finishing drawers with shellac

Waterborne poly floor finish as alternative

Re: Waterborne poly floor finish as alternative

Hank Knight

Clint,

Does the floor finish off-gas for a long time? Most oil based finishes take a long time to gas off the organic solvents as they cure. Shellac doesn't have that issue. I have some issues in my house with cabinets that were built years ago and finished with some kind ion oil based finish. The cabinets stink, and everything stored in them comes out stinking. I need two deal with it, but I haven't figured out what to do about it.

Hank

Re: Waterborne poly floor finish as alternative

Clint Searl

In my experience using Varathane, there's rapid curing with no discernable offgassing. For high use installations like kitchen and bath, I have used 1/2" Baltic birch for drawers, painted inside with flat acrylic wall paint topped with the floor poly for a most durable finish.

Re: Waterborne poly floor finish as alternative

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

coat with shellac

Actually they do

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

The vegie oil based finishes continue to react with oxygen which in turn "breaks" off stinky aldehydes and acids. This reaction slows over time but in an enclosed space they will continue to smell for a long time.

The correct word would be "volatilize" these volatile compounds.

Re: Waterborne poly floor finish as alternative

Barry Irby

I agree with Bill, as usual. I am assuming his comment of "Coat with Shellac" is aimed at hank's stinky cabinets. I have had success with suppressing odors in old furniture and cabinets by coating the interior with shellac. Zinser Seal Coat. For the best chance you have to coat everything on the interior of the cabinet including the outsides of the drawers and the bottoms of them and the interior of the cabinet itself. The spray cans will work well for this.

Question on finish recommendation

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

My limited experience with water based finish is that they raise the grain. The finish will therefore be two applications with sanding in between. Shellac sands well with little to no gumming up of the paper. What are the sanding properties of this finish?

What I like about Shellac:

It is relatively cheap and available at Lowes and Home Depot. Goes on evenly with a foam brush. Dries quick. Sands like a sanding sealer. Moderate grain raise. A shellac finish apparently lasts for decades if not centuries. Resulting finish is slick, especially after waxing, important for sliding drawers. The shop has a pleasant lingering ester odor that likely is irrelevant to others, but I like it.

Disadvantage: It is claimed to be pretreated to be stable for a long time. The acids that catalyze esterification which leads to slow drying are removed in the refining process. However, I find that it hardens slower as it gets older, consistent with the ester odor that lingers after application. For better or worse it yellows the wood some.

I would predict that the floor finish would have similar properties. What is cost, shelf life and availability? A waterborne urethane I purchased from Target did not have a shelf life of years.

Re: Waterborne poly floor finish as alternative

Hank Knight

Thanks for the recommendation. I've heard that shellac will seal in odors, but I

wasn't sure how effective it would be with my problem. Sounds like I should try it.

Re: Question on finish recommendation

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)

I use a dewaxed blond shellac for finishing inside and outside drawers (with the exception of the outside of the drawer front, which is finished as per the carcase).

Usually 1 - 2 coats is enough, with a rub after of paste wax on grey mesh.

The only water based poly I am familiar with is General Finishes. This will leave brush marks. I wipe on, and then wipe off with gray mesh (400 grit). The mesh removes the wipe marks and leaves a smooth finish. Water-based poly dries within about 30 seconds. Whether it off gasses, well I do not know.

Regards from Perth

Derek

I like....

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

.....the grey mesh idea. Won't leave crumbs of steel wool behind. Will try it on current drawers.

Drawers I finished 20 years ago...

Clint Searl

with waterborne are still going strong.

Drawers. What's important?

Ellis Walentine

Finishes need to be appropriate. For dresser drawers, shellac has always worked for me: a couple thin (1+ lb.) coats followed by a light scuff sanding with 220 followed by a coat of wax. This offers a nice feel and a bit of protection from soiling, but not much else.

If you need more abrasion protection, waterborne varnishes form a tough film and don't stink inside the carcase, and they are easy to apply and clean up. They combine durability with ease of application.

Ellis

Re: Plus....

Ron in Sterling, CT

I have built 6 board blanket chests for each of my 4 grand daughters and son over the last 10 years. I have followed pretty much the same process as

Ellis describes above to finish the inside. The only difference is that I final skip sand with 600 grit and do not use any wax. It gives a nice smooth, no odor finish to the inside of the chest.

Ron