What are mineral spirits in the USA?

Reading an article in the online Fine Woodworking on how to shellac small boxes, and it refers to mineral spirits used to lubricate the 800 grit W&D paper for use after the first couple of coats ( see extract below)
What is this mineral spirits in Australian lingo?

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Apply a second coat to all the surfaces and let it dry. Sand everything with 800-grit wet/dry sandpaper. I use mineral spirits to lubricate the paper and prevent the paper from clogging. Set the box aside and let the mineral spirits dry. Apply a third coat and let it dry. Take some extra-fine steel wool and rub it over all of the surfaces, which will knock the sheen off the shellac.

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Found it in Wikipedia. It is mineral turps.

Yep as Dengue said, Mineral Turpentine or White Spirits, both readily available at most paint shops.

Sanding with Mineral Turps or White Spirits will make the abrasive cut a bit more aggressively. Probably a good idea to wipe off the turpentine rather than leaving it to dry as this will remove the excess dust caught up in the turps during the sanding.

Wet sanding with water that has a drop of dish detergent added to is as a wetting agent will do the same job but will cut less aggressively giving you more control over the cut, so less likely to cut through the surface of the finish. Wipe off water when sanded to your liking.

When using water I find it best to put the water into a plastic ice-cream container or as bowl and dip the paper into the water to clear it and also wet it whilst sanding

You can also wet sand using Mineral Oil/Paraffin Oil as the lubricant and this will give an even more controlled cut. Wipe off all traces of the oil when sanding is done and if needed wipe over with mineral Turps and clean soft cloth to remove any final traces of the oil. if the oil is too thick to work with add a little Mineral Turps to thin it.

All the above methods will stop the abrasive from being clogged with the fine dust from the sanding and will keep the cut going way longer than dry sanding.

Hope this is of some interest and/or help.

Cheers - Neil :U

As Neil says wet sanding will prolong the life and cut of paper and is the only way to go in some applications - sanding CA glue pen finishes (water with a dash of detergent); sanding with mineral / paraffin oil is popular for Ancient Kauri from NZ or Carribean Pine (if you are a sucker for punishment.) Very handy tip for sanding epoxy finishes with water as well. Just have to use the "right" lubricant for your intended finish.

You do not want a lubricant. You want friction. You want a carrier to wash away the swarf so that your abrasive continues to cut as predicted.
I don't need a puddle of smashed abrasive particle of unknown sizes. Whose idea was that mess?

When you rethink this, you get rapid cutting up through a grit series (600/800/1000/1200/1500)
My wood carving edges are running $75.00 to $100.00each. I expect performance for that price.
For the past 15 years, this seems to be happening.

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Whose idea was this mess?

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I was following this guys technique for applying shellac to some small boxes, as found online in Fine Woodworking.com

https://www.finewoodworking.com/project-guides/boxes/two-simple-finishes-for-boxes

Lubricant - Carrier
Potato - Potarto

Much easier and safer to wet sand a finish especially shellac and poly rather than dry sand and no "smashed abrasive particle of unknown sizes" left behind if the lubricant/carrier is wiped off after each grit.

Much better than clogging abrasive with shellac, poly or what ever other finish is used and way more economical, abrasive wise and way more control over the cut to avoid sand-through of layers back to raw wood/timber.

Only time I ever use a wet sand on raw timber/wood is on green woodturned bowls and then only water with a drop of detergent and Wet n Dry abrasive. Works wonders on both hard and soft, green wood. Can be hand sanded, mechanically sanded or done with Rotary Sander wouldn't use oil or turps for this only water.

You can leave the wet (water) sanded work to dry naturally or friction dry it with clean soft cloth and the lathe running, turning the cloth regularly to present dry cloth to the work. I've had some great results with this over the years.

Cheers :U