Had a shellac bloom disaster on a 1920s sideboard in Savannah

I was putting the final coat on this piece in a damp garage last fall. The next morning, the whole surface was cloudy and white. I panicked, but an old book said to lightly rub it with a cloth dampened with denatured alcohol. I tried it on a small spot, and it worked like magic. The bloom wiped right off without hurting the finish. Has anyone else fixed a shellac bloom this way, or do you have a different trick?

2 comments

2 Comments

mark_nguyen953d ago

That trick with the alcohol cloth is a classic save for shellac bloom, but calling it denatured alcohol might confuse folks. What you really want is plain rubbing alcohol from the drugstore, the 91% kind. Denatured alcohol can sometimes be too harsh and might mess with the finish if you're not super careful. Rubbing alcohol is just strong enough to fix the bloom without as much risk.

nathanl363d ago

Oh man, I learned that the hard way. Used the strong stuff once and basically wiped a finish back to bare wood. Guess I got a little too eager with my "fix.