best way to wrap up a french polished case
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Hello
I’ve made a watch case and need to mail it to my customer. It’s quite a chunky piece so will need lots of bubble wrap to protect it. I’ve given it a french polish finish and I think that the bubble wrap will leave marks. What should I wrap the box in to protect the finish? Some sort of paper or material?
Thanks in advance
Dan
Replies
Finish
French polish is prone to printing. Requires extended dry times and use fresh material. Maybe a wax paper wrap would help before the bubble -
SA
Thanks for the reply. The extended drying time makes sense. I think I'll do a test with wax paper before I send it.
Thanks again.
Dan
I thought I replied to this. I would recommend parchment paper or packing newsprint over any coated paper. I have no idea what it would do, but it "might" and the other is easy to find (supermarket for parchment). Wrap it loosely (not like you would wrap a gift with the paper up against the box). Do the paper for a couple of layers and then roll it up in bubble wrap.
watch case
i would use microfiber towels because they will not scratch, then bubble wrap. Micro fiber towels are cheapest at Sams club.
Thanks for both those replies.
I was leaning towards using baking parchment, just because I hadn't heard of microfiber before. There's a shop that sells microfiber towels near to where I live (Wales, UK) so I'll go and have a look.
Thanks again for your help. Very much appreciated.
Dan
Shellac & Shipping
I like to use a "lightbulb kiln" equipped with a small exhaust fan to encourage finishes to cure as thoroughly as possible before shipping. If you have time, it couldn't hurt.
I find that, if the shellac is sufficiently cured, a coat of paste wax can help prevent the packing material from marring the finish.
best way....polished case
I'm not sure if this will help but here goes. I'm a piano tuner/technician: I tune, repair, restring, rebuild & refinish pianos in Louisiana (very hot & humid May through late September). Some years ago I was called by an insurance company to look at an ebony (color) upright piano (not a very expensive or new piano) that had been moved in the middle of summer from an area in Louisiana to the Baton Rouge area--just a few hours travelling time.. The piano had been wrapped with moving quilts and left in the moving van overnight to be unloaded the next day. When the quilts were removed there was a very noticeable "quilt-imprint" on the piano. I surmised that the piano had been "cleaned" with certain spray furniture "polishes" for years. The wax or silicones in the sprays had built up a fairly "thick" coat of wax or silicone. I told the insurance company that there were two options. The costly option: strip and refinish the piano. The much less costly option: clean of the build-up and top coat the cleaned, original finish with a couple of coats of black lacquer. The insurance company said to try the less costly--knowing that there would be no guarantees. I had to use gasoling to wash away the wax/silicone build-up which created a "mustard-colored" looking wash. It worked and I was able to top-coat the piano. So who was to blame? The moving company for leaving quilted furniture in heat or the customer for using inferior spray products. So if you're going to mail it, I would contact a local furniture refinisher and ask for their advice to protect your box and also to insure it when you do mail it to "cover all your bases". Thank you for your patience in reading this post. Respectfully, Charlie the Tuner P.S. You're a credit to your craft.
Gasoline
ccoco - great advice with exception - be careful mentioning gasoline to posters - there are other safer methods for cleaning -
SA
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