Steel Wool

Steel wool, also called wire wool, is a flexible abrasive made from fine steel strands, used for cleaning, polishing, rust removal and surface preparation. This guide explains how to choose the right grade.

How steel wool is graded — Grades run from fine to coarse. Fine grades are gentle and suited to delicate finishing, buffing and cleaning without scratching, while coarse grades cut faster for stripping, rust removal and heavy cleaning. Choose the grade to match how much material you need to remove and how fine a finish you want to leave.

Fine grades — Fine steel wool is used for the final steps: buffing paint and varnish, smoothing between coats, polishing metal and cleaning delicate surfaces where a coarse abrasive would mark them.

Coarse grades — Coarse steel wool tackles the heavy work: removing rust and old finishes, scouring, and cleaning ingrained dirt off tougher surfaces before finishing with a finer grade.

Choosing for the job — Many jobs use more than one grade, working from coarse to fine. Keep a range to hand so you can strip and then finish the same surface. Steel wool also moulds to shape, so it reaches into mouldings, turnings and awkward contours a flat abrasive cannot.

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