How to Sand Indoors - NO DUST! 

*Works really **MyBest.Tools** well, and fits hand perfectly.*

Nice work Bethany - BUT! Look out for lead. Many old (pre-1978) wood varnishes contain lead. It's not only in paint. Remember to always test with a trustworthy lead swab before you start sanding! (3M lead swab test, or if not available see the Lead Safe Mama blog - total lead expert - for swab brand recommendations). Because remember - NO orbital sander attached to a vacuum, captures all of the dust it generates. Even if it's an awesome Festool sander, attached to the best HEPA vacuum available. This means that if you're sanding a piece that is covered in lead paint or varnish, a medically significant amount of lead dust is still being broadcast into the room no matter what. It's also important to note that sanding creates "ultrafine particles" in addition to the visible particles that we can all see (sawdust). This means that your room might LOOK dust free, but in actuality is filled (both surfaces and suspended in the air) with dust. Ultrafine particles can fly right through a typical vacuum filter like mosquitos can fly through a chainlink fence. Your vacuum filter might as well not exist at all. Even if a shop or household vac is equipped with a HEPA filter (which can capture ultrafine particles), it may not make any difference. Unless the vacuum has been tested to be an airtight "HEPA system" (all of the seals are tested to be airtight), the HEPA filter can be bypassed and the vacuum's exhaust may simply be acting as a high powered dust spreader. I don't want to rain on all the antqiue furniture flipper's parades, but lead dust is a SERIOUS issue: for adults (cancer, etc), but ESPECIALLY for kids (permanent IQ damage, amongst many other things), and it's easy to bring home to your kids. I encourage you to read up on the EPA, CDC , etc. website. To sand lead pieces safely, you ought to work in a designated containment room (either permanent or temporary), under negative air pressure (created with a HEPA negative air machine), with the sanding tool connected to a HEPA vacuum that is a "HEPA system" / totally sealed at all seams (see abatement company websites for recommendations), and certified for use with hazardous dust (EPA RRP guidelines). The worker should wear a P100 respirator that's been fit-tested, and either disposable coveralls and gloves (ideally), or at least coveralls that will be washed twice, and separately, from other laundry. The worker should vacuum themselves off before they leave the containment and take care to not track dust out on their shoes/ booties, or carry dust into the uncontaminated space in their hair, or on their clothes. They should also shower with dish soap (I like to use Dawn) or other soap that can suspend heavy metals (normal bath soap won't cut it). I love you all and want everyone to work safe - for themselves and the "Biscuits" in their lives. Sand on!

Thanks so much for the tip. I started using my shop vac like this when I watched one of your videos a couple of months ago. It’s been great not having to remove dust from every surface in my garage. Total game changer!

Yes, I just invested in buying a shopvac on Facebook market and I bought a new sander... Finally I can get some work done indoors.🇨🇦❤️

Your video was the best. Many of the other videos were “how-to” make an adapter to attach their shop vac to sanders, et al. I just wanted to watch someone else sand indoors before I tackle my stair project. Simple and straight forward. Thanks.

ahhhh this is so helpful!! I was hoping to finish some furniture in my apartment but I’ve been nervous about the enclosed space. this setup will work really well for me, thanks for sharing!!

Hi, I'm learning so much from your other videos, hopefully I can return with a few extra tips that i learnt. you can get a plumbers no hub fitting, to avoid the duct tape. 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 adapter. (this will help with the mis match OD's of the sanders and shopvac hose. also super critical to get a green or blue shop vac filter not the default gray one . the standard gray one will certainly miss wood dust on the finer grits. (the worst ones for your lungs) get a cyclone to prevent your filter on your shop vac from clogging. this will help maintain suction power. (youtube search will explain it better than I can) Also to get 100% air filtering, if you can put your shop vac outside and route it through a window. anything the filter in the shop vac miss wont be inside your home. plus will prevent you from getting aheadache hearing it. subscribed!!!

Love this simple solution! Also, most of the videos that I actually hit the “like button” on aren’t necessarily the best technically-speaking, but are made by someone who is down to earth, friendly and very likeable. Thanks for the video Bethany*!

I love that your gadget also proves a long handle for a different control on the danger. Win-win! Thanks for the great video.

I purchased a used one as the piece is a bit pricey, but the machine ru-vid.comUgkxG6fbm3cHBd7CNTjk5D-dwYe9c9tCB9ZN has surpassed my expectations. We sand small parts by hand often, sized around 1"x1/2," and specifically look for a piece that's designed to be vertical. The motor has plenty of torque and great speed settings. The only inconvenience I had is that the disk measures 5" where we trim 6" stick-and-sand disks down easily by mounting it then cutting with a box cutter.

