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My old boss in Tacoma always said to use a 50/50 mix of denatured alcohol and shellac for a quick touch-up.
I tried it on a 1920s oak dresser with a small water ring last week, and it just made the spot look cloudy and worse. Ended up having to strip and redo the whole top with a proper french polish. Has anyone found a better fix for those white water marks on old shellac?
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bennett.luna5mo ago
Honestly I've never had luck with those alcohol tricks either. Cloudy spots are the worst but sometimes they fade on their own if you just leave them alone for a few weeks. Is it really worth a full strip and refinish over one small ring? That sounds like a ton of work for a tiny problem.
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troy_gibson433mo ago
Bet you could leave it alone for a few weeks and then forget about it until you move the lamp six months later and just live with it.
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emma3495mo ago
Yeah, leaving it alone can work if the cloudiness is just moisture trapped in the finish. But if that alcohol mix messed with the shellac itself, it's cooked. I've seen those rings go from bad to permanent after a failed fix. A full strip is overkill for one ring, but sometimes a light sand and a fresh coat of shellac over just the top is the only way to get it looking right again.
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