Shellac question

[Robert Engel]

Is button shellac dewaxed?

Do you grind it first or dissolve as is?

[roger wiegand]

It may or may not be (for button, probably not)-- if the label does not say dewaxed it isn't. You pay extra for that.

Depends how patient you are. If you grind it in a coffee grinder it will dissolve in a couple hours, if you don't grind it it can take days. Be sure to filter it before using.

[Jim Becker]

What Roger said...button is unlikely to be wax-free and it may even have actual bug parts in it. :)

[Edwin Santos]

Is button shellac dewaxed?

Do you grind it first or dissolve as is?


Buttonlac is very common in India, the refined step up from Seedlac, and is used for all sorts of woodwork including floors. It is a very nice caramel color. Dissolve the buttons as is. But if you choose to grind them, it will speed up the dissolving process and it will not do any harm. Buttonlac is not dewaxed. At least I've never heard of dewaxed Buttonlac.

If you want to remove some/most of the wax there are methods.
One is to let it sit for while and let the wax settle to the bottom and then decant. This is not as easy as it is with blonde or orange shellac because buttonlac is cloudier, but it will eventually happen.
Another method is to dissolve the buttons inside some t-shirt material or muslin, inside the container of alcohol, up high. They say the shellac will dissolve and fall down in the solution but the wax will remain behind trapped in the t-shirt material, which you can then remove like a tea bag.
A third method is to put the dissolved shellac in the freezer. The alcohol and shellac will not freeze, but the wax will coagulate and you can then strain/decant it out of the solution.

I assume you're dissolving in denatured alcohol. In India we dissolved shellac in something simply called white spirit. I never knew exactly what it was, but I assume it must be something like denatured alcohol.
Curious, I asked my uncle in India about it once, and he told me he hadn't seen that spirit there since 1969.

I hope this is helpful.

[Jeff Hamilton Jr.]

... told me he hadn't seen that spirit there since 1969. .

well, well played Ed.
:D

[Jerry Olexa]

Better to grind first for speed..And no its not DEWAXED...