler is available for a reason.

You can tint it to either blend in the pores or accent them, depending on the look you want.

If you have a problem using the pads, you could use Abralon pads. 500 or 1000 for the wet sanding and 4000 for the final buff out.

Brickeyee,

Certainly filling the pores is an option if that's the look you want to achieve. I was simply relating my experience and I've had good luck with ultra fine grits of sandpaper and prefer to use it instead of non-woven pads.

Obviously, your mileage may vary.

Using excessively fine grits on wood has the effect of burnishing the surfaces and limiting dye penetration and pigment stain coloring (no scratches to catch pigment particles).

Wood is not metal.

Ultra fine grits can be used to sand out finishes nicely instead of the older pumice, rotten-stone path.

If used with opaque lacquer, you can get a finish as shiny and smooth as metal.

Trying to sand out normal wood pore structure is not going to work well, unless you accidentally fill the pores with swarf from sanding and then manage to seal it in.

It will continue to look like powder under a clear finish though, and be softer spots under any finish.