I use the old hoses from my CPAP machine to duct tape together. Awesome info

Thanks for this tip. I'm at the prep stage to refinish some vintage and antique pieces from my family. Ordered a Makita BO5041 Orbital sander. Now researching small shop vacs to connect to. Love that you used one of the vacuum wands to tie the 2 tools together. It helps keep the hose out of your way and acts as a handle as well.

You are Awesome!!! Thank you! I am sanding drywall putty inside and last time I learned the hard way. Had to clean everything. Now I can finish my project!

festool! give this lady a dust extractor.

Thank you SOOO much for this video. I am JUST starting as a flipper. Getting the tools together for this project is really daunting. Thank you for helping me figure this out.

Great video and idea for dustless sanding. Thanks!

Thank you so much! Just starting restoring furniture and don’t wanna spend big bucks until the business grows 🙏

Thank you Bethany and the most beautiful little Biscuit. ❤

Hi Bethany, I've been working on resurfacing my kitchen cabinets (out with the golden oak and on with the General Finishes Antique Walnut Gel stain). I orbital sanded out all doors and drawers on my deck and in the garage but now I'm on to the built-in cabinet structures themselves located in the kitchen. I partially sanded 1 cabinet with my sander and whew, it's dusty in here! I'm going to take your advice and attempt to hook up my vacuum to my DeWalt orbital with some manly colored duct tape (silver or grey.. lol) and see if it works. I love all your videos and think you do an awesome job! You are very talented! Thanks for creating and sharing so DIY grasshoppers like me can learn from you! :) Ken

Thank You for the tip! I’m sanding bathroom cabinets and don’t have the money to buy the extractor! Trying this out today! Thank you!

Thanks for the tip I am going to hook up my sander to my vacuum to avoid the drywall and concrete dust with this referbish I am doing 👍😊

Great Video. Informative, easy to follow and right to the point without alot of unnecessary, noisy chatter. Exactly what I was searching for. I'm a beginner so I am looking forward to watching more of your videos to learn more of your tips. Thanks "G"

Thank you for taking the time to share! Your sander is much better than the one I've been using. I did this exact same thing a few years ago. Only difference being I using a cheap B&D sander. Result was less dust than without the vac. However, after seeing the Festool performance, I'm upgrading sanders today.

I love the idea and biscuit is so sweet!

You & biscuit are precious! Thank you for teaching me so much 😊

Great tip, thank you. Peace and love.

Thank you, Bethany! It's now 3-1/2 years since you did this video, so I hope you're still out there. But it's still just as useful, and I thank you for helping me take this leap! I wasn't even sure the shop vac had to be turned on for this to work, although I also didn't think that little sander had the guts to push dust all the way through the hose to the shop vac either, so you confirmed that. The LOUD shop vac must be on whenever sanding! I don't have a fancy Festool sander, just a little 5" Bosch random orbital sander, BUT for now it will have to do---once I figure out how to get it attached to my shop vac. My Rigid shop vac has a larger hose than yours (I think 2-1/2"), so I'll have to measure to get he right size of PVC, or whatever, pipe to be the interface between the two. Is there a reason your connector pipe is so long? It looks 20" or so. Is that simply to keep the hose away from you and not rubbing against you or your project? I didn't catch where you bought black PVC, if that's what it is, and don't see a list of parts. I also see that sanding is done SLOWLY. That's important to know also. Why does the sander only remove an inch around the edges of the path and not the middle, when the discs have grit all the way across? It looks like you had to go back into the center (of at least the first path) and work at it to get it sanded. And did you start with 80 grit and move up to 220? Do you do 100 in between? I'm removing polyurethane over cherry stain on my bath and kitchen cabinets, and I have never sanded before. I hope to end up with lighter wood than the cherry stain. Stripper is so messy that I really don't want to go there unless I have to, which I will probably have to do for the routed details. Thanks again!

Thank you so much! I'm sanding kitchen cabinets, and dust is getting everywhere!

Hey, Bethany! I cant wait to try this! No more hauling buffets out to the parking lot 😆 It was great to meet you, Biscuit, and Bacon the other day 😀

Rockler Woodworking has a LOT of wonderful dust management hoses and they fit very well and works with shop vac. And they are pretty darned price conscious.

I thought of this, and I wasn't sure if it would be bad for the tool, as I own my palm sander. I do need a shop vac, but my Kirby is a very good vacuum, thanks!

Love the T-shirt!!!

