This high concentration enables the denatured alcohol to dissolve the shellac flakes quickly and effectively. Shellac: The natural choice. Chris Schwarz in short uses Everclear to dissolve the shellac flakes as opposed to denatured alcohol for reason being that everclear dissolves the flakes completely while the latter doesn't. What are some tested, good alternatives for dissolving shellac? Zinsser is a 3 lb. Best solvent for shellac is and always has been ethanol alcohol, not methanol alcohol. The solvent used is denatured alcohol. Basically, any alcohol will do, but the preferred alcohol is ethanol (the same stuff sold in liquor stores), which, unless you you want to pay exhorbitant prices (tax), is commonly sold for finishing purposes as "denatured alcohol". Simply moisten a rag with denatured alcohol and rub it into the surface in a circular motion. My question is inspired from a recent article from Lost art press on mixing shellac. Problem is 99.9% technical grade (or 200 proof) is only sold at laboratory supply, and 95% pure grade called 190 proof grain alcohol is hard to find at many liqueur stores. cut (3 lbs of shellac flakes to a gallon of alcohol). Any “Denatured” alcohol product is poisonous, no matter if it started out as grain alcohol (the drinking kind) or wood alcohol or any other kind. You can remove shellac with a variety of solvents, including denatured alcohol. Can anyone guide me to what else will work. Denatured Alcohol is apparently no longer legal in CA (thanks, assholes) and the only online vendors that'll ship here are charging $20 for a $7 pint, which I refuse to pay. This traditional finish comes from natural resins secreted by the lac bug. Pure ethanol (ethyl alcohol) is the only practical choice for thinning shellac, cleaning brushes used for shellac or applying a French Polish.It was once sold here under the brand name, Klean Stripä.I used it with good results for years until I recently ran out. The alcohol will eventually soften the finish until it becomes sticky. I know for a fact that the shellac that Sheaffer used was Zinsser. As I noted before, the gallon can in the fountain pen repair station in the service center was a … The other alternative is to buy shellac flakes, some alcohol and mix your own. Denatured alcohol is used because it is extremely high proof. Along with many other brands it was once widely available. These secretions are collected and processed into flakes that dissolve in ethyl or denatured alcohol. You can also buy shellac premixed, it's slightly cheaper than polyurethane. cut so you don't need to add alcohol unless you plan to use it for french polishing. It's already been thinned to a 2 lb. https://www.popularwoodworking.com/.../methylated-spirits-best-solvent-shellac Removing Shellac With Solvents. You want to use Zinsser SealCoat, which is a de-waxed shellac. The word, denatured says it all, something was done to a natural product to change it’s natural characteristics. The typical denatured formula consists of 190-proof ethanol, 4% methanol and 1% other denaturants. It seems that every time someone asks about shellac, we get a series of opinions about what it should be disolved in. I need to thin some shellac and here in Canada we cannot buy Denatured Alcohol (or at least I cannot find any) I can get Shellac thinner from Lee Valley at $14.50 per litre but I was hoping for something a little less expensive. This is the SealCoat: I use it regularly and it works well. While this method is messy to clean up, it is the least labor-intensive. 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