finish inside of breadbox

[Barry wines]

I am making my second breadbox. The first I finished inside and out with polyurethane and my daughter-in-law who recieved it says that after a few days the bread tastes like the polyurethane. Any suggestions as to what I should use on the inside? Thanks Barry

[Conrad Fiore]

Shellac. No smell or taste and will block any smells coming from the wood. Or, you could use nothing at all. You could also put shellac over the poly in the built unit to block the poly smell.

[Stew Hagerty]

Food Safe Oil.

[Steve Baumgartner]

+1 on shellac. Any kind of varnish will continue to outgas solvents for a long time in a closed space - sometimes even years. The alcohol from shellac is gone in an hour or so.

[Scott Holmes]

A water-borne finish will also work well. I'd probably use shellac; because I always have plenty available.

[Jim Becker]

A water-borne finish will also work well. I'd probably use shellac; because I always have plenty available.

True, but we have to be more careful about this now since there is a growing list of water borne finishes which are providing emulsified oil finishes in a water carrier. These do off-gas in the same way as a "native" oil-based finish will. (This was exactly the case with the water borne floor finish I recently used...on a floor, of course. :D) 100% acrylic water borne finishes are indeed a usable choice for this bread-box application. However...I personally wouldn't put any finish on the inside of a bread box.

[Scott Holmes]

Good point Jim.