Dewaxed Shellac

[Carl Garner]

I know just enough to be dangerous about finishing. I do have the top two books on finishing, and I do plan to read them soon. In the meantime, would someone tell me if Zinsser Bulls Eye Clear Shellac (I bought from Lowes) is dewaxed, or not? It says on the can that it is a "Traditional Finish & Sealer", but it also says when sealing woods under polyurethane finishes, use Bullseye Sealcoat. I would suspect then, that I should not use the regular clear shellac (cut to 1#) as a "conditioner" prior to staining or dyeing". Am I correct?

I was hoping that I could use the regular shellac as a pre-conditioner, as my local Lowes doesn't carry the "Sealcoat" type.

Carl

[glenn bradley]

It is not de-waxed. Zinsser's de-waxed shellac is marketed under the name "SealCoat". Shellac is OK under a compatable finish. I just use de-waxed so I don't have to worry about it.

[Glenn Madsen]

And worth seeking out. It's what I use when I do most of my shellac finishing, so I keep some on hand. The last round of supplies I bought was from Homestead Finishing, Jeff Jewitt's place. I've used Hock Finishes successfully, and some from a supplier no longer in the business. They're all pretty good.

I've purchased a number of appliances happily from Lowe's. Woodworking stuff, elsewhere for me. YMMV.

My local hardware guy has Sealcoat on the shelf...

[glenn bradley]

The other Glenn is correct. I have passed on some Zinssers at Lowe's due to age (the date is on the bottom of the can, in plain english for once). Claimed 3 year shelf life but this is an organic product. Shelf life is effected by the storage environment. I keep everything in the finish-storage-area except my mixed shellac. It lives in my office on top of my file cabinet; if I'm comfortable, it's comfortable. I haven't mixed my own shellac since I started using Zinssers de-waxed and other offerings.