# Stripping shellac



## gav (Oct 12, 2009)

My mother inlaw has just given me the task of renovating some old furniture.
Some of it has scratches and worn areas. 
I'm pretty sure it's probably shellac, and first off I was wondering if it is possible to just recolor and shellac certain areas or should I just strip the whole lot off ?
Can water based polyurethane be applied over shellac ?
Can a heat gun be used to strip off shellac ? I don't think I have ever tried before.
Any help greatly appreciated.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Gavin

I think elbow grease works the best  and a lot of it.:haha:

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gav said:


> My mother inlaw has just given me the task of renovating some old furniture.
> Some of it has scratches and worn areas.
> I'm pretty sure it's probably shellac, and first off I was wondering if it is possible to just recolor and shellac certain areas or should I just strip the whole lot off ?
> Can water based polyurethane be applied over shellac ?
> ...


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## gav (Oct 12, 2009)

You mean sanding ?


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## crquack (Oct 10, 2008)

Test the finish with meths. If it liquefies, it's shellac. Then remove with - meths! Or use denatured ethanol.


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Removing Shellac. To remove shellac from floors and other wood brush on denatured or wood alcohol and scrape up the soft gxim as rapidly as possible. Then wash over the whole surface with the alcohol as a final clean up. The denatured alcohol is cheaper than wood alcohol as a rule. Benzine will not do for the final wash-up. Turpentine does not dissolve shellac. Repeated applications of the alcohol may be necessary to remove all of the shellac. When the patented varnish removers are used to remove shellac be sure to wash up well with benzine or benzole later to remove any wax left on the surface from the remover.

copied from "craftsman-style.info"


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## gav (Oct 12, 2009)

Thanks for the responses. Very helpful.
Now I just need to find out what meths is called in Croatian, and whether or not i can buy it.


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## BigJimAK (Mar 13, 2009)

Gav,

Denatured alcohol and is made from high grade grain alcohol (ethanol) with enough wood alcohol (methyl alcohol) or other chemical to made it unfit for human consumption. When methyl alcohol is used as this poison, it is called methylated spirits. The additives aren't to improve the product, but are added as a "public policy" issue to avoid selling near-pure drinking alcohol inexpensively and unregulated. 

Ethanol is inexpensive to make, given mass production; the vast majority of the price we see (in locations that permit its sale) is tax. Were it not for that tax, Everclear would sell for about the price of the mix added to it.

If you look up "denatured alcohol" in Wikipedia you'll see much, much more... I'm guessing that finding a local supply will be straightforward for you, Gav.


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## jerrymayfield (Sep 25, 2004)

If you have trouble locating denatured(poisoned)alcohol, ammonia is also a solvent for shellac. I use it to clean shellac brushes-if I ever clean them.

Regards

Jerry


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

" denatured alcohol "

Can be found at almost any drug store, I buy in the plastic bottle in the 1 pt.size for about 1.50.., I use it most of the time to wipe down stock just b/4 I stain it or put the finish on it.. removes body oil real well.. (finger prints)..

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## crquack (Oct 10, 2008)

> Can be found at almost any drug store,


Unless you are in Canada or possibly Croatia.

The chemical names are methanol (CH3OH) or ethanol (CH3CH2OH). Even 99% pure isopropyl alcohol will do (probably more expensive). You should be able to find one of them in Zagreb.

Just make sure whatever alcohol you use there is minimum (no more than 5%) water in it.

Elsewhere in East Europe denatured ethanol used to be common as a fuel for camping stoves.

Do not use slivovice:nono:...


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## gav (Oct 12, 2009)

Ha, of course I wouldn't use Slivovica ! Loza is usualy a lot stronger !!! I'm pretty sure I've had some rakija that is at least 70% alcohol.
Turns out denatured alcohol is called denaturirani alkohol here. Who would have thought. Apparently you can get it at any paint store. Haven't ever noticed it.
My mother inlaw says she can get methylated spirits where she works at a carboard box factory. I pressume it's used to clean the flatbed printer heads or something.

In Australia we used to have a big problem with the aboriginal people drinking meths, and there were unscrupulous store owners that kept it chilled for them !!!!!


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## crquack (Oct 10, 2008)

There used ot be always a bunch of people going blind from home-distilled booze at home. I gather that was due to methanol contamination which forms somewhere along the process. 

The solution was for the State to take all your "slivy" you carefully collected and prepared and make the stuff for you under controlled conditions. I do not know if they still do that. Slivovice was hard hit by some sort of plum tree blight a few years back.

Ah, the good days...


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## gav (Oct 12, 2009)

You're Croatian ? Where abouts are you from ?
People still make their own Rakija(moonshine in many flavors), you can buy all the equipment for making wine and distilling alcohol at hardware stores. You can't find any equipment for home brewed beer though.
I guess that's because beer is so cheap.


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## crquack (Oct 10, 2008)

Prague, but have three villages full of relatives in Southern Moravia.
Got introduced to slivovice at the age of 8 there, when by mistake swapped my uncle's breakfast tea with mine.

No Czech in their right mind would brew beer at home. You cannot reproduce perfection at home. There is a reason why they call it "pilsener"...


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## gav (Oct 12, 2009)

Ok so you're Czech. Some similarities to Croatians, except here we don't have so many good beers !
Pilsener is named after the town of Pilsen right ?


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## crquack (Oct 10, 2008)

Right. And Budweiser is named after Ceske Budejovice (Budweiss, Southern Bohemia). That, however, is a case of lipstick on a pig...


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