This is easily my least favorite part of any remodeling project. Turning those nice sheets of drywall into a finished surface ready for paint is a tedious, messy job. First you have to put some joint compound down and then embed the paper tape. Then you have to cover the tape, and the screws with a few coats of compound. Ohh and unless you’re really good you have to sand it after each coat. Which puts a nice coat of white dust throughout your entire house. It sounds easy enough, and doing it for a small area is pretty easy. Scale it up to a whole room though, and its a pain, particualrly when half of its on the ceiling.
Dry wet sanding. Basically use a damp sponge to smooth things out. It won’t work on really big bumps, but it’s a lot less messy than the traditional approach.