Sanding before or after acid?

Other than the deck I posted about the befores and 16 month afters - I usually end up sanding my decks down. I like it better that way - perhaps it's a better job - and perhaps folks in New England neglect their decks much much more than the rest of the nation - and we have really harsh elements here. Anyways - I got to thinking - if I put on an alkaline stripper followed by an acid bath - then sand. Then potentially aren't I sanding off the top layer of 'conditioned' wood? I mean - if you sand wood enough it becomes 'clean' but wood has 'stuff' in it that may or may not interact with stains. And a brightener seems a good way of sequestering that stuff out of the top layer.

So what I want to know - has anyone experimented with sanding after the stripping stage but before the acid/brightening stage? And did you notice any different results? The more I think about it - it introduces more days on the job and less profitability - but It seemed to me that it may be a superior job - who knows?