Shellac residue

Jewelry Discussion
1

How do you remove shellac residue? I made an eternity bracelet,
obviously with lots of openings for to hide shellac residue.

It took 6 days in an alcohol bad before it was clean. (I warmed the
alcoholtill about 40 degree Celsius, I use the alcohol sold in the
supermarkets)

There must be an faster way.

Normally I use jet set from Rio or similar products, but that is a
nightmareif it creeps in hollow areas to get it out

Kind regards
Peter

2 
It took 6 days in an alcohol bad before it was clean. (I warmed
the alcoholtill about 40 degree Celsius, I use the alcohol sold in
the supermarkets)

wrong alcohol. Too dilute, and it’s usually rubbing alcohol,
(isopropyl).

Shellac this better with ethanol or methanol. Instead of the grocery
store, go to the hardware store and get a can of denatured alcohol.
Sold variously as “stove fuel” for small camping stoves, or as
“denatured alcohol”, or as shellac thinner. You don’t need to warm it
beyond room temp, though it may work a little faster. But if you have
an ultrasonic, put the bracelet in a beaker with that alcohol in the
ultrasonic. Cover to reduce fumes. The ultrasonic energy and the
right solvent will take the shellac out in minutes, not days. At
most, I’d guess 10 or 155 minutes would do it with an ultrasonic. If
just soaking, might take an hour or so.

Peter

3

I use denatured alcohol in a baby food jar suspended in the
ultrasonic.

Knocks it off in about five min.

4

I think denatured alcohol took it off for me in minutes. It may have
been acetone otherwise bit I think it was alcohol. I didn’t heat it,
just soaked it. The alcohol you have is it denatured.

5

This is an easy procedure. put your alcohol in a small glass beaker
with your item. now place this beaker into your Soni-Cleaner & turn
it on. go for a coffee or tea. voila it’s now cleaned. how simple is
thate? 10 minutes. tops!!!..:>)

I use only “Methyl Hydrate” you can buy this liquid in Home-Depot at
the paint section. keep the lid slightly loose in the beaker. You
gotta have room for the vapours to escape.

Gerry Lewy

6

use denatured alchohol, did you burn it onto the piece? I think
denatured works better than rubbing alchohol.

7

Peter- You need to use denatured alcohol. The grocery store stuff is
70% isopropyl and just doesn’t do the trick.

I buy denatured alcohol by the gallon at any good paint or home
improvement store. That’s where I get my acetone too.

Have fun and make lots of jewelry.

Jo Haemer
timothywgreen.com

8

Denatured alcohol from a hardware or paint or art supply store- not
rubbing alcohol (isopropyl) it will never work…rer

9 
I use the alcohol sold in the supermarkets

Which could be anything, but is likely to be only 70% isopropanol or
denatured ethanol. You’ll probably have better results by getting
denatured alcohol from your local home improvement or paint store.

Al Balmer

10

Hi Peter, I really don’t use shellac much anymore either, but used
it exclusively for a lot of years. Try denatured alcohol, that will
work better (get it at a hardware store), in a closed container in a
basket in a hot sonic. That gets it dissolved pretty quick. Another
good idea is to have a cheap microwave that you never use for food in
the shop. I have submerged pieces with shellac in a beaker less than
half full of denatured alcohol and boiled it briefly when pressed for
time. I put one of those concave watch glass covers on top of the
beaker, still probably not safe but it works fast andit’s never
resulted in a catastrophe. I really like thermo-loc thermoplastic. I
boil water in a beaker in my cheap mic-ee to soften it rather than a
heat gun or microwaving directly. If you wait until it’s starting to
set upand isn’t sticky you don’t have as much trouble removing it
from recesses. But nothing is perfect. The advantage of shellac is
you can dissolve it like you’re doing, the downside is it’s brittle.
Mark

11

Try denatured alcohol, from the hardware store. It’s a lot stronger
than drugstore isopropyl, and you don’t have to heat it.

Andrew Werby
Juxtamorph.com

12

Thanks guys,

I should have asked this question a long time ago, never realised
that thereare differences in alcohol, as soon I know what denatured
alcohol is in Spanish,(what should not be difficult I hope to find
out) I will be of to the local paint shop.

I will try it in my ultrasonic, 5 minutes compared with 5 days
messing about! what would I, we do without orchid?

Greetings from a very sunny day on the Costa del sol place to be,
Marbella, Spain

Kind regards
Peter