How to Apply and Repair French Polish

French polish is a traditional furniture finish that has been largely superseded by the tougher polyurethane finishes which are less affected by heat and water. But it still offers an excellent means of finishing furniture.

The simplest way of applying French polish is to buy a proprietary DIY material, but it may still be bought in a number of forms in specialist paint shops under the name of garnet polish, button polish, white polish or transparent polish. All are based on shellac, carrying only in color. And all are applied in a similar manner.

Applying French polish

Careful preparation is vital. Timber must be clean, dry and well smoothed with fine glass-paper, then the dust removed, ideally with a tacky rag - a special duster impregnated with a resin which is tacky enough to pick up fine wood dust, but not too sticky.

Choose the shade of polish you require, keeping in mind that the darker polishes darken the wood considerably. Experiment with both the technique and the color first on a scrap piece of wood. If a more drastic color change is required, stain and smooth the wood before polishing.

The secret of successful French polishing is to apply it on a polishing rubber, which you can make using a lint-free cloth, such as an old, clean white handkerchief and a wad of clean cotton wool. Make sure the cloth has not wrinkles. Polish should ooze slightly through the cloth, but avoid over-soaking.

Work the polishing rubber evenly over the whole surface to be polished in a continuous figure of eight movement. Continue until the surface has as even layer of polish, then after a few minutes repeat the process several times to build up a series of thin layers. Make sure that edges and corners get their share of the polish.

The next stage is called spiriting off. Leave the surface for at least eight hours then make a new rubber with a double layer of cloth, and soak the cotton wool in methylated spirit. Squeeze the pas until almost dry. Too much spirit would merely dissolve the polish.