How To High-Gloss Finish Furniture

If you’re manufacturing furniture, you may be looking to brighten up your piece with a high-gloss finish. In this blog, we’ll outline how to give furniture pieces a smooth high-gloss finish to make the piece pop. This process works for both manufacturing and refurbishing, so you can also use the following steps to renew the luster of an old piece of furniture. These step-by-step instructions are for applying a high-gloss finish to a piece that already has an existing polyurethane coating. We’re assuming the furniture has already been sanded and finished with a poly coating. 

Step 1: Sand/Level The Surface

When you want to create a mirror-perfect finish, all surfaces that you intend to treat must be sanded until they are completely smooth. 

For this task, you’ll want to use an orbital sander. We would recommend usingaluminum oxide discs with a finer grit (P1000 is ideal) to finish the surface. We would also recommend running the orbital sander at a speed between 7000 and 10000 rpms. 

Step 2: Sand Again To Remove Scratches

Once your surfaces are completely leveled and smooth, clean them off using a microfiber cloth.  The next step will be to sand again to remove any scratches from the initial leveling. This time, you’ll want to sand your surfaces with an even finer grit (P1200 is recommended). You can run your orbital sander at the same speed setting you used for the initial leveling. 

Again, wipe surfaces with a microfiber cloth and inspect to make sure that all scratches have been removed before moving on to step three.

Step 3: Refine The Scratch Pattern To Speed Up The Polishing Process

After two rounds of sanding, you’ll want to do one final round of sanding to speed up the polishing process. This last round of sanding will be wet sanding to refine the scratch pattern. For the last round, you’ll want to either disconnect the vacuum hose or add a vacuum block to prevent moisture from entering your orbital sander. 

You’ll want to use an ultra-fine grit (ideally P3000) at the same speed between 7000 to 10000 rpms. Apply a light spray of water to both the surface and the sanding disc to help carry away removed grit particles. Once finished, perform another wipe down with a microfiber cloth and check to make sure surfaces are scratch free before polishing begins. 

Step 4: Apply Your Polishing Compound

For the next step, you’ll want to use a polisher with a lambswool pad. When applying your polishing compound of choice, remember that a small amount goes a long way. You don’t need to coat the entire pad with compound. A few drops is sufficient. 

Run your polisher across your surfaces at a speed between 1000 and 1200 rpms. Spread out the polishing compound around the entire surface to ensure that everything is evenly coated. As with every step prior, wipe down all surfaces with a microfiber cloth once finished.

Step 5: Apply Another Round Of Polishing For Increased Gloss (Optional)

The final step isn’t required, but can be useful to remove holograms and increase the gloss level. For this final step, you’ll still be using your polisher, but we recommend switching from a lambswool pad to a foam waffle pad. 

Apply your polishing compound to the pad using the same level of conservation with your application as you did with the first round of polishing. Again, run the polisher across your surfaces at a speed between 1000 and 1200 rpms. Finish the process up by wiping everything down for a final time with a microfiber cloth. 

Once you’ve finished buffing your piece, you should have a completed piece of furniture with a beautiful high-gloss finish. 

About Red Label Abrasives

Red Label Abrasives specializes in manufacturing custom-builtsanding belts,sanding discs,sandpaper rolls,sanding sheets and pads, and other accessories. For over 35 years, we’ve helped to supply furniture manufacturers across the United States with the highest quality sanding products. Our abrasive technicians can help you find the abrasives you’ll need to properly finish your furniture. Speak to a technician today by filling out acontact form or calling 844-824-1956.