grit, whereas certain hardwoods might be orbitally or hand sanded with 220 grit and higher for a darkish organic stain on furniture. Though it is not as durable, "garnet" is usually the preferred sandpaper for hand-sanding bare wood; this is due to a sharper and faster cutting grit, and because it does not impart colour from the grit, as aluminium oxide or silicon carbide can do. Other methods include "rubbing" with rottenstone etc. In certain cases it is necessary to clean the wood or remove existing stains prior to staining the wood with a commercial stain in order to avoid damaging the wood. This can be the case for both unfinished and finished wood. Cleaning stained wood There are special considerations when cleaning stained wood. One of the most common stains is water stains on stained wood. Techniques to remove water stains have been documented which use a hot iron to remove the water stain. Special caution should be used when trying to remove stains from a stained wood to avoid damaging the original stain. This is especially important with antiques. See also Wood finishing Varnish References Visual arts materials Wood finishing techniques