Official Luthiers Forum!

has anyone found a substitute for linen for french polishing , or a good source for linen ? thanks jody

www.fabric.com sells genuine linen. I've never bought from them because my local fabric store had it and I bought a yard and haven't even come close to using it up yet. The fabric store had it in one off white color that happen to be the color that men's shirts were during the Civil War. Apparently, re-enactors can be hyper fussy about authentic materials and such.

Here in Canada we have a cloth outlet called FabricLand. I'm not sure if they have an equivalent in the United States. I personally use cotton in French polishing as like linen comes indifferent grades or thread counts. The following link may help.

http://www.apparelsearch.com/retail_fabric.htm

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Michael Lloyd

“I was born to ignorance, yes, and lesser poverties ...
I was born to privilege that I did not see ... I didn’t know it, but my way was paved” – John Gorka

http://www.fabrics-store.com/

I've bought from them. Great to do business with. They have 100% in different weights. How much are you looking for? I may have some scraps big enough.

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Aoibeann

Why would you need a substitute? It's so cheap compared to other things we need. I don't do a lot but i bout about £20 worth some years ago and i think i'll be good for another decade.

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Disappointment is an empty box full of expectation

Linen is not required for FP other things will work fine such as any high thread count all cotton dress shirt and I have even used Egyptian cotton from a bed sheet too. I hear that an old white, all cotton again, T-shirt also works. If using one of these that you "borrow" from someone in your house cut the material that you use from the back and they will hardly notice.....

I appreciate your replies , My aunt sews , she inquired at the local fabric shop and they no longer carry linen , I bought an old table cloth on ebay for my first ,that was not economical, I only have a small piece of that left over.I will check the links you have supplied. Hesh , I could cut out the arm pits, that would make them cooler in the summer and the chore of doing laundry an easier task too! jody

Jody--

My supplier of choice for fine linen, pre-owned and pre-washed is E-Bay. You can pick up linen table cloths for a pittance. Don't think of E-Bay as a store, it may take a bit of patience for the right deal to come by. I got three full table cloths, complete with gravy stains for $8 plus $5 for shipping.

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Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC

Thanks Jim Maybe my timing was poor! . jody

Jody, I have a bunch of handkerchiefs that have a high thread count that work very nicely for FP.

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

Linen is great for French polishing. Wash it 10 to 20 times prior to use to remove all loose fibers. You should do this with any mew fabric. Most of you know I despise modern T-shirt fabric because of the 3d weave trapping debris but most any 100% cotton and or flax weave material will work fine

What makes linen and muslin my choice is their wicking properties. I prefer well worn muslin

That's funny, Hesh; I think you missed your calling. 'They'll hardly notice', indeed!

Thanks!

Jody the arm pits suck for FP because that yellow, cracked, rotten fabric won't absorb well.

You can try your boxers too and with a little luck or some Mexican food even super blond will look like garnet.... ewwwww....

Michael I did not know that you hate T-shirt material. Robbie likes T-shirt material since when are you more uppity than Robbie?

Worn hotel muslin sheets are good, and you can also get worn sheets from medical rental supplies. They sell the old torn stuff as waste, by the pound. The nice thing about it is that it has been washed hard in very hot water, over and over, and they generally do not use softeners. One sheet will do a lot of guitars, even if you change often, or use it for pore filling.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

I like the linned that Homestead Finishing sells. It works well for us.

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tim...
http://www.mcknightguitars.com

Just for reference, fabric.com sells those plastic, gridded template sheets (18x12) that Chris Paulick mentioned in one of his videos (for transfering drawings). About $2 a sheet.

Mike