Thread: Strip shellac or varnish from antique burl stump with bark

Sounds like a hard one to have to strip Tina .
Try a long soak on a test patch with Denatured Alcohol and a light brush to move it . keep it wet . Or a long soak and blow it with an air hose off a compressor. Or a water pressure washer if it can be done gentle enough .

Rob

If it is shellac, brushing on denatured alcohol (methylated spirits, here in Oz) should be all that's needed to dissolve it; it'll just take time and care. I'd wet an area, perhaps the size of a handkerchief, then go back over it trying to clean small areas, a few inches square, at a time. Work from the top down, so any drips/runs are over areas you haven't already cleaned.

Good luck, I hope you're patient!

I personally don't think it was shellac. Shellac does not tend to yellow with age.

Button , flake and to a lesser amount Blonde shellac starts as an Orange colour through to a paler yellow and has an effect at aggressively colouring the wood with each layer applied . Light pale coloured woods show it right up , Warm red coloured wood get enhanced by it and become richer and it doesn’t become such a problem . Tina B says it turned yellow and it’s an Antique she bought . So she may think it turned that way but it may have been that way from day one ? Or , it could be anything else as well .