Mesh, Multi-Hole and Finishing Abrasives: What's Actually Worth Having on the Van
Coarse and medium sanding get talked about the most because that's where the big transformation happens.
The old finish comes off, the floor gets levelled, and it starts looking like something again.
But the finishing stage is where a job actually gets judged, and it's also where a lot of avoidable cost creeps in.
A clogged screen that's stopped cutting cleanly costs you extra passes.
A scratch pattern that doesn't match from one abrasive to the next costs you time blending it out. And using the wrong product at the wrong stage.
Everyone has their preference on the van of what they finish with and what grit they finish with.
This week we're going through what's actually in this category across the brands we stock, what each one's built for, and where the money and time actually gets saved or lost.
Starcke 410mm Mesh Screens
Starcke's mesh screens are built specifically for intermediate and fine finishing, and the open mesh structure is the detail that matters most.
A solid-backed screen loads up with dust as it works, and once it's clogged, it stops cutting efficiently no matter how much pressure you put behind it.
You end up running more passes to compensate for a screen that's already past its best.
The mesh design lets dust pass straight through, keeping the screen performing consistently longer while pulling dust through properly.
That's fewer screens used per job and a more even final pass.
They cover 60 to 120 grit, so one product line takes you from intermediate sanding right through to your final finishing pass without switching material if this is what you would prefer to do, and they fit any 16-inch machine running a hook-and-loop system straight onto the drive plate, or with a buffing pad in between if you want extra cushioning on an uneven surface.
That would be my recommendation: a coarse buffing pad so that the mesh screen sticks like hook-and-loop to it.
And the benefit of having the padded buffing pad is that, almost like an intermediate pad, it follows the contour of the floor.
Jost Multi Hole
The Jost Multi Hole pad works on the same clogging problem as the Starcke mesh screens, but from a different angle; instead of an open mesh, it's a full-surface multi-hole design, and it's built to work with any machine rather than needing a specific hole-pattern backing plate to match it.
That versatility matters on site: you're not carrying different pads for different machines, and you're not caught out if you end up on a job with something that's not your usual setup.
It's also worth knowing this one specifically because of how it "flats back” it holds a true, even surface better than other multi-hole or perforated abrasives, which shows up directly in how consistent your finishing pass looks once it's done.
Less clogging and a flatter cut mean fewer stops and a cleaner result, which is exactly the same money-and-time equation as the mesh screens, just achieved through a different design.
Silicon Carbide — Pallmann and Starcke
Silicon carbide is a finishing material, and that's true across both brands we stock. Pallmann's Silicon Carbide Velcro Disc runs at 80 to 100 grit, to suit the Pallmann spider triple plate hole pattern, and best practice is to run it as your final finishing pass rather than anywhere earlier in the sequence.
The broad, flat cutting edges are designed to smooth wood fibres cleanly at this stage, leaving the floor ready for stain or finish without the deeper scratch pattern a coarser material would leave behind.
These discs also fit the Pallmann Gecko Flex machine for edging, so the finish on the middle of the floor can match the edges.
Starcke's silicon carbide comes in a 9-hole 150mm disc built for Festool Rotex sanders, with the 9-hole pattern optimised for dust extraction.
Again, best used for that final finishing stage.
Across the material generally, silicon carbide is known for a sharp, fine cutting action and a smoother resulting scratch pattern than coarser materials, which is exactly why it belongs at the end of the job rather than the start; it’s not built to remove material fast, it's built to leave the floor in the right state to take a finish well.
Bona Scrad Pad and Wings — intercoat abrasion, not a finishing sand
This one's worth being precise about, because it gets mixed up with finishing abrasives fairly often.
The Bona Scrad Pad, used together with a Bona Scrad Wing to form the Scrad System, is a 320-grit pad built specifically for intercoat abrasion, cutting back grain raised between coats of finish, not sanding bare wood.
It's designed for use with the Bona FlexiSand and Bona Buffer, and it does its job well precisely because it's not aggressive enough to be a finishing-sand product: it's there to knock back the grain that lifts after a coat goes down, so the next coat goes on to a smooth, consistent surface.
Reach for it between coats.
Don't reach for it as your final pass before finish goes on — that's a different stage, done with your actual finishing abrasive if you're running thew bona flexi sander machine; the next one is the one I would recommend.
Mixing the two up either wastes the Scrad system's purpose or under-prepares the floor for its first coat.
Bona Diamond Pads
Where the Scrad system is about gentle upkeep between coats, Bona's Diamond abrasives are built for the opposite problem: tough, stubborn finishes and clogging residue that would chew through a standard pad before it made a dent.
They're built around diamond abrasive technology for heavier-duty precision work, and they're often the right call when you're dealing with a finish that's fighting back rather than a floor that's sanding cleanly.
These are said to last up to 12 times longer than other finishing abrasives on the market, and if they get clogged up, it's fine to just wash them out.
The diamonds are still sharp; you just need to wash out all of the dust.
It's a premium product for a specific problem, and using it on a floor that didn't need that level of aggression is money spent you didn't have to spend.
The Abrasive Month offer
All of the above Starcke mesh screens, Jost Multi Hole, Pallmann and Starcke silicon carbide, and the full Bona finishing and intercoat range are 10% off this month as part of Abrasive Month.
Knowing which product actually belongs at which stage is where the real saving sits: the right abrasive at the right point in the job means fewer passes, fewer wasted discs, and a finish that doesn't need fixing after the fact.
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