I picked this shop tip up from my good friend and fellow woodworker Roger T. My primary bench is used for everything in my shop, including my table saw’s out feed table. As a result the surface gets rough from glue splotches, divots, chips, and so on. If I am not careful, I have been known to sand one side of work piece, flip it over, sand the other, then inspect both sides to find a freshly sanded face now has a scratch or bruise and now requires more sanding. While I do run a sander over the top occasionally, that doesn’t always help. An expensive solution is to get a role of the drawer liner that is essentially a foam rubber mesh. I bought a 2’x6′ role from the local big box store for a little over $6. My bench is right around 2’x 4′. I rolled 
it out so that it covers my enter bench and then using a straight edge and utility knife I cut it to length. There is no need to use anything to attach the liner to the bench top as it lays flat on its own. When I am done sanding, I simply roll up the liner and put some place out-of-the-way.
