Sponges
Budget
3M Scotch-Brite Maroon Heavy Duty Hand Pad (10-pack)
Comes in heavy. Leaves the surface ready for whatever comes next.
3M · Line profile
Scotch-Brite pad grit equivalents.
Color is a grade. The grit number is an approximation.
A Scotch-Brite pad does not have one exact sandpaper grit. It is a nonwoven nylon web loaded with abrasive: it flexes into curves, exposes fresh mineral as it wears and leaves a softer, less uniform scratch than coated paper. 3M grades its pads by mineral and fineness, not by grit, and its selection guide doesn’t give grit numbers at all.
So the honest answer is the 3M grade first, then the closest paper grit that retailers and 3M’s own comparisons support. Match the pad to the surface you need to leave, and test on scrap before the part that matters.
- Construction
- Nonwoven nylon web + abrasive
- Grading
- 3M grade names (Medium → Super Fine)
- Minerals
- Aluminum oxide or silicon carbide by pad
- Use
- Scuffing, blending, cleaning, contours
The chart
3M hand pads, coarsest to finest.
| Pad | 3M grade · closest grit |
|---|---|
| 7440 TanHeavy cleaning and rust or scale removal. Not a finishing pad. | A-MED · Medium aluminum oxide |
| 7447 MaroonScuffing paint and primer before recoat; light oxidation; blending a repair.3M Scotch-Brite Maroon Pads → | A-VFN · ≈ 320–400 grit |
| 7448 GrayBetween-coat prep, blending, fine finishing.3M Scotch-Brite Gray Pads → | S-ULF · ≈ 00 steel wool |
| 7445 WhiteCleaning and polishing delicate surfaces with almost no scratch. | F-SFN · Super Fine |
| Green (household)Kitchen-style scouring. Avoid on clear plastic, polished metal and clear coat.3M Scotch-Brite Green Pads → | No 3M grade published |
| Blue (household)Lighter non-scratch cleaning; not a finishing abrasive.3M Scotch-Brite Blue Pads → | No 3M grade published |
Grade codes are from 3M’s Scotch-Brite hand pad selection guide: the letter is the mineral (A aluminum oxide, S silicon carbide, F flint) and the rest is the fineness. 3M ranks them, finest first: 7445, 7448, 7447, 7446, 7440.
The 7447 grit range is how distributors list it (sold as “320/400 grit, very fine grade”); 3M itself compares 7447 to grade 1 steel wool and 7448 to grade 00. Green and blue household pads are a different product family with no published grade, so any grit number you see for them is a guess.
Another brand's numbers to match? The grit converter lines up P-grades, CAMI, microns and Trizact A-grades.
Sources: 3M Scotch-Brite hand pad selection guide (61-5005-0006-3) · 3M Scotch-Brite Hand Pad 7448 · Dealer listing: 7447 “320-400 grit”
Maroon pad grit equivalent
Maroon 7447 is the general-purpose pad and the one body shops keep in a stack. Dealers sell it as 320 to 400 grit, which is right where you want to be to key an existing finish before paint, take light oxidation off metal or feather the edge of a repair. If you need flat stock removal or a predictable, straight scratch, it is the wrong tool; use 320-grit paper on a block.
Gray pad grit equivalent
Gray 7448 is silicon carbide, Ultra Fine, and 3M compares it to 00 steel wool, without the shedding, the rust or the splinters. It is the between-coats pad: it dulls the sheen evenly so the next coat bonds, and it follows profiles that paper would cut through. It will not flatten a dust nib the way 1000-grit wet paper does.
Green, blue and white
The green and blue pads under your sink are household Scotch-Brite, not the industrial hand pads in 3M’s finishing guide, and 3M publishes no grade for them. Green cuts surprisingly hard for a kitchen pad: keep it away from clear plastic, polished metal and clear coat. White 7445 is the near-zero end of the scale, for cleaning and polishing without leaving a scratch you can see.
Pad or sandpaper?
Choose a pad for curves, profiles, irregular surfaces and blending. Choose sandpaper for flattening, measurable stock removal and a repeatable scratch. Choose wet/dry paper when you need a controlled high-grit finish; see how to wet sand.
In the catalog
Every Scotch-Brite hand pads SKU we cover.
Sheets
Budget
3M Scotch-Brite Gray Ultra Fine Hand Pad (10-pack)
The last scuff before the finish takes over.
Sponges
Budget
3M Scotch-Brite Green Medium-Duty Hand Pad (10-pack)
Green grit. The middle ground between maroon and gray.
Sponges
Budget
3M Scotch-Brite Blue Fine Hand Pad (10-pack)
Blue grit. Between coats. Never apologizes.
Questions people ask
What grit is a maroon Scotch-Brite pad?
About 320 to 400. 3M grades the 7447 maroon pad as Very Fine aluminum oxide and distributors sell it as 320/400 grit; 3M compares it to grade 1 steel wool.
What grit is a gray Scotch-Brite pad?
3M doesn’t give one. The 7448 gray pad is graded Ultra Fine silicon carbide and 3M compares it to 00 steel wool, which puts it finer than maroon and in fine-finishing territory.
What grit is a green Scotch-Brite pad?
There is no published grit. Green is a household scouring pad, not one of 3M’s graded finishing pads, and cut rate varies by product. Test it before using it on anything with a finish you care about.
Keep moving
Maroon vs grayThe two pads that do most of the finishing work.Sanding between coatsWhere the gray pad earns its keep.Sandpaper for paint prepScuff, key, and when paper does it better.CAMI vs P-grade vs micronsThe full conversion table every line on this site is measured against.
Other lines