Pad Color Code
SEP 01, 2026
Four colors, four jobs. Grab by color, not by memory. This decoder covers what each Orca abrasive is for, when to reach for it over the others, and which grits and sizes actually exist.
The four colors at a glance
If you remember nothing else, remember this table.
| Color | Reach for it when | Grit range | The short reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purple Ceramic | Hardwood, heavy stock removal, and anything you want a long disc life on. | 40 to 2000 | Ceramic grain fractures as it wears and keeps presenting fresh cutting edges, so it stays sharp long after other grains have dulled. |
| Green Aluminum Oxide | Softwood, paint, primer, and the long middle of a project where you burn discs fast. | 40 to 400 (5 inch to 1200) | General purpose workhorse with the lowest cost per use. No reason to pay for ceramic while scuffing pine. |
| Ceramic Mesh | Anything that clogs. Paint, filler, primer, soft finishes, and every indoor job. | 80 to 800 | Open mesh across the whole face, so dust is pulled straight through instead of packing under the disc. |
| Non-Scratch Finishing Pads | Applying and buffing hard wax oil, for example Rubio Monocoat. | No grit rating | Non-abrasive pad face. It spreads and burnishes oil into the wood without leaving scratch marks in a finish you cannot easily repair. |
The full decoder
Sizes, hole patterns, pack counts, and the choose-this-over-that call.
Purple Ceramic Sanding Discs
Longest life, heaviest cut
The disc you buy when the piece is oak, maple, walnut, or old and stubborn. Ceramic grain is self-sharpening under pressure, so a purple disc keeps cutting well past the point where a standard disc has gone smooth and started burnishing. It also runs the widest grit range in the Orca line, which means one product covers you from stripping all the way to a 2000-grit cure buff.
5 inch 9-hole
6 inch 6-hole
6 inch 49-hole
Green Aluminum Oxide Sanding Discs
General purpose, best cost per use
The everyday disc. Aluminum oxide is the standard woodworking abrasive and it is perfectly matched to softwood, pine and fir carcasses, painted surfaces, and primer. On material that soft, ceramic's extra toughness buys you very little, so green is simply the cheaper way to get the same result. Keep a stack of 120, 150, and 180 on the bench, because that is where most of a flip actually happens.
6 inch 49-hole
6 inch: 40 to 400
Ceramic Mesh Sanding Discs
Dust extraction and anti-clog
An open mesh net instead of a solid paper face, so the whole disc is effectively one big dust hole. Two consequences that matter to a flipper. First, extraction is dramatically better, which is the difference between sanding in a spare bedroom and not. Second, the disc does not load up, so it keeps cutting on the exact materials that kill paper discs: latex paint, wood filler, spot putty, primer, and any finish that softens under friction.
6 inch
Non-Scratch Finishing Pads for Hard Wax Oil
Apply and buff, do not abrade
Not sandpaper. These are white non-scratch pads for working hard wax oil finishes such as Rubio Monocoat into the surface and buffing off the excess. Hard wax oil is applied thin and then removed, and the buffing step is what develops the sheen. A pad that leaves any scratch pattern will show permanently, which is why these have no grit rating at all. The 3 inch and 3.5 inch sizes suit a small polisher or a drill-mounted backing pad for aprons, legs, and rails. The 5 inch and 6 inch match your regular orbital pad.
5 inch, 6 inch
Which hole pattern do I need
Hole pattern only affects dust extraction, not how the disc cuts. Match it to your sander's backing pad, or use mesh and stop thinking about it.
| Pattern | Fits | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 5 inch 8-hole | The common 8-hole layout used by most mainstream 5 inch random orbital sanders. | If you bought a 5 inch sander at a big box store, this is almost certainly your pattern. Count the holes in your pad to be sure. |
| 5 inch 9-hole | The Festool 9-hole Jetstream pattern used on the ETS 125, ETS EC 125, ETSC 125, and RO 125 Rotex. | Festool describes the 9-hole principle as reducing dust build up, heat, and clogging (Festool). |
| 6 inch 6-hole | The widely used 6-hole layout on most 6 inch random orbital sanders, including common Bosch and Ridgid models. | Six holes is the older, simpler 150mm standard. Extraction is fine, just not as thorough as a multi-hole pad. |
| 6 inch 49-hole | Festool 150 series pads using the Multi-Jetstream 2 hole layout, for example the ETS 150, ETS EC 150, and RO 150 Rotex. Orca also lists its 6 inch discs as fitting the Mirka 6 inch Deros. | Multi-Jetstream is Festool's high extraction pattern for their 150mm sanders (Festool USA, Orca Abrasives). |
| Ceramic Mesh, any | Any 5 inch or 6 inch hook-and-loop pad, whatever its hole count. | The mesh itself is the dust path, so alignment is irrelevant. This is the safe choice if you own two different sanders. |
If you only buy one thing
Buy a Green Aluminum Oxide Project Pack in your sander's size, and add a 25 pack of Ceramic Mesh 180.
That combination covers roughly ninety percent of a first flip. The project packs come in two builds, a Workhorse pack for the coarse and middle grits that do the real removal, and a Fine Finish pack for the grits that decide how the piece looks. The green discs handle the bulk sanding cheaply. The mesh 180 handles the two things that destroy paper discs, namely sanding filler flat and scuffing primer or paint between coats, and it keeps your workspace far cleaner while doing it.
Add purple ceramic when you hit your first hardwood top or your first genuinely thick old finish. Add the white finishing pads only when you commit to a hard wax oil finish, because they do nothing for paint or film finishes.
Pack size math
Discs get cheaper per unit as the pack grows, so buy 10 packs for grits you are testing and 25 or 50 packs for the two or three grits you actually live on. For most flippers those are 120, 180, and 220. Purple and green both come in 10, 25, and 50. Ceramic Mesh comes in 10 and 25. Finishing pads come in packs of 10.
A disc is worn before it looks worn
Flippers ruin more surfaces with dull discs than with the wrong grit. A dull disc stops cutting and starts rubbing, which polishes the fibers, builds heat, and on veneer pushes you toward a burn-through. If you have to lean on it, it is done. Change it.
Related guides
- Grit by Project Stage, the order of operations for a full furniture flip
- Veneer Sand Through Guide, how to sand thin veneer without burning through it
- Hard Wax Oil Guide, applying and buffing hard wax oil finishes
Ready to stock up on the right discs for your next job?
