Well, I turned the corner on that kind of thinking a long time ago when I started buying the paper right.
Paper only cut's sharp for so long then it just "loses it's edge". It goes from 100% effective to maybe 20% effective in a hurry. Sander speed, pressure and surface contact have a lot to do with it, and also the paint itself. Some paints come off soft and just load the paper.
Either way, once your paper drops below a certain % of effectiveness you are wasting valuable time, wasting valuable air pressure, likely creating heat which compounds you paper loading problems plus your damn arms are getting tired for nothing. It's like using bucket with no bottom in it to bail water out of a boat, your arms are working like crazy but you aint getting anywhere lol!
I buy the paper right and I feel just fine about changing it when it's spent.
Kinda sounds like trying to save money by washing out your TP so you can reuse it.
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Except for bears. Bears kill you.
