Sanded

JB and I sanded this weekend. We sanded the entire mule chest as follows:

Thoroughly sanded wood with 220 grit sandpaper.
Wiped wood down with a wet rag.
Wood dried feeling "furry."
Wiped steel wool over the wood to catch and rip off tiny wood fibers.
Vacuumed up steel wool shavings.
Thoroughly sanded wood with 220 grit sandpaper.
Wiped wood down with a wet rag.
Wood dried feeling significantly less "furry" - but still furry.
Wiped steel wool over the wood to catch and rip off tiny wood fibers.
Vacuumed up steel wool shavings.
Sanded wood with 320 grit sandpaper.
Sanded wood with 600 grit sandpaper.
Vacuumed up sawdust.
Ran a tack-cloth (very sticky cheese-cloth) over all surfaces to remove any sawdust that didn't get vacuumed up.

It took half of Saturday and most of Sunday to do this, but now the mule chest feels almost like glass.

Next weekend... staining.