Sometimes, this natural color and finish can be removed from shellacked wood by either sanding, denatured alcohol or both.
You can either use denatured alcohol or a sander if there is no shellac.
If the coating must be completely removed in order to apply another varnish or paint, I suggest sanding the wood and then using denatured alcohol.
This is the step-by-step guide you will need.
Step 1 – Get ready
Preparing the space in which you are going to work is the first thing to do.
You need to ventilate your room as denatured alcohol can cause lung damage if inhaled over a prolonged period.
Before you begin to remove wood floor shellac, there are a few things that you should know. These are:
Denatured alcohol clean mop
Step 2 – Wash your hands thoroughly
Make sure to sponge or mop the whole floor before you start sanding or using alcohol.
Make a strong solution with hot water and detergent for old floors that have been contaminated by dirt, dust, or soot.
Wood floors coated with shellac are usually protected by a wax sealer. You need to find a detergent that can remove the protective wax layer.
Move on to the next step after cleaning the floors and drying them.
Step 3 – Sand your floor
Use an orbital sander to lightly sand hardwood floors using sandpaper ranging from 120 to 220 grits.
Maple and other wood materials are extremely hard so you will need to use 24- to 36-grit if your maple has had a heavy finish and it hasn’t been sanded, refinished or repaired for a long time.
When sanding or stripping wood floorboards of shellac, it is important to divide the floor with masking tape into 4-foot squares.
You can focus on small sections at a given time, allowing you to concentrate on them separately and not causing any problems.
Step 4: Apply denatured alcohol
After sanding, spread denatured alcohol evenly on the wood floor section. Use a rag or paintbrush to apply it.
Allow the solvent to work for approximately two to three minutes.
Then, use a paint scraper (or a plastic scraper) to scrape as much of the finish off as possible.
Even if you have chevron or V groove flooring patterns, take the time to remove any dissolved shellac.
Step 5 – Use Steel Wool to scrub your skin
Next, scrub the floorboards using a pad of fine 000 Steel wool.
Use rubbing alcohol to soak the steel wool pad and then work along the grain.
Remember that steel wool alone won’t remove the shellac. To make it work, you need to dip it in alcohol or another thinner.
It can cause streaking if you scrub the boards.
Step 6 – Get rid of the residues
Finally, use a dampened alcohol-soaked cloth to wipe down your flooring.
This will remove all residue from the floor section that you are currently working on.
Now you can remove all of the shellac finish from the wood floor section.
Now it’s time for you to move on to the next section. Repeat the process for the remaining sections.
