SOMEBODY left a full quart can of Zinzer's shellac in a precarious and
metastable position in my shop. Gravity won, the lid failed.
Now I've got a quart of shellac on the linoleum floor in my small
shop, which has sat a day or two. I've soaked up all the still-liquid
phase that I can, but there's a big mess of tacky to dried shellac.
Aside from the obvious solution (pun?) of soaking the spill in
alcohol, is there a better way?
Any help appreciated.
-Zz
On Sat, 19 Sep 2009 11:47:08 -0700, Zz Yzx wrote:
>
> Now I've got a quart of shellac on the linoleum floor in my small shop,
> which has sat a day or two.
> Aside from the obvious solution (pun?) of soaking the spill in alcohol,
> is there a better way?
>
I haven't tried this, but since ammonia is also a solvent for shellac, I
wonder if some of the ammonia based floor cleaners might work?
--
Intelligence is an experiment that failed - G. B. Shaw
In article <[email protected]>, Zz Yzx
<[email protected]> wrote:
> SOMEBODY left a full quart can of Zinzer's shellac in a precarious and
> metastable position in my shop. Gravity won, the lid failed.
>
> Now I've got a quart of shellac on the linoleum floor in my small
> shop, which has sat a day or two. I've soaked up all the still-liquid
> phase that I can, but there's a big mess of tacky to dried shellac.
>
> Aside from the obvious solution (pun?) of soaking the spill in
> alcohol, is there a better way?
>
> Any help appreciated.
The first thing I'd try is to let it dry completely and then use a
cabinet scraper with a very slight hook to chip it off the lino. It
shouldn't have soaked in...
After that, I'd use denatured ethyl to dissolve it and mop it up. Full
ventilation, with fan(s) running.
"Zz Yzx" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> Now I've got a quart of shellac on the linoleum floor in my small
> shop, which has sat a day or two. I've soaked up all the still-liquid
> phase that I can, but there's a big mess of tacky to dried shellac.
This is where you take advantage of the situation. It's a great excuse to
buy yourself a MultiMax tool and put some of it's scrapers to work.
On Sep 19, 5:09=A0pm, Steve Turner <[email protected]>
wrote:
> SonomaProducts.com wrote:
> > I have always found that acetone is is many times faster at dissolving
> > shellac
> I decided to drop a small chunk of
> garnet shellac into a jar of acetone. =A0After an hour and a half... noth=
ing.
Also, if the floor really IS linoleum (unlikely, but possible) there's
asphalt in it, and acetone will hurt the floor. Maybe it's really
vinyl flooring...
Instead of dissolving quick, you might consider dissolving agents
that don't evaporate or create a fire hazard. Start with some
alcohol,
then quickly pour a little glycerine on it. Glycerine is a heavy
alcohol,
it (eventually) dissolves most things that are alcohol-soluble, but it
doesn't
evaporate in minutes, so you can wipe it up at leisure. Some
cellulose-type cat litter spread on the oily glycerine gunk, then
moved around and swept up, can be a good cleaning strategy.
On Sat, 19 Sep 2009 11:47:08 -0700, Zz Yzx wrote:
>
> Now I've got a quart of shellac on the linoleum floor in my small shop,
> which has sat a day or two.
> Aside from the obvious solution (pun?) of soaking the spill in alcohol,
> is there a better way?
>
I haven't tried this, but sonce ammonia is also a solvent for shellac, I
wonder if some of the ammonia based floor cleaners might work?
--
Intelligence is an experiment that failed - G. B. Shaw
"Zz Yzx" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> SOMEBODY left a full quart can of Zinzer's shellac in a precarious and
> metastable position in my shop. Gravity won, the lid failed.
>
> Now I've got a quart of shellac on the linoleum floor in my small
> shop, which has sat a day or two. I've soaked up all the still-liquid
> phase that I can, but there's a big mess of tacky to dried shellac.
>
> Aside from the obvious solution (pun?) of soaking the spill in
> alcohol, is there a better way?
>
> Any help appreciated.
>
> -Zz
Buy a new shop floor.
While you're at it, put a new shop on top of that new floor.
Put some new tools in it, too.
Hope this helps,
jc
I have always found that acetone is is many times faster at dissolving
shellac, it is the alternative to alcohol when thinning also.
