Removing Dust Before Finishing

This week’s question comes from Steve who asks:

“I just finished watching the refinishing blog and my only question is I have been wiping my pieces down with mineral spirits prior to applying my finish, I noted that you just blow your pieces off. My question is, am I gaining anything by wiping my pieces verses blowing off?”

And this was my response:
Hey Steve. Thanks for writing. I too occasionally wipe down my pieces before finishing instead of just blowing off the dust. In just about every way, wiping down is the better method. Blowing the dust off can actually damage the wood if the stream of air is too close to the surface. And not to mention, when you blow the dust off, where does it go? Into the air and back down into your finish. So the best way to remove surface dust is to either wipe it away with lightly-dampened cloth (as you are), or use a vacuum with a brush attachment. Now many times, out of laziness, I will still use the compressed air. But you can bet I’ll have that much more dust nibs in my finish when the finish dries. :) So keep doing what your doing my friend!