Any sanding dust left on the surface seems to grow in size after a clear finish is applied. The best thing to clean dust off is a tack cloth. The tack cloth is treated with a very sticky substance that cleans the dust out of nooks, crannies and wood grain. Sanding for Staining The success of your staining job is directly related to your sanding job. If the sanding is uneven, then the stain will be uneven too.
Stain is absorbed more in less smooth areas.
The palm finishing sander is easy to use and there is very little danger to the user. The random orbit needs some practice on scrap wood, because it removes an awful lot of wood in a short time, even with fine sandpaper, but you can get a very fine smooth finish with one. A random orbit sander is for flat surfaces only, don't use it on edges or less area than it can sit full and flat on. The sanding discs are generally held on by hook and loop fastening which is very secure when it's flat, but when the disc hangs over an edge the hooks and loops can come unfastened and the disc will take off for the moon. That happened to me several times and common sense didn't take hold and make me quit trying edges until a disc flew off, slit my jeans, made a deep gash in my leg, deflected off and sailed about 20 feet across the room, out the door, across a 6 foot loading dock and nicked the trunk of my car ending up across the alley in the park.