The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California
Coloring Finishing And Painting Wood
Shellac has some rather outstanding advantages as an undercoat. Some of the advantages of shellac as an undercoat are: it provides a very smooth nonabsorbent foundation; it dries hard quicker than most varnishes; it sands very easily to a very smooth and clean surface; it does not stain or darken the surfaces as much as is done by varnish if white shellac is used; and, altho thin in films, it seals well and prevents the varnish coats from sinking into the filler or the wood itself.
Moisture or water ruins a shellac finish by turning it white. It is necessary, therefore, to omit shellac coatings on all outside exposure finishes, on window sills, and especially on floors. Coats of waterproof varnish will blister badly over shellac, yet stand up well without the shellac coating if treated with boiling water.
For a high degree of waterproofness shellac should be omitted entirely, and a coat of quick-drying varnish may be applied directly over the other undercoats, Which should be very dry or they may be somewhat "lifted" by the varnish coating.
Shellac undercoats should always be very carefully sanded before coats of varnish are applied over them. Careful sanding seems to improve the adhesion of varnish coats to shellac undercoats, and it also provides a smooth and better foundation for the finishing coats.
Blond And Bleached Wood Finishes
345. Light-Toned Wood Finishes.—Fad and fancy, always in search for something new, has stimulated a variety of light finishes produced by bleaching the natural tones of such woods as maple, walnut, and mahogany particularly. Such a finish may be for a light effect; or, sometimes the wood is restained in attractive tones which give the appearance in color of new and interesting woods that may harmonize with some much-desired room-color scheme. Pale woods, such as hard maple, may be bleached nearly white, leaving only a tint of a grayed cream color which finishes in an unusually light tone for wood. When bleached woods are not stained in finishing, some of the new popular, very light effects are produced, such as blond maple, which is often called platinum maple; or, if walnut is used, the new, bleached finish may be known as platinum walnut, or may have some other new trade name. Mahogany, when bleached and finished in a light effect, whitens and is transformed into a blond or platinum mahogany. All of these bleached woods are much lighter than the natural woods and give a pleasing, dainty brightness that is unusual in natural-wood furniture.
Staining bleached wood-s is another method of obtaining new and different colors that are usually lighter in effect than the natural woods. Bleached walnut may be stained, and the finishes produced called "sun tan" or "gray onyx"; or bleached mahogany may be stained and filled with a brown filler, and lo! we have a "faded mahogany" finish that is different and attractive.
