French Polish versus Lacquer

Stéphane Collin collin.s@skynet.be
Sun, 21 Mar 2004 08:13:14 +0100


Hello David


>
> I was told that French Polishing protects against color fading of stained
> wood finishes better than Lacquer.  Is there any truth to that?

I would think the opposite.

The piano
> in question is one of those Steinway exotic wood finishes which is fading
> though it is in a room with no direct sunlight and UV on all the windows.

French polish is quite fragile, and very sensitive to humidity and warmth
(and alcohol) : it gets milky.

> A finisher suggested that when the piano needs refinishing French Polish
> would protect it better.

I wouldn't say protect.  Just tremendously enhance the optical beauty of the
wood.

What is certain, is that french polish finish is very easy to restore (for
someone who knows how).  But you should correct the color shade by staining
the wood again (that is after removing the layer shellac), or playing with
stained shellac covering, but the latter is less efficient.


Stéphane Collin
>



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