A friend of mine was asking me about a piece of furniture that she wants to paint. It was purchased unfinished and she had someone put on shellac many years ago. Now she wants to paint it. Not surprisingly, she didn't know if they used dewaxed shellac. So some questions:

--does the shellac have to be dewaxed to paint over it (she didn't say what kind of paint)?

--is there a way of determining if a shellac finish has wax in it?

--can you put dewaxed shellac over a wax-containing shellac finish, or will the dewaxed shellac that's applied dissolve the finish below and still create a waxed shellac finish, though perhaps with less wax?

--what will work here, short of stripping the shellac finish?

Rob