Has anyone tried E85 (85% Ethanol) for Shellac Flakes?

[Nick Sorenson]

I realize gasoline is a safety concern (explosion/fire hazard, fumes for breathing, etc). I'm not looking for a discussion on safety at this time. Similar to how gas is used to clean carburetor parts etc, it's not made to be used as a cleaner and is of course not 100% safe if one does this. The person using gas for cleaning is doing so accepting a certain degree of risk. If one were to use 85% ethanol / 15% gasoline to mix shellac, obviously some major safety precautions would need to be assumed. But the same would be true of all solvent based finishes (nitrocellulose is gun powder, acetone, xylene, etc, all very flammable with severe fire and explosion potential).

With that said, would it work as in dissolve the flakes, dry at an acceptable rate, have a clear gloss without blushing or defects? Has anyone tried it?

With denatured alcohol getting somewhat scarce and high proof drinking alcohol very expensive, it seems like someone would try it eventually at $2-$3 a gallon.

[Edward Weber]

For shellac, you want a high ethanol content.
The better the quality of the spirit used does make a difference in how the shellac performs, dissolving, application, etc.
https://www.shellac.net/alcohol.html

[Brian Tymchak]

E85 fuel doesn't guarantee 85% ethanol content. There's a pretty large range of alcohol content that qualifies as E85. Here's a link to a DOE page I found to verify.

[Jim Becker]

I also suspect that some or all of the additives that go into gasoline might be somewhat of a contaminate relative to what we typically try to achieve with shellac. If DNA is getting hard to fine in your geography, you may be able to get other products that are sold as reducers for shellac. I believe that Behlen makes something....I totally forget the name. Sometimes DNA is not called DNA and is sold as "fuel".

[Jay Aubuchon]

I believe that Behlen makes something....I totally forget the name.

This perhaps?

Or maybe this?

[Robert LaPlaca]

Behlen Behkol is now Mohawk Shellac Reducer..

Behlen and Mohawk were/are owned by RPM International Inc, I believe the Behlen brand was put to pasture..

[Nick Sorenson]

I wonder why DNA has gotten difficult to find. It used to be in pretty much ANY hardware or big box. As far as EPA or ozone etc, obviously they have no problem with ethanol (to drink).

[Kent A Bathurst]

I get DNA by the gallon at Sherwin-Williams. They have a store nearby. I’d think other paint/coatings stores would have it too, but they don’t sell bolts or refrigerators Kind of a pick your lane thing

[Alan Lightstone]

Interesting. My Home Depot website doesn't show any denatured alcohol. For years I had gotten it at Woodcraft (during the plague), then Home Depot which is much closer. Why is it scarce? Buying the "Green" stuff had higher ethanol content, and lower methanol, so I always bought that. Little hidden secret at the time.

Also, I bought a gallon of 100% lab grade ethanol at the beginning of the plague to make hand sanitizer and have tons of it left. Assuming it's ethanol content went down from 100% to 90% from humidity when opened, it's still better for me than the store bought stuff when I use it for shellac. And, of course, I could make moonshine.

[roger wiegand]

I can't even imagine using enough shellac to bother with this (vs using the Mohawk shellac reducer). I use what I think of as a lot of shellac and I don't go through more than a couple gallons a year. I do use the "fuel" from the borg for cleanup, but I can't imagine dumping expensive shellac flakes into who-knows-what for a solvent.

[Nick Sorenson]

I had seen a video recently that said adding naptha, kerosene, or even mineral oil can help with keeping the pad from sticking. I'd put gasoline in the same category (petroleum) as mineral oil, kerosene, and naptha. So it may not be too far off albeit maybe too much petroleum at 15%. I'm surprised nobody here has tried it.

I have some shellac coming, I will give it a try. I also have some shellac to remove from an old singer sewing table. I'd bet the E85 would cut the old shellac and remove it.

[Stan Calow]

No expert here, but my first thought is that, from experience, gasoline evaporates to leave gums, varnishes, etc., fouling engine parts. So I would expect using it as a solvent would leave some unwanted residue on wood. Anyone disagree?

[Edward Weber]

Gasoline has far too many additives in it to know what it will do when used in this fashion.
With shellac, you want to disolve the slakes/buttons while introducing little else if possible. Nothing like taking a natural finish and mixing it with butane, pentane, isopentane and the BTEX compounds (benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene, and xylenes, just to name a few.

Stick with a jigj quality DNA, your finish will reflect it.

[Nick Sorenson]

Lots of opinions of course on why it will (likely) not work which very well may be the case. Many of the compounds in petroleum are also paint chemicals. Sure, it may not work, but the intent of the thread is to find out if there has been any first hand experience with E85 for dissolving and applying shellac. So far it sounds like no one here has tried it.

I have zero experience with shellac, but lots of experience with NC lacquer and high gloss finishes. I will try it and see what the clarity and gloss look like. I will also buy a quart of DNA and green DNA (if I can find it) for comparison.

[Nick Sorenson]

So far I've done / learned the following:
1. E85 can be all the way up to 51% gasoline and is not necessarily 85% Ethanol
2. The E85 I picked up smells like it does have a high percentage of gasoline in it. I'd think more than 15%.
3. So far I've placed a drop of it on a worn spot on a piece of furniture and it dissolved the old shellac to a gummy texture. This dried similarly to how it looked before it was wetted. Rubbing Alcohol also disolved the old finish but dried to a white chalky finish. The E85 seems to dissolve and dry old shellac cleanly.
4. E85 melts fresh shellac flakes nicely.

Tomorrow I will clean a section of the furniture piece with naptha and apply the dissolved shellac.