Shellac on kitchen cupboards...

[surfdabbler]

I'm refinishing our kitchen cupboards, which are about 15 years old. I had always assumed they were a nitro lacquer with a stain in it. However, in cleaning it up to prep for refurbishing, I gave it a wipe with turps, and the finish seemed to go a little tacky. Anyway, I followed up with some golden oak spirit stain, to touch up the areas where the bare wood was showing through, and the existing finish really went tacky then, and my paper towels started sticking, and any runs of the stain were leaving behind light patches where the old finish was dissolved away. Using a paint scraper, I could scrape off lots of the original finish, scraping up in sticky lumps.

Is it likely that this is shellac on kitchen cupboards? These were Bunnings cupboards from 15 years ago, with a satin finish. Really not what I expected, but if others are not falling over with surprise that this might be shellac, then I will go ahead and get some fresh flakes, and spray on some new shellac. I don't want the super shiny shellac finish, and I've not had super success with rubbed shellac in the past, so I'm hoping spraying the shellac will be a simple alternative.

Thoughts anyone?

[Master Splinter]

It's probably just a very cheap acrylic lacquer + a really thin coat + Chinese "quality control" at all stages of manufacture.

[surfdabbler]

Hmm, yes, I wasn't aware that lacquers could be dissolved by metho, but I've looked around, and it seems that some can. Makes it tricky to restain the chipped areas, but maybe I can redissolve the existing lacquer and just spread it around to cover the surface again. I guess I will just continue with my experimenting, and see what works.