French polish

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

French Polishing is a wood finishing technique (and not a substance, as commonly assumed) for wooden furniture that results in a very high gloss, deep colour and tough surface. It consists of applying many thin coats of shellac using a rubbing pad. The rubbing pad is made up of wadding inside a square piece of cotton.

The process is lengthy and very repetitive. The finish is obtained through a specific combination of different rubbing motions, waiting for considerable time, building up layers of polish and then spiriting off any streaks left in the surface.

In the Victorian era, French polishing was commonly used on mahogany and other expensive woods, and was considered to give the best possible finish to exclusive furniture, but was very labour intensive and many major manufacturers abandoned the technique around 1930, instead preferring the cheaper and quicker techniques of spray finishing nitrocellulose lacquer and abrasive buffing. Another reason it fell from favour is its tendency to melt under low heat; for example, hot cups can leave marks on it.