What Is Emery Cloth? Understanding the Difference Between Emery Cloth and Aluminum Oxide Cloth
Emery Cloth
If you’ve ever searched for emery cloth, you may have noticed that the term is often used to describe several different abrasive products. While true emery cloth still exists, many customers who ask for emery cloth today are actually looking for a different product entirely.
Understanding the difference can help ensure you’re choosing the right abrasive for your application.
What Is Emery Cloth?
Emery cloth is a durable abrasive material traditionally used for smoothing, polishing, and cleaning metal surfaces. For decades, emery cloth was commonly used to:
- Smooth uneven metal surfaces
- Remove rust and corrosion
- Strip paint and coatings
- Prepare metal for painting or welding
- Clean and polish steel, brass, copper, aluminum, and zinc
While emery cloth remains available, it is considered an older abrasive technology with few advantages over modern alternatives.
What Are Customers Really Looking for When They Search for Emery Cloth?
In many cases, customers searching for “emery cloth” are actually looking for cloth-backed abrasives such as shop rolls or 9″ x 11″ sheets made with aluminum oxide grain. Because true emery cloth is only available in coarse, medium, and fine grades, a request for a specific grit size, such as 80 grit or 120 grit, typically indicates that the customer is actually looking for an aluminum oxide cloth product.
Emery Cloth vs. Aluminum Oxide Cloth
Although both products feature a similar flexible cloth backing and are often used for hand sanding applications, there are important differences between them to consider.
Emery Cloth
- Typically black in color
- Uses natural emery minerals
- Suitable for cleaning, polishing, and surface preparation
- Primarily used on metal surfaces
- Considered an older abrasive technology
Aluminum Oxide Cloth
- Typically brown in color
- Uses aluminum oxide abrasive grain
- Harder and sharper than natural emery minerals
- Removes material faster
- Lasts longer during use
- Available in a wide range of grit sizes
Because aluminum oxide grains cut more aggressively and maintain their performance longer, aluminum oxide cloth has become the preferred choice for many metalworking and maintenance applications.
Choosing the Right Product
If you specifically need traditional emery cloth for cleaning, polishing, or light surface preparation, a product such as 9″ x 11″ emery cloth sheets may be the right solution.
However, if you’re searching for a cloth-backed abrasive in a specific grit size, such as 80, 120, or 180 grit, you’re likely looking for aluminum oxide cloth sheets instead.
For most modern hand-sanding applications, aluminum oxide cloth provides the same flexibility and versatility while delivering faster cutting action and longer abrasive life.
Finding the Best Abrasive for Your Application
The term “emery cloth” is still widely used throughout the industry, but it often serves as a catch-all phrase for cloth-backed abrasives. Understanding whether you need traditional emery cloth or aluminum oxide cloth can help you select the most effective product for the job.
Whether you’re removing rust, preparing metal for welding, cleaning surfaces, or performing finish work, choosing the correct abrasive will improve efficiency and help achieve better results.
From traditional emery cloth to modern aluminum oxide alternatives, Preferred Abrasives offers durable cloth-backed abrasive sheets designed for metal cleaning, surface preparation, rust removal, and finishing applications. Not sure which product is right for your application?
Contact our team for expert guidance and product recommendations.