W.S.Jenkins : French Polish : Garnet : 5 litre : Dark Wood

Cloudy dark brown colour, for dark woods.

French polishing is a wood finishing technique that results in a very high gloss surface, with a deep colour and chatoyancy (a term coined from the French “œil de chat”, meaning “cat’s eye”). French polishing consists of applying many thin coats of shellac dissolved in denatured alcohol using a rubbing pad lubricated with one of a variety of oils. The rubbing pad is made of absorbent cotton or wool cloth wadding inside of a piece of fabric (usually soft cotton cloth).

French polish is a process, not a material. The main material is shellac, although there are several other shellac-based finishes, not all of which class as French polishing.

The finish is considered by many to be among the most beautiful ways to finish highly figured wood, but it is also recognised to be fragile. It is softer than modern varnishes and lacquers and is particularly sensitive to spills of water or alcohol, which may produce white cloudy marks. However, it is also simpler to repair than a damaged varnish finish, as patch repairs to French polish may be easily blended into an existing finish.