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Spilled a whole quart of shellac on a customer's original 1920s floor
I was finishing a dresser in this old house in Pasadena, and my mixing cup tipped over, dumping the stuff right onto the original heart pine. I grabbed a rag and some denatured alcohol, but it started to set up fast. Anyone have a better method for a shellac spill on a finished floor?
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the_linda5mo ago
Why are you even working with shellac on top of a historic floor in the first place? That seems like asking for trouble. Honestly, the denatured alcohol was probably the best you could do in a panic, and trying some fancy method might just make it worse. Sometimes you just have to live with the mistake and let the customer deal with the repair, right? What makes you think there's some magic fix for that kind of spill?
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sandra2035mo ago
But you can't just leave a client with a damaged floor.
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leelewis5mo ago
Tbh, I had this happen on an old fir floor. The rag and alcohol just smears it once it starts to set. What saved me was a plastic scraper, the kind for windows. I gently pushed the big blob off, then used a fresh rag soaked in alcohol just to wipe the thin leftover film. You have to work quick and not rub. It left a dull spot but no thick shellac crust.
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