Hi Bethany, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. I am just starting out and you said it, I’m totally intimidated about sanding. I’ve heard that that with chalk paint you don’t have to prep, I agree yes you do.I did a beautiful dresser and the tannins came through and it doesn’t look horrible but it could have looked so much softer. So thank you, your videos are so helpful, keep them coming. 👍

Hi. Thanks for this video ! I just spent a few weeks using stripper and stripping my kitchen cabinet doors. My kitchen cabinets and doors have NO PAINT and NO STAIN - JUST POLY. The Poly was chipping very bad and the doors looked yucky so I needed to refinish them. Each side of the door was left in stripper for 24 hours and i did 2 coats on each side- i think I used roughly 4 gallons of the Soy Gel stripper- and i did this in a relatives garage in the suburbs a few weeks ago when it was terrible weather ....was a struggle with that garage door open- i live in downtown Boston. Now onto Stage 2, i have had to join a makerspace about an hour away (closer to NH) because I did not want any dust inside my apartment and I also did not really know how to efficiently do this. I have only been to that place twice... The driving back and forth is tiring. I am only using a finishing sander as the doors are all stripped already so i just need some tooth for the poly finish. They were never painted - only had a poly top coat. However, the shelves of these cabinets are plywood and they got grimy over the past 20 years.. I did not strip those removable shelves but am sanding directly - its hard because I have to be careful & not go through the veneer. Anyway... sorry for the long story there but I have to ask you a question which i will get to after giving you some more background.............. I need to sand a large section of my island that is exposed and faces the living room in my apartment. I might not use stripper on it but might just sand. I also have to sand some of the bottom sections inside the cabinets that I already stripped with stripper (I stripped these because i was too scared to sand them as theyre all plywood cabinet boxes but am now more open to sanding without stripping first). DUST IS MY MAIN WORRY. I bought a Bosch 1/4 sheet sander and a shopvac which i have yet to open. I found someone on Etsy to 3D print the adapter that will connect both the sander/shopvac. I also bought a HEPA filter kit & bag. I'm still concerned about dust indoors with this setup. Should I just return the Bosch sander, the shopvac and the hepa filter kit and and buy the Festool extractor & sander. What prompted this question was your Festool video when you sanded the dresser top and showed no dust on your hands from sanding. I'm in two minds now and dont know what to do. If I do buy the Festool, it will go to my storage room after this cabinet project and not come out for a year or two or longer. But health/dust is a concern ....the cabinets that are in place have heavy granite countertops that would be too expensive/laborious to remove and re installed..... Really want your advice regarding this. Thanks a ton!

THANK YOU!!! It's turning cold in Michigan and I decided to refinish my oak dining table so I need to strip and sand. It's way too heavy to carry into the garage and too cold. The only thing I don't understand is why the dust isn't coming out the other end of the shop vac?? I have a canister vacuum with a bag and I'm going to try that.

Awesome I’m definitely going to try this👍😀

super practical thanks so much for making this video

Awesome!!! Just what I was looking for to eliminate unwanted dust. You do a great job in demonstrating how the project is to be completed. Keep up the good work. Oh! before I forget, you have the prettiest smile and beautiful eyes.

Fantastic! You just solved my problem!

Great Video, you and your dog are so cute...I am old,needed to see how one of these works, how to use it. Yours is the only video I found!!! Great shop vac idea, I do have a shop vac!!! I am trying to sand and restain wood doors and trim and a floor and a stair case...I bought an old used 6" air sander and a new air compressor...getting up the nerve to operate them...

Thank you! This was exactly the solution I needed for trying to figure out how to sand a couple tables inside my apartment. I am on my way to buy a shop vac❤️

Where have you been all my life????!!! Omggg I love u!! I haven't been able to do anything at all because only space I have is indoors. A million tys

Great idea. God bless you. As a fellow DIY woman, I really appreciate your beauty and modesty.

Awesome! Thanks for the excellent tip and demo!

Thank you!!

Good video. Glad that system works for you. So what do if your shop vac does not fit to your sander or any other tool that spits out volumes of dust?

Love your channel. Thank you for this great tip. Yeah I am starting out too, n tools are expensive.

Omg Ty for sharing the info headed to store now

All I can say is OMG genius I have to do my kitchen and then dreading all the dust so glad I came across your RU-vid channel I am definitely your new subscriber

Great ideas! Now, how can I cut molding miter cuts indoors? (Washington in December projects don't want to wait for summer.)

Thank you, I needed something simple like this.

