Milford chronicle., 1929-04-26
SAVE TIME WITH SHELLAC
By Helen Martin

~ AAOAOA 4A0AbAA
More often than not the floor goes
shabby for want of time to retinish
it. The same is true of woodwork
and furniture that would look inf
nitely better for a fresh finish. Why
not use shellac then? It makes a
durable finish for all interior pur-
poses, and dries so rapidly that fire.
Quent recoating is possible.
In fact, shellac competes with lac
quer for fast drying records, but it
does not dry too fast. 1t is easy to
work with and two coats can be put
on an hour or two apart, if neces-
sary. AS is the case with all paint
and varnish materials, however, a
better job results if more time be-
tween coats is allowed.
Since semi-lustre finishes are so
much more in favor than new, shiny
surfaces, shellac has been very much
in demand. 1t is one Of the Oldest
finishes and one of the best mater
ials to use for an unusually durable
and yelyety finish. In addition,
where pure shellac is used the finish
is sufficiently elastic so that 1t Will
not easily scratch or mara hlghly
desirable feature for furniture and
woodwork finish.
There is both an orange and a
white shellac-alike in characters
tics and wearing body, but used for
slightly different purposes. Whlte
shellac is made from bleached
orange shellac gum, through an IN
tricate process, and is used over
light woods that are to retain their
natural color, or over dark WOODS
like ebony and mahogany to bring
ont the tone and richness OF the
wood. Orange shellac is transpar-
ent.- too, but has staining properties
besides. 1t is often used over Whlte
wood TO give a dark wood finish, ana
after a parquet floor has become
stained or darker with age, orange
sbeIIac can be used to cover the
snots by giving the floor clear ma
tnraI stain as we'll as the duraple
finish desired. ,.a
cbel1ac makes an excellent liquid
filler for furniture ana lnteIloI u - - -
For this purpose it may be useG Il! d
thin coat which penetrates deeply III
IN the wood and dries quickly
enough to permit further hnlshlns
within couple of hours. Where var
nisb. enamel or lacquer IS TO De US
cd as a final finish, shellac is an eS-
neciallv good undercoater. IL seais
IN anv stain coats or filler coaIS
Tbicb might be lifted by a suDse,
ouent finish or which mlSht plecu
through. And on new wooo tndC 10
not suficiently open porod TO re-
onire a paste wood filler, ana "nere
an unusually fine finish is -deslreu, d
shellac may be used adventageousiy'
brushes to be used for the apph-
cation of shellac should be the lar
cost nossible for the size OF the
Surface being coated. This is IN or
der that as few strokes as posslple
NAV be taken to cover the SURFACE.
For large areas a four-1nch nat
brush is about as large as can DC
handled, while for smaller surfaces
the one and two inch varnish orush-
es are about right.
Shellac should be brushed on rap
idly and in one direction. IL is DesI
to do little brushing as shellac sets
rapidly and cannot be stretched OUT
like paint and varnish.
Shellac has many other interest
ing uses, but none more serviceabie
than for interior finishing. There IS
no easier way to keep a house look
ing clean and attractive than by the
durable, quiet lustre of this material
and no better way to protect goodi
furniture from the inevitable hard
knocks that come its way than by
the protection of several coats.
AS with all paint and varnlsh ma
terials, only good products OF repu-
table manufacture are recommended'
Shellac of an inferior grade, While
momentarily serving the purpose
cannot give either the wear or the
beauty of recognized, pure material