Shellac Over Polyurethane Floor

Some use wood finishes to protect their furniture while others use them just to make their furniture look more appealing.

Shellac over polyurethane floor. September 19 2011 shellac vs polyurethane dave wood finishing as its name suggests is the last step in the process of repairing and refinishing furniture. Produced from the resin secreted by a lac bug found in india and thailand it is the only known commercial resin that comes from an insect. Shellac 1 hour waterborne polyurethane 2 hrs standard polyurethane 24 hours best for crystal clear finish. As with shellac water based polyurethane won t hold up well to heat and chemicals.

For the best finish give the primer a quick sanding with 220 grit sandpaper and clean off the dust with a tack cloth before starting to paint. It s good for bookcases desks side tables and picture frames anything that won t be exposed to extremes. It was originally marketed as a no wax floor finish meaning that it was durable enough to resist scratches without being waxed. All the products were red devil brand.

Minwax polycrylic is an example of a fortified water based polyurethane than can stand up a bit better to rough conditions. The gloss on a floor in an older home may not be the ubiqutous polyurethane but shellac which requires specific care. The hardened lac resin is scraped from trees then processed for use in commercial applications. Zinsser b i n primer is a shellac based primer that will stop tannin bleed in its tracks.

I ve never used anything but de waxed shellac under poly ever since that childhood memory was burnt into my 8 year old brain. Lacquer spraying on another coat partially dissolved the coat underneath leading to. Lacquer waterborne polyurethane close second place. Shellac continued to be used by painters and floor finishers working inside buildings and by amateurs until the 1960s.

Shellac finishes were common on wood floors until urethanes became more. He then had to pay a floor finisher to sand them down again. Within days the finish crinkled. Shellac is another floor finish that was commonly used in the 19th and 20th centuries but fell from common use when synthetic finishes were invented.

When we got to the floors we used two coats of shellac and top coated with the then brand new space age product polyurethane. Then three things happened that almost totally ended shellac being thought of as a complete finish. Oil based polyurethane became available. Wipe on polyurethane spray on poly from a can spray lacquer from a can all three are easy options easiest to repair.

It also can go over oil based finishes and can be applied using synthetic. This will remove any brush strokes and. This is because the most popular types of topcoats varnish lacquer polyurethane and shellac have advantages and disadvantages which makes them best suited for particular types of settings.