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Just got 'Shellac-ed' on this kitchen finish project

1K views 8 replies 7 participants last post by  wapakfred 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I primed some oak kitchen cabinets using Zinzer shellac-based white primer. I sprayed the finish and sent my wife out for some alcohol to clean the spray equipment. No luck. Turns out that denatured alcohol is no longer sold in Los Angeles or Orange County due to environmental regulations. Cleaned the gun with lacquer thinner instead, which hardly worked. Mostly the thinner causes the the Zinzer product to coagulate…though it worked enough to clean the gun.

More problems: I had used Liquid Sandpaper to clean and prep the cabs before spraying the primer. The shellac adhered fine, but in certain spaces dark brown spots came through. Not able to use shallac-based, I switched to oil-based primer, which always seemed to be the best at hiding bad stains. No luck. The brown spots came through the oil based primer as well.

What's going on? First thought is that I didn't clean the cabinets with TSP before trying to prime. The cabinet doors were all quite clean and didn't feel sticky, but it was a kitchen. Any ideas a primer or finish that would hide spots better than shellac or an oil based primer?
 
#4 · (Edited by Moderator)
A trick I used to use to hide water damage/ spots before painting was to spray radiator paint(rattle can) over the affected areas, then prime and paint. You have to prime over it, or the gloss will flash, thats through latex paint anyway. And I was never called back to repair bleedthrough. I forget who taught me that, but tried and true, no bleedthrough. And water-stains are notorious for bleedthrough!

Might work for you, might not???
 
#6 ·
You can use grain alcohol booze from a liquor store to clean shellac from equipment. Here we can by pure grain but i don t know if that is available in California.

- joey502
It is not available in California, I'm afraid. Having just moved to California, I was really thrown off by this.

I recently ordered some denatured alcohol through Amazon and it was delivered. I am getting ready to order a 5 gallon bucket of 99% isopropyl alcohol. I'm up in Beaumont, if you really need it, gimme a call, I got an unopened can of DNA sitting here. I'd be willing to share.

I have always had good luck with pure shellac for stopping staining. Haven't tried the Benjamin Moore Advanced, that ChefHDAN mentions. But, I've always loved other Ben Moore products I've used.
 
#7 ·
Will any cleaner with some ammonia work? I couldn't find just plain ammonia anywhere.
Benjamin Moore advanced sounds interesting, I'll check it out. I was using Enduro by General Finishes, which I've used for 10+ years…but neither the primer nor the top coat covered all the spots. And the shellac didn't either. Nor the oil base primer, but then I didn't spray with the oil-based primer, just brushed it on to seal out the stain. Which didn't work.
 
#8 ·
You can use grain alcohol booze from a liquor store to clean shellac from equipment. Here we can by pure grain but i don t know if that is available in California.
- joey502
Oh no officer, that moonshine isn't what you think, its for cleaning my spray gun….....
 
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