Reclaiming Shellac

[DWSUDEKUM]

I do not know what most of you use for a finish however I use shellac for a lot of my top coat finishes.  A few years ago I purchased some of those small plastic triangles that you put your project on when you are going to put a finish on it and do not want it laying on the table picking up stuff.  I use these standoffs when I use spray shellac, yea the spray can of it.  Anyway when putting the shellac on the projects it gets on the standoffs as well and over a few projects time builds up to a good amount.  What do you do?  Me I get my 1 pint mason jar 3/4 full of Denatured Alcohol, a piece of paper, an exacto knife ( do not want the sharp edge only the back of the blade ) and the standoffs with built up shellac overspray on them.  The store will sell you bags of shellac chips which you can then dissolve in denatured alcohol but it can be expensive.  A good while back I realized that I was capturing a decent amount of shellac on the standoffs I was using and that I could reclaim it for use in touchups and small item finishing. So what you need to do is this:

1) Put the paper down  on the workbench.  This does 2 things, 1 keep the chips from picking up anything from the bench such as sawdust or the such and 2 will allow you to add the chips to the mason jar of denatured alcohol easily.

2) Using the back edge of the exacto knife or an old hack saw blade scrape the shellac overspray off the standoff allowing the chips to land on the paper.

3) After you have cleaned all the standoffs and put them aside, open up the mason jar and add the scrapped off shellac to it.  Close the lid tight and gently shake the jar for a couple of moments.  Depending upon how much you just added and how much was in the denatured alcohol to start with it may not all dissolve immediately.  That is ok.  There probably will be a hazy layer on the bottom and that is contaminants so as long as you are no dipping your brush in that region your shellac will be ok.  

 

One other source of shellac needs to be mentioned and that assumes that you are using those spray cans of it.  When you "empty" one of the spray cans there is still at least a couple of tablespoons of shellac still in the can, you just can not spray it out.  You need a small funnel an ice pick and your mason jar of shellac for this part.  After getting the empty can remove the spray tip and set it aside, you never know when you might need one.  Puncture the top of the empty can making sure that the hole is away from you as there will still be some propellant in the can.  Once the pressure is gone make several more holes in the top of the can.  Put the funnel on the mason jar and turn the can over the funnel, any shellac left in the can will now come out and into your mason jar adding to your reclaimed shellac.  You pay for it why throw it away?

 

 

DW 

[Lucky2]

DW, that's an awful lot of work just to save a couple of tablespoons of shellac. I would far rather let it go to waste, then use it and possibly ruin a piece I've been working on. Yes it can be costly, but, it's not all that expensive that I need to worry about saving drips.

Len

[DWSUDEKUM]

DW, that's an awful lot of work just to save a couple of tablespoons of shellac. I would far rather let it go to waste, then use it and possibly ruin a piece I've been working on. Yes it can be costly, but, it's not all that expensive that I need to worry about saving drips.

Len

 

Len I really don't consider it a lot of work as I would have had to scrape off the shellac anyway and by draining the cans I am not putting pressurized containers in the recycle / trash plus it only takes about 30 seconds to make the holes and drain it. Filtering it if you get worried about the hazy layer is as simple as poring off the clear into another container and tossing the rest. Rather a person chooses to utilise the tip or not is totally up to them.  Each to their own.  In less than 1/2 a year I have reclaimed more than a quart of shellac and that means I saved about $14. Not a lot in the grand scheme of things I grant you but I hate to throw away something I paid money for, especially if I can reclaim it fairly easily.

 

DW 

Edited April 19, 2016 by DWSUDEKUM

[Bill WIlson]

I have a couple small peanut butter jars full of DNA that had been used to clean shellac out of my spray guns, brushes, etc.  Rather than throw it away, I keep re-using it, at least for initial cleanings.  It's probably got enough shellac in it now that I could spray it. 

 

I actually use diluted household ammonia now to clean up my spray equipment and brushes.  It works as well as the DNA and is much cheaper.

[LarryEA]

I like your idea. Just a bit on the frugle side for me. 

My Wife is a 'saver', so I understand.  

I have a quart of shellac two years old, probably will never use it.

After I brush on BLO Mix, I clean my brushes in a pint peanut butter jar of lacquer thinner. After a few times,

the bottom of the peanut butter jar of lacquer thinner is very hazy,,, I dump it out, fouling the crumbling cement 

pad where I park my tractor but it also kills the weeds. 

Almost all my sawdust and floor sweepings goes in a horse stall for bedding, wood chips are fire starters until I figure 

something else out.

I have little tin cans full of stuff that I have saved and I have no idea what most of it is for... but I keep it anyway

                        SO

I save, recycle and reuse also, just not shellac