My favorite way of sealing wood with shellac is the “flood it and wipe it” method.
I start with Zinsser Bulls Eye SealCoat, which is a pre-mixed dewaxed shellac mixture. Wearing gloves, I dip a cotton rag into the SealCoat and flood it onto the wood, keeping it wet for a minute to allow the end grain to absorb as much as it wants. I then wipe off all the excess on both the flat grain and the end grain.
The upshot is that the end grain, which normally absorbs much more of the first coat, is sealed as well as the flat grain. By the time I get to the second coat, the wood is more or less uniformly sealed, and I find I need to spend far less time trying to make the end grain “catch up” to the rest of the piece.
This is the quickest, most low tech way I know of getting a good, uniform sealer coat onto the wood. When the SealCoat dries, usually in about an hour or less, I very lightly scuff sand with 320 grit paper to take off the raised grain “fur,” then proceed to my next coat of any type of finish with a brush, spray gun, or pad.
Gentle reminder: A modest donation to this finishing blog can keep it going to help others. Thanks!
Leave a Reply