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| Hand French polished! |
Well, this is something I have been asked many times since I
first started French polishing back in 1968.
Speaking for myself, I have mixed feelings and am forever the
optimist. Well with the onset of stores selling flat-packed furniture that can
be taken home and then assembled for customer’s convenience, as opposed to the
more traditional furniture that has graced our homes for centuries.
I am a great believer
that an old piece of furniture, should it be in need of restoration to bring it
back to its former glory, looks much better than the bland modern furniture of
today, that has only a short working life span.
Together with the recession throughout the economy, people are cutting
back on their spending.
It would appear to me that French polishing has moved way down
the list of people’s priorities.
However, there does seem to be a resurgence in the interest in the
subject of French polishing as a whole, as this is borne out by my role as a
tutor in the subject with many more people choosing to learn French polishing for either a hobby
or in some cases a career.
Together with the increase in much faster drying finishes and
lacquers, have also helped in the decline in the use of French polish, the
skills to learn French polishing take many years to learn and develop and together with
the very limited number of training facilities make it even harder to learn such a
complex subject.
Many people underestimate just how many processes are involved
in French polishing such as preparation
i.e. stripping, sanding, staining, sealing and French polishing, then you have
to learn colour matching, making good damage and touching out marks and much
more and don’t forget wood identification, to say the least.
And on that note, I put the question out to you! Do you think that French polishing is
dead? I would welcome what you have to
say on the subject and once again thank you for taking the time to read my
posts and I hope you find them both informative and enjoyable.
