Wood Care
Wood careFrom London’s polish makers, since 1884
Mylands has made wood finishes in London since 1884, a business that began with our founder mixing French polish in a disused stable in Vauxhall. Today, still a family business, we make French polishes, floor oils and lacquers, turning finishes, stains, waxes and wood care in our own South London factory. We hold the Royal Warrant as Manufacturers of French Polishes, Stains & Varnishes. Whether you’re restoring an antique, finishing a floor or turning your first bowl, this is where to start.
Wood care
Find what you need
French polishing
Traditional shellac polishes for antiques and fine furniture, from palest Superfine White to darkest Garnet, with our beginner’s guide to the rubber, bodying up and spiriting off.
Wooden floors
Hard Wax Oil, MyLac and MyLac Extra lacquers, Earth Stains and floor care, with honest advice on whether to clean or sand, and how to stop an oak floor turning orange.
Wood turning
Sanding sealers, our High Build Friction Polish, sold to turners all over the world, Melamine Lacquer and burnishing products for a perfect finish on the lathe.
Preparation and care
Cleaners, knotting and sealers to start any finish right, and the care products that keep it looking its best.
Also in our wood care range
Choosing a finish
Which finish is right for my project?
| Your project | Our recommendation |
|---|---|
| Restoring an antique or fine furniture | French Polish, or Button Polish for a warmer patina |
| Reviving tired polished furniture without refinishing | Furniture Cleaner and Reviver |
| A natural, repairable floor finish | Hard Wax Oil |
| A tough, easy-clean floor | MyLac, or MyLac Extra for heavy traffic |
| Colouring a floor, or stopping it going orange | Earth Stains |
| A quick gloss on turned work | High Build Friction Polish |
| Chopping boards and bowls | Food Safe Oil |
| Painting pine joinery | Patent Knotting, or White Knotting under pale paint |
Not sure? Call our team or visit our showroom; giving honest advice across the counter is how we’ve done business since our founder’s day.
Since 1884
Our story
For more than 140 years, four generations of Mylands and counting have made the finishes that London’s craftspeople trust. These are the moments that shaped us.
A French polisher’s apprenticeship
John Charles Francis Myland was born in 1860 and went out to work at nine, first as a page boy in Eccleston Square, then as a tea boy at Gillows, the famous furniture makers. There, over the years, he learned French polishing and cabinet making.
A stable in Vauxhall
As a young man he bought a disused stable in Vauxhall and made his own French polish. He mixed on Mondays and Tuesdays, sold on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and delivered on Fridays.
1884: Salamanca Street, Stockwell
With a partner he founded Myland and Warrington, selling French polish alongside paint, varnish, oils and colours: umbers, ochres, boiled and raw linseed oil and white oil, the essential sundries of every polisher and cabinet maker. Polish went out by barrow, and later by horse and cart. Shellac came from India and was stirred by hand in oak vats, a job that could take all day. Known across Brixton as “Honest John”, he worked until his death in 1932.
The cellulose revolution
When cellulose lacquer arrived in 1928–29, many said French polish was finished, and that Mylands would be too. His son John Richard Myland proved them wrong. Antiques needed restoring, and nobody should re-spray a Georgian table with cellulose. French polish carried on, and so did we.
Wartime
During the Second World War there was little demand for shellac polishes, but Mylands was the only supplier of a flat spirit paint used to camouflage London buildings, among them London Bridge.
Post-war invention
Every Saturday after the war, John Richard worked on new formulations with a chemist. Together they created emulsions and Pale Laca-cote Sanding Sealer, loved by polishers for saving hours of bodying up and by turners for the satin finish it gave when rubbed onto spinning wood.
1972: Norwood
The third generation, John Myland, apprenticed as a French polisher in 1956. In 1972 the company moved to a former Rolls-Royce garage on Norwood High Street, rebuilt for solvents, and began making its own lacquers.
1983–86: Gedge & Co. and the Royal Warrant
We bought Gedge & Co. of Clerkenwell, a family firm founded in 1840 whose finishes cared for the City’s banks and stockbrokers’ offices. Soon after came the Royal Warrant. In 1984 we celebrated our centenary, and the fourth generation, Dominic Myland, joined the business at sixteen.
Today
We are still family owned, still in South London, and still making polishes, stains, oils, waxes and lacquers in our own factory, alongside the paints that made our name in film, television and theatre.
From the Mylands Experts
In 1988, Dominic Myland wrote that a large share of our customers were still small jobbing French polishers, and that many remembered his grandfather, some even his great-grandfather. Our team still gives the same honest, practical advice across the counter today. If you’re unsure which product you need, ask us: we would always rather you bought the right finish than the most expensive one.
Questions
Wood care FAQs
What wood finishes does Mylands make?
French polishes and shellacs, floor oils and lacquers, wood stains, wax polishes, wood finishing oils, varnishes, turning finishes, sealers and wood care products, all made in our London factory.
How long has Mylands been making wood finishes?
Since 1884, when John Charles Francis Myland founded the business in Stockwell, South London.
Is Mylands a Royal Warrant holder?
Yes. Mylands holds the Royal Warrant as Manufacturers of French Polishes, Stains & Varnishes.
Where are Mylands products made?
In our own factory in South London.
Can I get advice before I buy?
Yes. Our team is happy to help by phone, email or at our showroom, and every product page has full instructions, care and repair advice.