We demonstrate that CPMG and XYXY decoupling sequences with non-ideal $pi$ pulses can reduce dipolar interactions between spins of the same species in solids. Our simulations of pulsed electron spin resonance (ESR) experiments show that $pi$ rotations with small ($<$~10%) imperfections refocus instantaneous diffusion. Here, the intractable N-body problem of interacting dipoles is approximated by the average evolution of a single spin in a changing mean field. These calculations agree well with experiments and do not require powerful hardware. Our results add to past attempts to explain similar phenomena in solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Although the fundamental physics of NMR are similar to ESR, the larger linewidths in ESR and stronger dipolar interactions between electron spins compared to nuclear spins preclude drawing conclusions from NMR studies alone. For bulk spins, we also find that using XYXY results in less inflation of the deduced echo decay times as compared to decays obtained with CPMG.
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