Emery cloth is a type of coated abrasive that has emery glued to a cloth backing. It is used for hand metalworking. It may be sold in sheets or in narrow rolls, typically 25 or 50 mm wide, often described as "emery tape". The cloth backing makes emery cloth stronger in tension than sandpaper, but still allows a sheet to be conveniently torn to size.
Abrasive cloth is generally used in shoe industry, painting workshops, furniture and leather industry, metal, wood, glass and automotive industries. Abrasive cloth (Emery cloth) is originally restricted to finishing applications such as polishing or preparing surfaces for painting or plating.
Abrasive cloth /emery cloth as a polishing, cleaning, shaping, smoothing and finishing material is mainly used in the metal, wood, glass and the like. The demand for the product is currently met through import. The major suppliers of abrasive/emery cloth to the Ethiopian market are China, Germany, United Arab Emirates, and Britain among others. Demand for abrasive cloth/emery cloth will increase with the development of the manufacturing sector mainly the wood and metal sub sectors.