The secret to the long life of the velcro on the sander is to apply light pressure when sanding. When you work hard, heat builds up (due to friction) and damages the sander's Velcro. This applies to any grinder with Velcro. If you are not patient in this case, the "tip” of the Velcro will fall off earlier than usual (after several years of use). Use a light pressure sander and use as fine a grit as possible and you'll be rewarded with good results. Having burned some velcro pads for random orbital sanders, I speak from experience. I had to learn my lesson a few times.