Hello peoples, been awhile…
Well, I outdid myself this time;
On a small library, for a (currently) childs room, I wanted to move up from oil base paint which I had used in the past. I wanted something harder, and perhaps more contemporary since I was spraying it anyway. Got a gallon of Sherwin’s finer lacquer, in white, and shot it. It flowed and layed out, dried nice too.
‘Cept one thing, I had put on a “spitcoat” of shellac, as a sanding sealer.
Woe’s me.
After all that, nothing stuck, the slightest fingernail takes it all off. So, now, I am actually stripping brand new furniture (removing the lacquer film.) The shellac’s layer is just fine. Ouch, LARGE!
The shellac, ancient technology that it is though, still impresses me…
The question therefore: After I get off the rest of the lacquer remnants, can shellac be tinted a nice dense white that will stand up to the use of being on bookshelves that I can use to complete the job??
Most gratefully,
Hunts
Edited 12/3/2004 7:10 pm ET by hunts
Replies
It sounds like your shellac had some wax in it- most do, unless stated on can that it doesn't.
If you seal in the old shellac with Zinnser SealCoat( a de-waxed shellac), you should be able to respray the lacquer with no problems.
Yes.
You can basically buy white tinted shellac by grabbing a can of what is it ZIN or ZAR or something. But you can make it yourself by adding alcohol soluable tints to the shellac, and that would give you some flexibility inasmuch as how white you want it. You can have the whitewashed look or paint.
If you want to stick with the lacquer, shellac isn't a bad seal coat, but (now you've figured this out) ya gotta use the dewaxed variety!
Bet you don't repeat that one soon.
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