I realize gasoline is a safety concern (explosion/fire hazard, fumes for breathing, etc). I'm not looking for a discussion on safety at this time. Similar to how gas is used to clean carburetor parts etc, it's not made to be used as a cleaner and is of course not 100% safe if one does this. The person using gas for cleaning is doing so accepting a certain degree of risk. If one were to use 85% ethanol / 15% gasoline to mix shellac, obviously some major safety precautions would need to be assumed. But the same would be true of all solvent based finishes (nitrocellulose is gun powder, acetone, xylene, etc, all very flammable with severe fire and explosion potential).
With that said, would it work as in dissolve the flakes, dry at an acceptable rate, have a clear gloss without blushing or defects? Has anyone tried it?
With denatured alcohol getting somewhat scarce and high proof drinking alcohol very expensive, it seems like someone would try it eventually at $2-$3 a gallon.