Thread: Where to get fine linen for French Polishing?

Wife and mother sew and the cotton scraps have been enough for me over the years. More of interest to you is a chap around the corner buys a quality linen bed sheet and cuts that up, the sheet may not be cheap but it goes a very long way.

John.

Thanks John,

Ive seen fine linen bed sheets advertised on one website but the really fine stuff goes at an outrageous price. Searching the opp shops for old linene shirts is another option.

Cheers Martin

Give this a try.

Do a "search" for Trace Cloth or Tight Weave Cheese Cloth, these are the cloths that are used on this side off the pond.

They work for me.

MacS

i go to the op shops (charity shops) to get all my rags, old sheets are good but somtimes its difficult to tell the difference between linen and somthing with a synthetic mixed in.
I suggest you go to any fabric shop and buy some unbleached calico, its cheap and fairly fine woven.
also its a shame to use up old fine linen as a rag, someone may appreciate it in its original form

Visit a spotlight store and ask!

Tried Spotlight.....theyve got some very coarse stuff which I tried but its too coarse.

Try a fabric store, most linens and pure cottons only cost around $5 a metre, plus there should be a range of textures for you to choose from.

That sounds a bit funny, spotlight's tend to stock nearly every type of textile material.
Did you look for the older lady with the cardigan and beaded lanyard on the glasses... she'll know!

Originally Posted by Cruzi

Try a fabric store, most linens and pure cottons only cost around $5 a metre, plus there should be a range of textures for you to choose from.

By linen I mean the good stuff...a fine weave and usually costing alot more than $5 a metre.

Originally Posted by Harry72

That sounds a bit funny, spotlight's tend to stock nearly every type of textile material.
Did you look for the older lady with the cardigan and beaded lanyard on the glasses... she'll know!

A knowledgable female friend checked out Spotlight in Adelaide City and the coarse stuff was all the they had.

Im currently using well worn cotton T shirt material and its ok but occassionally it drops a bit of lint on the finish and its a pain to get off without sanding back.

Worn cotton bed sheets. The best thing out. I am first in line with all the friends and rellos for when they are ready to be tossed out. Used to get it from the Savos or Brotherhood but they mostly only have junk now because they are committed to contracts to supply a certain amount of cotton and linen to the rag collectors.

If you can talk them into it it could take a month or so to get half a garbage bag of white cotton sheet but it's usually worth it. Tell them not to cut them up. They sometimes get very carried away with the scissors. Think they're worried you're going to resell them as bed linen or something. Struck that one a couple of times.

For soft cloth used for waxing and buffing I buy 10 metres a time if new white childrens flannelette sheeting from Spotlight it is reasonably priced and a real joy to use because it's so soft and absorbent.

Haven't used linen for many many years because it's really hard to get a fine weave. I never use new cotton sheeting only the old well worn stuff as it is pretty soft and has a super soft and fine weave due to wear and tear. Had to some I got from an aunty years ago a number of times to get rid of all the starch but it was well worth it in the end.

cheers - Neil

The one on the left is the Trace Cloth, the right one is the Cheese Cloth.

The Cheese Cloth is the tight weave type they also sell an open weave, they look like medical gauze.

The Trace Cloth is a vert tight knit weave, both of these cloths are cotton, and are used in the USA for French Polishing.

MacS

http://www.macsimmons.com/

http://iswonline.com/OnlineFeatures/...of%20Finishing

The photo shows a pad made out of the Trace cloth.

Is this the same way you use make up a pad. I know that you fill your pads with cotton batten, we don't fill the pad here, the cloth is folded into the ball. The pads are made into different sizes to work different parts of the furniture.

I have seen photos of some of your pads where the front is shaped like a point.

My dear wife is knowledgable both in sewing and wood work and helps me with shellac finishing The material for shellac and french polish rubbers should meet the following criteria. The staple in the cloth should be a long staple which by it's very nature is not likely to shed fluff. The weave of the material should be tight. Good linen meets these criteria and is the reason it is used for high quality work.Don't know about the American cheesecloth as we have had no experience of it. Have some doubts about flannelette sheets because they appear to be quite woolly in appearance. Here too I have not used them so have no first had experience. Her suggestion was to buy good quality linen tea towels as they are designed to be used for wiping up glasses. However she did warn husbands to be careful because they may have difficulty prising them out of the hands of the distaff side.

I know Americans tend to use a ball but the reason for the cotton wool inside and folding to a point is twofold. One the cotton wool is a first class reservoir and shellac should always be put into the back of the rubber ( I use a squeeze bottle to do this). The advantage of doing this is that any foreign matter is trapped in the cotton wool and not spread on the work and having a reservoir means you can control the amount of shellac released much more effectively than by dipping into the liquid.
The reason for the point is to allow for fine control, especially into corners.

Incidently I use up to the three rubbers on a job. First is the general purpose rubber, second a smaller one where finer detail control is needed and the third is (to me) the very important one which is practically pure meth which I use as a finishing pullover.

To la Huerta . Sorry I haven't replied to your request for information on adding colour into shellac but I have only just got back from three months away sailing Will get to it soon.
Jerry