My daughter borrowed my "loaner" random orbit sander to sand down a garage door before painting. She'd like to buy me some disks to replace what she used. It's been a long time since I bought any and recently have used 3M Cubitron. I'd like to find something more appropriate and affordable. Any brands recommended or to avoid?

What size?

I'm guessing you want something available locally since your daughter will be buying them. That leaves out Klingspor, which is usually my first choice. But i did buy some that were labeled "Gator" (big alligator on the package) I think I got them at Lowes, and they seemed to do pretty well.

I like these from Starbond. I found them to be much better quality than ones I bought locally and price was reasonable (I found mine on sale).

I bought these from Amazon. They aren’t the best quality but I tend to change out often so for the price they aren’t bad.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09W9HRJP7?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_16&th=1

I buy a lot of my sanding products from Supergrit.com.

Keith, I heard everyone rave about 3M Cubitron so I bought a box of 50-220 grit. I was really disappointed in the staying power. They didn’t last any longer than the Mirka that I buy on Amazon. Am I missing something?

Hey Ron.. I found cubitron works decent with my Festool ETS 125 random orbital sander when using 120 and 150 grit. For me the 220 is useless.

Ron, I tried some Cubitron in various grits on my Bosch and was pretty unhappy with them. I didn't gauge their life (didn't use them long enough) but the dustcollection was noticeably worse with them. In fact a lot of the dust got clogged into my ROS pad.

I haven't been able to wear out the face of my original sample pack of cubitron. The back eventually turned into powder, but only after years of use. Amazon sells a sample pack for under $10 that has two of each grit. That might be the cheapest way to do it. Other brands cost less, but wear out so quickly that you end up spending more. https://www.amazon.com/3M-Xtract-Multi-Pack-Virtually-88518/dp/B09DFGPSZZ/ref=sr_1_1

I picked up some Diablo discs from HD a couple years ago. They’re mesh so the air flows straight through, good dust collection. They came in a really big pack with a couple extra backing discs for a reasonable price. I’ve been happy with them.