Painting over shellac

[Dengue]

I have a board sealed with shellac ( unwaxed), and now want to paint one side of it. Will enamel based paint be OK for this? Will I need a prep coat?

[Xanthorrhoeas]

According to my understanding of Forums' owner Neil Ellis's book on finishing shellac is a good start base for a lot of finishes so it should be fine.

I have found that acrylic over shellac will peel off pretty easily but that oil based paints seem to adhere well. I have some cedar doors that were finished in shellac and then a professional painter put clear poly over the top. I was horrified, but they are still good 8 years later. The recently released edition of the book makes good reading btw (see his advert on the forums home page) I recommend that you get a copy (and no, I don't even know Neil personally and am not on the payroll but good info on polishing is hard to find).

David

[ubeaut]

If the shellac is new and hasn't been handled or had anything put on it, like wax or oil etc, you will ideally need to sand the surface to give the paint something to adhere to. Shouldn't have to sand it off just rough up the surface slightly.

If it is an old piece that has been around and being used for yonks then prior to that a good wash down to make sure there is nothing else on the surface. eg wax, Mr Sheen, Marveer or any other cleaning or polishing products, or other things that shouldn't be there. Including oils from hands, deposits of from smoke as in fires and cigarettes, etc.

You may get away with washing down with hot soapy water but if the piece has been waxed or oiled you may need to use mineral turpentine or or methylated spirits or a combination mix of both.

Hope this isn't too late and is of some help.

Cheers - Neil

[Cleokitty]

As noted by xanthorreas, Shellac is a good base. It's frequently used to isolate one finish before applying another that would otherwise be incompatible, ie water-based over oil-based paint.

We recently refinished a door that had a mystery clear bright orangey coloured finish over old silky oak. The white acrylic enamel test we did first allowed the orange to bleed through. We isolated it with white shellac and then the acrylic enamel covered it well in two coats.

[Dengue]

I coated the removable MDF base of a small display case with shellac before painting the top surface with two coats of black gloss enamel paint and flocking it. Turned out well. Thanks for all the above advice.


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