French Polishing?

[MillicentTendancies]

Hello

This is a bit of a poncetastic thread - sorry in advance.

I have acquired some beech ercol furniture from the 1960s. It belonged to my Granddad and when we went into a home it was shared amongst the family / charity shops. I quite like it and am keen to get some more to complement it (off eBay).

But - some of what I have is a bit damaged e.g. stains to wood. I believe what I need to fix this is for it to be French polished? is that what fixes varnished wood? It has a shiny smooth finish.

My question is - is this dead expensive? I am bidding on a matching dining table and chairs which is a bargain at approx £100 but I don't want to get it if the French polishing for that and my other bits is gonna be thousands of pounds. I know I will need to get quotes, I was just wondering about ball park figures, before I embarrass myself.

Ercol furniture is unlikely to be french polished, which is a very simple varnish type product that used to be known as lacquer. It was considered specialist because it is done by old boys who take ages at it but really it was just that it is very thin and would have several layers only added when each one is dry, however the stuff is very thin and drys fast ! and is actually dead easy to put on . . like water. speed is your buddy. tiny little dots on hard woods is where folks earn a little cash but again mostly to people who would not watch the work being done ie quick rub down and wash over! oh and over again. .
Ercol furniture is more likely to be waxed. . .however if you want to clean it up, ercol is up to a good scrub. . .really to clean any marks it would be rubbed back. . sanded. ! ah. . .true. . dont be shy . .test a small bit . . .but really the bigger area you do ie . .the whole top of a table. . .the easier it may be . .you decide. if anyone quotes big money to clean up an Ercol table you are being ripped off.
Another slight " problem " with ercol furniture is that the colour it has become is not what it looked like new and the ageing colour is something that hard to replicate ie if it looks deep orange/gold and you may find a clean would bring it up brighter and lighter than you might envisage. However once again decide, if you want a newly clean piece of furniture or want to keep your grandads wear and tear and it in an original state.

getitright222 thank you for this information!

Sanding! GULP! Right at least I know I don't need french polishing!

I have some of the little tables (nest of tables type thing) which are in a bad way after having plant pots on them for 10 years. I think I will start with one of them as it looks bad and I don't think I could make it worse - famous last words.