taylor_park75•1mo agoProlific Poster

Heard a guy at the lumber yard talking about shellac flakes from India

He was telling the clerk how the stuff from the hardware store in a can is pre-mixed with alcohol and goes bad fast. He said buying the dry flakes and mixing your own with 190 proof ethanol gives you way more control and a better finish... and it lasts forever if you keep it sealed. I always thought shellac was just shellac, you know? Has anyone here actually mixed their own from scratch and noticed a real difference?

3 comments

3 Comments

ryantorres1mo agoTop Commenter

Honestly... I've done it both ways and the canned stuff from the hardware store works just fine for most jobs. That guy is making it sound way more complicated than it needs to be. Mixing your own is a huge mess and you really don't get that much better of a finish for the extra work. Unless you're doing museum level restoration, the pre-mixed is totally fine and it doesn't go bad that fast if you just use it up.

clairen851mo ago

My last can dried out in a week though.

bettyroberts27d agoMost Upvoted

Store it upside down to keep the seal from drying out.