I use a filter bag inside my shop vac. If I left it standard the wood dust would clog up the standard filter. I have also added a cyclone add on around $50 and it has even eliminated the filter bags

Great video. My little red buttons black but I pushed. Lol

Really appreciate your post as I am about to sand my floor! Thank you very much!

Thank you solved a problem I didn't know how to solve!!!

WOW! That is amazing and just what I was looking for. Thank you!

Bags are great when using shopvacs for dust

Thanks again 😊

YOU ROCK !!! THANK YOU !!🥰👍😎

this helps a lot ! thanks

Thank You so much, I ❤ You for this video.

I have to send a bunch of furniture in my basement and I don't want a bunch of dust side note absolutely love your shirt

Thank you for sharing great info. : ) I'm a bit older than you and wish now I'd worn hearing protection more when younger. I hope you do when you aren't filming your work.

Great demonstration... thanks

I Going to try this ! Awesome

I’m looking this up because I finished half my bathroom and I was covered in a white dust everywhere trying to hold the shop vac and sand at the same time. Waiting for the dust to settle then gonna give this a try on the remaining half!

This is cool and I am new to this. Very helpful thank you😊

I need a shop vac now

THANK YOU!

Exactly the video I was looking for.... How to suck dust using my shop vac! Thank you!

I want to sand and paint all the wood trim and doors of my 1950 Cape Cod home. You’ve encouraged me so much to use this tool with confidence! I was wondering why you had to switch sanders??

One question as a total beginner and homeowner , I don’t do antiques but I want to sand my own ugly dark cherry kitchen cabinets ( circa 2013?) want to do a lighter color so am only now buying tools . I began w hart bc they’re in Walmart -my son swears by Milwaukee but I’m a 61 yr old and can’t do heavy stuff - Question is can I use like any shop vac ? To do around the house stuff like my walls and doors etc

Why did. The first pass leave that landing strip? I recently bought my first sanding tool. I though all sanding tool was the same but it appears I bought the traditional square one rather than a random orbital version in this video. I’m hoping the square format will produce more uniformed results. The hack with the vacuum is cool. So obvious but also not but hey, that’s why sharing on RU-vid is so cool.

Hello, what filter are you using in the vac? Are you using a hepa bag and hepa filter? I just bought a Festool, on your recommendation 😊(love it so far).

Genius. 🥰 Thank you for sharing this!

Great trick, I'll try it out next time. The dust is what keeps me from sanding. I do strongly advise you put on some strong ear protection. The sander + the shop vac is way too loud

Hi there, thanks so much for you videos they’re so great! Do you think I’d be able to use a standard upright vacuum to start with in this way? I’m just a beginner and can’t afford a Shopvac right now and I’m only sanding blanket chests. Thanks for all your help too! 🙂

Awesome video, thank you! Should I use this same method for refinishing cabinets? If so, any sander will do? For cabinets, what grit do you recommend?

I've always attached directly to the sander but is it easier to sand with that long hose adapter? Thanks for sharing tips

Well, it's settled then -- I'll be NEEDING a festool :)

Should you use a shop vac bag.

New subscriber. Great video thanks

Love your shirt

This was so helpful, thank you!

Very helpful thank u!

Might want to consider wearing ear plugs for such a noisy vacuum. You an download an app to your phone and check the db level. OSHA requires hearing protection for 85db and over. Good to wear them at all times to protect your hearing.

Omg I love this.

Good job love from 🇬🇧

Came here for the sanding tips, stayed for the mega cute dog in a vest.

I hope this works for Drywall repair. I am about to find out. Thank you for this video!!!

I love that shirt

You need to invest in a DIY cyclone as well. Save your shop vac filters and make sure ALL of the dust captured.

Omg, what a great idea… I am working on my kitchen cabinets myself to save some money. However, as soon as I started sanding I got dust everywhere 🤦🏻‍♀️ and now sitting on the floor trying to figure out how to do a dust free sanding. Would this work with regular vacuum? Thank you!

Do you have neighbors? I want to get started with woodworking, but I have no outdoor space... I'm concerned about the noise

I use my regular home vacuum 🤣 just make sure it has good filtering. I have a $100 bucks vacuum (if not cheaper) and it has basic filtering.I just wet the filter to make sure the dust stays inside for sure.

Great video, thank you for the information. On a side note, do you happen to have a video on how to fix a Dyson vacuum that you burn up by doing this? Asking for a friend.

Can I use my regular vacuum cleaner? This is such an awesome idea

Good video. Thanks

Do you turn in the shop vac while you sand???

I don’t have shop vac, can I use my regular Shark vacuumer?