You have no need to look any further for the complete care and the correct period finish for your furniture. From your initial contact we provide a full, written, itemised quotation describing all the work necessary from detailed veneer work to the French Polisher's final touches. We guarantee all of our work. You are welcome to visit our workshops where you can see antique restoration and French Polishing in progress and various French Polished finishes. We offer a furniture delivery and collection service for which there is only a small charge and all furniture carried is comprehensively insured. If you require a home visit we always send out a qualified French Polisher/Antique Restorer.

An example of what we can do

Our buyer bought a set of three antique walnut tables recently at an auction in South Devon. As you can see they have been severely mistreated and were in need of a French Polisher's attention.

How we did it

The first job for our French Polisher was to repair any loose, lifting or missing veneer on the furniture and clean and close up the joints. We then carefully stripped the remaining polish to reveal the original but still damaged walnut & figured maple. Oxalic acid was then used to bleach the severe water stains out of the wood and allow the natural colour to come to the surface. Slowly over a period of days the tables were French Polished and waxed to a satin finish. (In many cases we would have used a grain filler to speed up the process of French Polishing but it was not necessary in this case)

...but I don’t Like French Polish!

This has been said to us many, many times. We apply the term French Polisher to describe our craftsmen who are skilled in the art of finishing furniture. It is a generic term, as a French Polisher will have a broad and wide ranging base of knowledge for achieving the exact finish for your antique.

French Polish was developed in the early 1700s and was widely used around the 1800s onwards. So much of your mid Georgian and Regency furniture and most certainly your Victorian furniture will initially have been French Polished or at least sealed with a shellac based varnish. Over the decades and centuries this will have been cleaned and waxed to give you a lovely patinated finish. So if you come in to our workshops and see a ‘shiny piece’ it is more than likely to be only part way through the French Polishing/Antique Restorer's process.

William is seen here applying the final French Polish spirit rubber to a solid mahogany regency dining table.

Simon: "The arm behind his back technique was taught to me as an apprentice. It prevents the French Polisher from accidentally placing his redundant hand on the surface of the newly polished furniture. It also serves to balance the body during the polishing process.