Kalamaquilts - nope, she's my travel machine so I had her set up on an ironing board in a hotel room - no surrounds. I never noticed the "grippy" problem playing with her at home; it was only when I sat down to actually do some serious sewing with her that the problem became apparent.
Thanks for all of the suggestions! I think I already have some of that TR3 resin glaze in the garage, I will give that a shot. I know I've heard it mentioned before and was sort of eyeballing it, but I wasn't sure if it was OK for the FW.
Is the FW painted? Not a japanned finish? I don't know how to tell the difference!