Is shellac still used in varnish etc?

Question

As I’m doing a bit of diy and found a half tin of woodstain that I didn’t want to waste and now my house pongs of bugs!

Is this the beetle’s revenge? Lol

http://www.ent.ohiou.edu/~jean/myweb/Hemiptera_belostomatidae3.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shellac

Answer 1

Nope, shellac is now a thing of the past and has been replaced by Zein for a lot of applications.

Varnish is now made - mostly - from aluminium stearate and water repellants.

Next stop, what do people say, now, when they mean "I gave it a good shellacking!". Hmmm.

Answer 2

http://www.woodzone.com/articles/wood_fi...

   No offense, and didn't check the links, but this link provides the formulations and processes. As you will note, VARNISH and Shellac, are not at all the same.

Just my two "sense"

Answer 3

Shellac is only used these days for a very specific kind of wood-finish: French polishing. It's used on stringed instruments such as guitars, violins etc, and on fine and antique furniture.

It isn't actually made from bugs -- shellac is a hard resin that comes from a sticky substance that shellac beetles secrete. And it smells mostly of whatever solvent is used to make the shellac solution. I learned about this when I was studying upholstery and wood restoration, a few years ago.

Thinking about its smell, the shellac-based "button polish" I used a couple of weeks ago to re-finish the banister in my house smelled rather nice: slightly turpentine-y (all gone now, though).

I wonder what your woodstain had in it?

Poor you!

Eeek. =o

Answer 4

lol.. i don't know hun, but i THINK its a thing of the past? ...have a break and stop running around like a mad thing!!! ;-) xxxxxxx

lol!!!! @link one... eeugh..  lol but it coulda been worse, ...it could of been a cockroach ..........*creepy shivery things* ;-) xxxxxx

Answer 5

Nope- and never was.  Shellac IS still used, but old shellac, like old paint may never dry.

Answer 6

You will find it best never to keep shellac very long as once it has been opened, it begins to spoil and then when you open it, it will stink to high heaven.  That is because, as one person said, it is made of bugs.

Shellac is an excellent finish and much easier to work with than Varnish.  If you buy a can, pour some out in a container and put about the same amount of denatured alcohol in the container, making a thinner liquid.  

I was in the paint and varnish business and have been in furniture repair for 45 years and use shellac all the time.  Dries in about 20 minutes or so.  Clean up very easy - use an inexpensive brush, if you are not going to recoat, toss it.