Qualasole, Pint

I am a far cry from a professional finisher. I am what is called a garage woodworker, but I have a lot of experience in finishing and I have used a wide variety of finishes on all common types of wood. I do not refinish old furniture. I do use lacquer and shellac on a wide variety of my projects.This product is sort of mysterious. The instructions for use, even on line, are minimal. It has a lot of foul odor, although no worse than lacquer but much worse than the water based finishes. The problem I have had is building a finish to a deep look. Even after several "coats" the finish looks like one coat of shellac (of course, it is shellac). It is very quick to apply.I use Bullseye shellac a lot, both spray and brush on, with great results. I think this product does not compete well with regular shellac. The normal run of the mill shellac builds a good deep coat quickly and the smell dissipates quickly (alcohol smell). The lacquer smell hangs around and this smell is stronger although it does go away pretty fast. I have had very very good results with spray shellac by Bullseye.Thus, I recommend going with normal shellac available at your local hardware store. Shellac at the local store will be cheaper as well. AD2

I used this product on a 112 y/o sewing machine cabinet, on which the old shellac finish was crazed and crinkled. I applied with a "fad" I made from cotton batting wrapped in a muslin cloth, using small, circular strokes. First application yielded pleasing results--and this was my first wood restoration project. This product softens the old finish, and allows you to redistribute it on the surface. I used several coats--but, now, every time I walk past that cabinet, I have to "pet" it. The surface is like stroking butter. I really like this stuff!

Awesome French polish and rub! Easy to use, saves a lot of time. Only two or three coats versus many many the old way. Thirty minutes between coats. Overnight before final car wax buff. Qualasole is now my method for guitar French polish. Be sure to use in well ventilated area.

This is just the right blend of shellac and other ingredients to make a great french polish finish on furniture. Great product.

Great for French Polishing.

French polishing is a finish technique that is rapidly vanishing. This product is perfect for a deep beautiful finish.

Qualasole is one if my absolute favorite finishing products. Use it for varnish touch up and polishing. Don't leave home without it!!

