Lubricant for wet sanding shellac with micro-mesh?

[Rick Edwardson]

I've got a project on which I'm applying a shellac finish. I bought some micro-mesh sanding disks to smooth and buff/rub it out to a gloss finish. In my experience dry sanding shellac always clogs the sand paper, and I don't want to clog the pricey micro-mesh, so I thought I'd wet sand. But what do you use for the lube? I've read that mineral spirits will cause separation of the padded backing from the micro-mesh sanding paper. So what to use? Is soapy water okay to use on shellac? Thanks in advance!

[Scott Holmes]

Mineral OIL will work best. That's traditionally what's use when dong a French Polish.

[Rick Edwardson]

Thanks Scott. Is that drug store mineral oil straight from the bottle, or something else? Do you just wipe it off when done?

[Randy Goodhew]

Use Mineral Oil or a non-drying vegetable oil such as Olive Oil (extra pure), Camellia Oil or Canola Oil (rapeseed oil or Kataneabura).
Mineral oil is my preferred choice, although I also use the Japanese technique with Kataneabura.

Note: Shellac will dissolve in water that is alkaline, such as solutions that contain real soap, borax or ammonia.
That is why we can clean shellac brushes with diluted solutions of water and laundry ammonia.

Know-Say not Hearsay. I'm a chemist with ties to the paints and coatings industry, and a 40+ year woodworker.

[sheldon pettit]

Your better off using plain water and wet or dry sandpaper. Keep your micromesh for lacquers or urethanes etc., There is really no goodreason or need to sand shellac, that's a waste of time/material/and money.The high polish of shellac can be had when using the initial pad/rubber/tampon applier that contains a small amount of 4/6F pumice and oil, that will keep the surface smooth when friction polishing as the pad dries out.