Comments on: Shellac Is Bug Poop!

By: PJ

PJ — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 00:57:35 +0000

OH, FYI. Rather than sand the old “alligatored” shellac on old woodwork or furniture, denatured alcohol & fine steel wool will dissolve the old finish. You can recoat with new shellac in whatever color you choose.

By: PJ

PJ — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 00:54:27 +0000

Shellac is not bug poop. Both shellac & lacquer are made from exoskeletons of bugs–the outside shell. It’s formed from the insect’s body fluid, which explains why it’s so hard to remove the waxy substance that results from bugs colliding with your windshield!

By: Reclaimed Home: Green Low Impact Housing Renovation of New York, Brooklyn, New Jersey

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 12:02:17 +0000

[…] so this is an update on the shellac stripping […]

By: RH

RH — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:43:25 +0000

Thanks for the tips! So far, stripped the entire room down and stained 1 door. The wood finisher friend said he seals with shellac, then coats with the varnish. He’s coming over tomorrow to show me. I was thinking of putting tung oil over the stain, but he said it takes a crazy time to cure and this should be the fastest way.

I’m going to do a wax over shellac test run upstairs on the pine (downstairs is oak). I don’t think I have time to strip every door in the house and get this baby on the market by Spring.

By: tina

tina — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 21:28:59 +0000

You can rub down the gloss with fine steel wool and paste wax. The paste was will protect the shellac too. I too stripped off all the shellac down to the wood – the color of the wood was fantastic. I ordered online Deep Garnet shellac and mixed it myself. It had a great auburn color – not orange. Read Old House Woodwork Restoration: How to Restore Doors, Windows, Walls, Stairs, and Decorative Trim to Their Original Beauty by Ed Johnson and also Brice Johnson’s book The Wood Finisher. Good luck!

By: RH

RH — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 18:09:17 +0000

Ok, so I just spoke to a wood finishing guy. It looks like I’ll end up taking it down to the wood after all.

He recommended Epifane Varnish, but I see that the matte finish has to go over 4 coats of gloss. That can’t be right for an interior door?

Just searched FEV. Do I have to order it from the UK?

I tried just waxing over the shellac to take out the gloss. Fine if I didn’t have the cracks and blisters, but I have to get rid of those anyway.

At least I know I have to get rid of the old shellac now. That’s a start.

By: Meg

Meg — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 17:03:27 +0000

If you put a coat of wax over the shellac, you can change the finish. We did this with some floors. You can see the wood texture and the shellac gave a nice warm color and then the wax protects and changes the finish.

By: sean

sean — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 16:47:59 +0000

shellac, while not vegan, can be made more matte.
French Enamel Varnish, or FEV, is a mix of a little shellac, alcohol, and leather dye. its pretty gorgeous if done correctly and its whole a lot of furniture used to be varnished.

not as tough as poly though.

By: Deda Kol

Deda Kol — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 14:59:43 +0000

I just did this with my entire wrap around staircase and 4 large parlor rooms. We sanded it all the way down – the staircase spindels are especially a pain in the arse- and then put a coat of stain poly over it.
I also hate the shiny look and the poly came out nice. Researched just putting tung oil or linseed on it afterwards, but I was surprised at how nice the poly looked in the test patches. Wish I had better news for you.