French Polished Mahogany Door

Watch the video below to see this mahogany door, polished on site for a client in Buckinghamshire, brought to a full, mirror-like shine while still hanging in place on its hinges. We carry out door French polishing like this across Northampton, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire.

Working on a door in situ, rather than removing it and laying it flat on a bench, brings its own challenges. Every coat has to be built up vertically, working with gravity rather than against it, and there is no way to lean the piece over at a more convenient angle to catch the light and check progress as you go — the polisher has to work the door exactly as it will be seen every day, standing upright on its hinges.

This door was mahogany, a close, straight-grained timber that takes colour beautifully but has an open pore structure that needs careful preparation before any polish goes on. We began by staining the timber to achieve an even, rich tone across every panel and rail, taking care that the mouldings and recessed detail picked up colour evenly alongside the flat surfaces around them.

With the colour established, the door was grain filled. Mahogany's open grain will telegraph straight through a French polish finish if it is not filled first, leaving a surface that looks slightly textured rather than glass smooth. Filler was worked into the pores by hand and levelled back so the timber's natural figure stayed visible without any of the open grain showing through the finish.

Next came skinning in, the first stage of French polishing, where thin layers of shellac are applied with a rubber to seal the surface and begin building an even base coat. This early stage is critical, as any unevenness here carries through into every layer that follows. Once the door was properly skinned in, we moved on to bodying up, building layer upon layer of polish to develop depth and gloss, before finishing with spiriting off to remove any oil haze and bring out the final shine.

The result, as the video shows, is a finish with a genuine mirror-like reflection: deep, clear and completely even across every panel, moulding and edge of the door, achieved entirely while it remained hanging in place.