On Sep 19, 11:47=A0am, Zz Yzx <[email protected]> wrote:
> SOMEBODY left a full quart can of Zinzer's shellac in a precarious and
> metastable position in my shop. =A0Gravity won, the lid failed.
>
> Now I've got a quart of shellac on the linoleum floor in my small
> shop, which has sat a day or two. =A0I've soaked up all the still-liquid
> phase that I can, but there's a big mess of tacky to dried shellac.
>
> Aside from the obvious solution (pun?) of soaking the spill in
> alcohol, is there a better way?
>
> Any help appreciated.
>
> -Zz
SonomaProducts.com wrote:
> I have always found that acetone is is many times faster at dissolving
> shellac, it is the alternative to alcohol when thinning also.
Either you're talking about some mysterious synthetic "shellac" or
you're dealing with liquid shellac that's already dissolved in alcohol
(taking advantage of the fact that alcohol is miscible in acetone),
otherwise I'd have to take issue with that statement.
I spent many years messing around with automotive and marine finishing
products, and in that time I'd concluded that acetone and/or lacquer
thinner were the granddaddy of all finishing solvents. Except for some
of the fancier catalyzed polyurethane or epoxies, you could even use
acetone to dissolve and remove most other cured finishes. I kept
copious amounts of lacquer thinner around the shop; there was no job it
couldn't tackle! That is, until I started turning my attention towards
woodworking.
There'd been a few pieces of old furniture I'd tried to strip and
refinish, first with lacquer thinner, then with various paint strippers
when the lacquer thinner didn't work. What the hell; why won't this
crap come off?! I still remember the day (on probably my third piece of
old furniture, when faced with resorting to sandpaper AGAIN) that I
realized this was no ordinary finish, this was shellac! When I began to
apply a generous helping of denatured alcohol, the heavens parted, the
light shone down upon the workpiece, and the shellac was melted away.
Hallelujah! Is there nothing alcohol can't do? :-)
Incidentally, I was on my way out to the shop when I read your post, and
thinking maybe I'd lost my mind again I decided to drop a small chunk of
garnet shellac into a jar of acetone. After an hour and a half... nothing.
--
See Nad. See Nad go. Go Nad!
To reply, eat the taco.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bbqboyee/
On Sat, 19 Sep 2009 11:47:08 -0700, Zz Yzx <[email protected]>
wrote:
>SOMEBODY left a full quart can of Zinzer's shellac in a precarious and
>metastable position in my shop. Gravity won, the lid failed.
>
>Now I've got a quart of shellac on the linoleum floor in my small
>shop, which has sat a day or two. I've soaked up all the still-liquid
>phase that I can, but there's a big mess of tacky to dried shellac.
>
>Aside from the obvious solution (pun?) of soaking the spill in
>alcohol, is there a better way?
>
>Any help appreciated.
>
>-Zz
If you properly apply the solvent to yourself you won't give a damn
about the shellac.
Regards,
Tom Watson
http://home.comcast.net/~tjwatson1/
"Zz Yzx" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> >Buy a new shop floor.
>>While you're at it, put a new shop on top of that new floor.
>>Put some new tools in it, too.
>>Hope this helps,
>>\
>
> It didn't, really.
It was intended as humor. :-)
On Sat, 19 Sep 2009 14:52:53 -0700 (PDT), "SonomaProducts.com"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>I have always found that acetone is is many times faster at dissolving
>shellac, it is the alternative to alcohol when thinning also.
>
>On Sep 19, 11:47Â am, Zz Yzx <[email protected]> wrote:
>> SOMEBODY left a full quart can of Zinzer's shellac in a precarious and
>> metastable position in my shop. Â Gravity won, the lid failed.
>>
>> Now I've got a quart of shellac on the linoleum floor in my small
>> shop, which has sat a day or two. Â I've soaked up all the still-liquid
>> phase that I can, but there's a big mess of tacky to dried shellac.
>>
>> Aside from the obvious solution (pun?) of soaking the spill in
>> alcohol, is there a better way?
>>
>> Any help appreciated.
>>
>> -Zz
Acetone can disolve linolem as fast as it can disolve Shelac -
forewarned is fore-armed.