| The shellac/meths mix includes gums like arabic and | | | | polish lack. White polish is milky in appearance and is |
| copal, plus drying and hardening agents, to make the | | | | made from acid-bleached shellac, which has a very |
| polish as it is sold. The off-the-shelf product is likely | | | | limited shelf-life - two years at the absolute outside. |
| to be a '31b cut' - in other words, 1.3kg (31b) of | | | | It darkens the light woods on which it is used only |
| shellac dissolved in 51 (1 gal.) of methylated spirits. | | | | slightly; there is no way of telling if it has deteriorated |
| The thicker '51b cut', the other basic British mix, is for | | | | until you find it has not hardened after application, so |
| brushing, and is often sold as 'brush polish'. It is worth | | | | buy only as much as you can predict you'll use. |
| re¬membering these proportions when you are | | | | Transparent white is bleached twice, is clearer still |
| thinning or mixing different polishes for colouring or | | | | than white polish, and is especially suitable for |
| sealing. | | | | marquetry and inlays where no colour darkening at all |
| French polishes come in a handful of basic varieties, | | | | is desirable. |
| according to the purity of the shellac; all can be | | | | You can buy ready-coloured polishes like red and |
| intermixed, and both pigments and the clearer spirit | | | | black, and other proprietary makes may include acid |
| aniline dyes can be used to tint them. Be careful, | | | | or melamine hardeners for tables or bar-tops, or |
| however, if a polish you buy is obviously a | | | | even exterior use. They are usually thicker, and |
| manufactur-er's 'special'; it might have synthetic | | | | formulated for application with a brush. |
| ingredients which demand special mixers. Always ask. | | | | A '21b cut' of white or transparent white polish is |
| Button polish, so called because the shellac comes in | | | | generally used as a sealing coat to protect stain from |
| little cakes or buttons, is brownish with a yellow tinge. | | | | bleeding, or just to limit the absorbency of the wood |
| Brown or 'orange' polish is a standard, made from | | | | before final finishing. Varnish can be put over shellac, |
| orange shellac, and commonly known as just 'polish'. | | | | but never for outside use; cellulose and the synthetic |
| It is usually used for mahogany, as is garnet polish - a | | | | lacquers, which have their own 'sanding sealers', will |
| red- rather than a yellow-brown which gives clarity | | | | not 'take' over shellac. |
| and warmth to mahogany that brown and button | | | | |