Customer Reviews for Zinsser 5 gal. Amber Shellac Traditional Finish and Sealer

A wonderful finish

For my purposes of refinishing 60yr old floors where significant portions were covered by wall to wall carpet ruining the finish, I found the Zinsser shellac to be superb for refinishing entire floors and spot repairing smaller areas to where I was able to match/blend to the existing undamaged finish. The shellac provided the control to vary the application thickness so that I could restore my floors to the original warm amber color which I was unable to replicate with any stain combinations. Then after the shellac application, I followed it up Zinsser's clear top coat sealer followed by semi-gloss polyurethane. In the photo I attached showing my foyer, notice the different wood floor areas of a closet (right) that was not carpeted versus the hallway (bottom) which was carpeted and needed to be sanded. Additionally, notice the closet threshold and the saddle transition at the start of the hallway are both new, unfinished oak pieces. I was able to make all of the different flooring match using the Zinsser Amber Shellac.

This is absolutely my favorite sealer. I absolutely love it!

Goes on very easily with a natural fiber brush designed for oil based paints / stains. First coat does a great job re-moisturizing the wood and then subsequent coats result in an ever-deepening gloss and shine. I used this to restore original 1880 heart pine trim in a window bay that was terribly neglected for decades. About 4 coats brought the sheen and color back to a near exact match for the original hand-applied shellac throughout the house. I will definitely be purchasing this again!

I am building a small cabin on our lake lot, and my interior is finished with knotty pine tongue & groove boards. I wanted a nice, warm finish on the wood, but doing sealer/stain/poly on such a large amount of wood would have taken forever. Using shellac was suggested to me, but I had always heard shellac was hard to work with. Nothing could be further from the truth. This stuff was a joy to work with I used a medium nap roller, and rolled on the shellac straight from the can. Rolling can leave some roller marks or "dimpling" in the finish, so I drug out the shellac with a relatively dry bush immediately after rolling. Shellac dries extremely fast (like in about 15 minutes) so you have to work quickly. This produces a nice finish. The wood develops an beautiful warm 'glow' and a moderate sheen. Not too shiny, but enough to notice. I put on two coats, with no sanding between. A couple things to watch out for... If you have a large surface, try to do the whole surface at one time. If you do half a wall, then come back and do the other half, there can be a noticeable edge where the two parts meet.A light sanding and re-application will take care of it Also, keep your area WELL ventilated. The solvent in shellac is alcohol, not only is it very flammable, but you can get quite the buzz off the fumes. Clean up is easy, just make sure you have plenty of denatured alcohol. Shellac won't protect wood as well as poly, but its easy to repair marks and scratches. If you want a reasonable amount of protection, stunning looks and easy application, this could be just the product for you.

Use the shellac to help protect the wood from the elements and to protect the chickens from ingesting undesirable chemicals. Chickens peck at and eat anything..

Mixes easily, gives excellent results, adds just the right amount of tint to work piece. It also dries quickly. It gave me the results I was looking for.

First order damaged by UPS. Had to be reordered,so took long time to receive product.

Greatest way to get a waterproofing in the world with a great amount of water

Can be recoated without sanding. Useful in the process of restoring(will never look as it once did) distressed 125 year old oak molding after removing layers of paint. I stained the wood, then a thinned (25% alcohol) coat of of shellac, to partially fill the grain, then painstaking coverup/darkening of old paint that could not be removed, stain again. Then 2 coats Shellac undiluted.

Firstly, I love shellac. I am amazed that a shellac finish can be repaired and rejuvenated with a little denatured alcohol and some elbow grease. In addition, Amber shellac is gorgeous, warming most pieces unlike any polyurethane. I’ve been gently refinishing a 150-year-old accounting desk, and the shellac has been foolproof, as well as protective and stunningly attractive on the old walnut.

I had replace old shed doors so used for inside to go close to old color and seal for wood. It was not perfect match but the color is great for the old style wood color.

It’s is a great product for giving new or old furniture that antique look while providing a great seal for the wood.

I needed six gallons of Amber Shellac to complete a project which required ten gallons in all (no it's not a hat!). I was happy to find that Home Depot had the lowest price for Amber Shellac anywhere, so I bought out all three stores in my vicinity... 24 cans. For an unknown reason they had discontinued the 1 gallon item, replacing it with the 1 quart item. I shouldn't be complaining about the price, since I couldn't complete the project without these 24 quarts, but it's disappointing that I had to pay 2.6 times as much as I would have paid for 6 gallons.

Really makes my Sapele “pop”, bringing out all that grain and deep color. Unfortunately, it does darken an already dark wood; but the clear doesn’t bring out the same depth as amber.

Shellac is amazing. It covers raw wood with a beautiful finish. It will cover water-base paints as well as oil-base paints and both paint types will adhere to Shellac. Old shellac can be rejuvenated by wiping it with denatured alcohol and top-coated with new shellac if you want a shiny finish.

Nothing compares to old traditional finishes when you are trying to match one

Best Shellac around. The price increase was not well received.

Zinnser shellac is still the best non toxic coating for floors and woodwork, nothing beats it for bringing out the beauty in wood !