HOW DO YOU KNOW when you’re using high quality shellac?Color. This is super-blond wax-free shellac of the clearest cleanest quality. In only two or three coats you start to see mirror-like gloss. Even after forty coats, the color is still light, clear and glass like.I ran my tests on fiddle-back maple because of its light color and dichromatic or “chatoyance.”Another way to know shellac quality is the quick build and drying time between coats.A properly moistened pad will deliver gossamer thin coats of GOOD shellac that seem to evaporate in front of your eyes. In fact, experienced polishers call this "the vapor trail." Part of that is good technique, but even with a practiced hand you won't get that vapor trail without good quality shellac and the right mixture or "cut." From long experience with violins, I'd wager this is a one pound cut. It goes on smooth, wrinkle-free and builds VERY fast!This product qualifies on all counts as a superior shellac polish.Some reviewers comment on the smell. That's turpentine. Since I have experience with artist's oil paint, it's easy to recognize that odor. If you are sensitive to turps or find that smell intolerable, then both oil painting or this product are not for you.WHY do they add turpentine?In traditional French polishing, as taught by my father who learned it in 1912, we occasionally add a drop of oil to the polishing pad.[Note: the polishing pad is sometimes called a "rubber" or "tampon" or "muñeca" depending on who teaches you and where you learned. I’ll just say, “pad.”]The oil allows the pad to glide without sticking. Some purists revile that practice since they want ONLY shellac and no oil on their work. But regardless of perfect technique, we will sometimes get a sticky pad because of temperature, humidity and the age of the shellac.Well, that makes the oil trick VERY useful! However, there is an easier way!Although I have been French polishing violins since age twelve (fifty years ago) I only recently learned that we can add turpentine to the "cut" instead of using a single drop of oil every few minutes. Since turpentine is an oily solvent, it automatically provides lubricity without need for constant re-lubrication. Also, every time you put a drop of oil on your pad (the old fashioned way) it changes the feel and sheen, so you must slightly adjust your application technique. Yeah, I know how to do that, but I’d prefer it if I did not need to. With turpentine, you don’t need to add that extra level of complexity.In other words, the turpentine makes this polish VERY convenient!It makes French polishing SO easy, I have taught several abject beginners to do it with this stuff in just a few minutes. Because of Behlen's unique formula, with the perfect one-pound cut, super high quality shellac and the small amount of turpentine, this stuff is VERY user friendly. I would almost say, "idiot proof."Having extolled the virtues of this product, some might wonder why they shouldn’t make their own polishing mixture. Well, you should! I do that most of the time.It is somewhat more economical to use dry shellac flakes, dissolve them in alcohol for a day or two, and then add turpentine if you want. I also prefer potable alcohol such as Everclear to dissolve shellac because it isn’t poisonous.[In their never ending efforts to extort more taxes from you slaves, our idiotic government requires that paint and finishing products use “denatured alcohol.”“Denatured” simply means they added POISON to it so people can’t drink it without going blind or dying. That way they don’t charge booze tax, which is roughly TWO THOUSAND PERCENT of the material cost in most alcoholic drinks. A liter of good whiskey would only cost 85 cents if there were no taxes, advertising or fancy bottles!Regular potable (drinkable) alcohol is OK for shellac so long as it does not have too much water. Everclear qualifies because of its high proof.]But mixing is inconvenient. It takes AT LEAST one full day to dissolve even two ounces of shellac.[TIP: Grind shellac flakes in a coffee grinder to pulverize them into dust. That dramatically reduces the time needed to thoroughly dissolve shellac. Don’t worry! Shellac will not kill you. You eat it all the time every day, in very small quantities. It’s in many foods, especially candy, processed cheeses and pills. When it’s dry, it cleans up with water very easily. Just don’t use alcohol to clean it. Then it never comes off. ]So although you save a little bit of money mixing your own, you have to wait a day (or more) before you can use your polish, even with my coffee grinder trick. Weekend woodworkers do not have that luxury. We very often are doing little repairs, or small projects we want to get done FAST. For those many instances, a premixed shellac is ideal.Zinsers Sealcoat is also a good wax free shellac. So, if you can’t get this stuff, that’s another option. But I suggest you try both products to see for yourself. There is a marked difference between SealCoat and this professional French polish.You don’t need to “cut” this stuff. It’s ready to go from the bottle. SealCoat is a two pound cut and not ideal for French polishing from the can. If you know what you are doing, yes, you can use it straight, but it is MUCH easier as a one-pound cut.Qualasol already has the perfect one-pound cut and add-mixture of turpentine, so not only is it user friendly, it will last for two or three years in the bottle. Regular premixed shellac, dissolved only with alcohol like SealCoat, has a shelf life of about six months before it becomes “tacky.”You can test this for yourself by putting a few drops of the polish ( or sealcoat) onto a level flat glass surface. You can also use an old CD... anything that’s very flat and smooth like glass. Let the product dry overnight. If it leveled out and dried hard, then it is still good. If it seems thick and is sticky when you push your fingernail through it, then it has gone bad.[Sometimes people have trouble with French polishing simply because they are using cheap premixed OLD shellac from a can.]Of the twenty-five or thirty quart sized cans of SealCoat I’ve bought, more than half of them were already expired from sitting on store shelves so long. I have found that the GALLON size SealCoat is always fresher. That may be because only professional floor finishers use such large quantities, so the big-box stores that stock SealCoat in gallons go through it faster. Therefore they replenish inventory more often. Whereas, the small quart cans are used by hobbyists who don’t need as much and don’t buy it often. So quart cans of somewhat arcane products like shellac sit on the shelves for years.Well, buying a GALLON is OK if you use a LOT of shellac. I seldom need more than a few ounces for my projects. That’s why I prefer to buy smaller quantities, so long as I know it is fresh.This unique formula, because of the high-quality and add-mixture, stays perfectly usable MUCH longer. If you buy it online from any large vendor, you are practically guaranteed a superior fresher product.It’s convenient... no waiting for shellac to dissolve.It’s super high quality... super blond, one pound cut, extremely fast build.It’s has the unique turpentine addition, which is smelly I grant, but REALLY makes this easy to apply, even if you are new to French polishing.Another VERY handy trick with this product is, because it comes in a plastic bottle, you can simply SQUEEZE the bottle when you close it. That removes any excess air and allows you to store this stuff without it spoiling. It will last for YEARS instead of months.Now, it is possible to fill large cans with nitrogen to prevent oxidization or “skinning.” Professional paint stores sell cans of compressed nitrogen for just that purpose.However, it is FAR more convenient to just squeeze this little bottle and put it away. That takes only seconds and requires no other product or operation.Sorry if I wrote too much info here, but I sincerely LOVE this product. Since I have decades of experience with all manner of wood finishing, but especially French polishing on violins, I thought some readers would find this useful.Even if you already know how to French polish with the best of us, you owe it to yourself to try some of this stuff. I can’t say the difference is like “night and day” since IF you already know these tips and tricks, AND have practiced, AND mix your own shellac, you don’t really need this.However, if you hate measuring and mixing, if you just need convenient polish for repairs and small projects, if you don’t want to wait for shellac to dissolve, or if you’re tired of inconsistent results with off-the-shelf shellac, TRY THIS.It really is a superior, super high-quality, unique, convenient and totally professional product.ONE LAST TIP:Anyone using ANY shellac finish will find the surface occasionally gets sticky and unreceptive to more coats. If fact, I think another reviewer here had that problem.That IS NOT the product. It is the user.Whenever you notice your polish starting to stick, STOP. Let that coat dry for twenty or thirty minutes, then come back to work.Stickiness is caused by putting on TOO MUCH TOO FAST.Shellac will automatically go on in super thin coats, assuming you have good shellac, the right cut, and a little lubrication on your pad. Because the alcohol evaporates so quickly, we can apply coat after coat in one session... so long as each coat is thin.The instant you try to rush and use too much, you’ll meet with frustration and failure. That is ALWAYS true, even with the best quality stuff like this, or that which you mix yourself.So please read any critique of any shellac with this knowledge. Recognize amateur criticism for what it is.I grew up in a violin shop and was taught by a master. So, no brag, just fact. I KNOW how to French polish and KNOW when to STOP.GO SLOWLY. Allow the shellac to “do its thing.” Don’t force it. Apply many fast light super-thin coats. You don’t save time by rushing. French polishing is already VERY fast, if you do it right.That one tip will save you YEARS of frustration if you just remember it, no matter what shellac you use.Happy Polishing! ;-)