Latest / Repcolite Home Improvement Show / From Pink Walls to Bug Juice: Real Painting Advice & the Wild Truth About Shellac

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From Pink Walls to Bug Juice: Real Painting Advice & the Wild Truth About Shellac · Repcolite Home Improvement Show

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Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, thanks for tuning in. You're listening to Home
0:04
Speaker 1: in Progress, sponsored by recol Like Paints and Benjamin Moore,
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Speaker 1: and coming up on the show this week, We're going
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Speaker 1: to cover a lot of ground, but some of it,
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Speaker 1: some of that ground is going to have to be
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Speaker 1: a surprise. And I know that's maybe kind of dumb,
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Speaker 1: but I want to talk about something related to my
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Speaker 1: Winter wood Shop series that I started last week, but
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Speaker 1: I don't want to tell you what it is because
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Speaker 1: the intro for it is kind of fun and if
0:30
Speaker 1: I spill the beans now, it won't be as fun.
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Speaker 1: You'll know what's coming. So I'm going to keep it
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Speaker 1: a surprise and just ask you to stay tuned based
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Speaker 1: on my word that it's going to be worth it.
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Speaker 1: So that's coming up, But right now, I want to
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Speaker 1: jump into a conversation that I had the other day
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Speaker 1: with a young couple who are buying their very first home,
0:49
Speaker 1: all right, very very first home, new homeowners. That they
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Speaker 1: were talking to me and they had a ton of questions,
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Speaker 1: absolute ton of questions. Now, both had some experience with pain,
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Speaker 1: but never really painting from the point of view, you know,
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Speaker 1: where they were the ones picking the products and the
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Speaker 1: colors and all of that. You know, it was always
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Speaker 1: at other people's houses. They'd show up to help somebody
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Speaker 1: and they'd just be handed some paint and some supplies
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Speaker 1: and some tools and they'd be set to work. Now
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Speaker 1: they're driving the project, and they were unsure about a
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Speaker 1: number of things. Now, the questions they had were great,
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Speaker 1: and I'm going to move through as many of them
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Speaker 1: as i can because I really think it's going to
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Speaker 1: help a lot of people. The questions weren't just nubie questions.
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Speaker 1: They were really good all around paint questions. For example,
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Speaker 1: the first question that they had was this, they bought
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Speaker 1: the house and one of the rooms has you know,
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Speaker 1: bright pink walls. It's not terrible. I saw pictures. I
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Speaker 1: kind of like it, but it's not what they want
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Speaker 1: in that space. And as they were starting, you know,
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Speaker 1: starting to talk through new color options, they both leaned
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Speaker 1: towards something much darker. So the question that they were
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Speaker 1: asking was eventually this, a wont a darker color hide
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Speaker 1: that bright pink better than a lighter or a mid
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Speaker 1: tone color. You know, So they're choosing that darker color
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Speaker 1: because they're thinking it's going to hide that bright pink better,
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Speaker 1: will it well? It turns out the answer to that
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Speaker 1: is complicated. And here's why. Most lighter colors and mid
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Speaker 1: tone pink colors are tinted from bases that already contain
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Speaker 1: a good amount of white pigment, specifically titanium dioxide. Now
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Speaker 1: that white pigment in those bases, that does a lot
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Speaker 1: of the heavy lifting when it comes to hiding what's underneath.
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Speaker 1: You know, really dark colors. We tend to think those
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Speaker 1: are going to cover and hide really well, but really
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Speaker 1: dark colors are quite different. They're tinted from what's called,
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Speaker 1: for lack of a better phrase, what's called a clear base,
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Speaker 1: and that base doesn't contain that white pigment, that titanium
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Speaker 1: dioxide that I talked about. If that were in there,
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Speaker 1: we couldn't get them to the depth of color that
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Speaker 1: we're trying to get them to. It has to be
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Speaker 1: out of there so that the colorants can do the work,
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Speaker 1: and that means that the hiding power of a darker
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Speaker 1: color is going to rely pretty heavily, if not exclusively,
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Speaker 1: on the colorants themselves. Now, the good news is that
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Speaker 1: colorant technology, like everything else, has improved dramatically. You know,
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Speaker 1: Benjamin Moore's gen X colorance and the newer system that
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Speaker 1: we use at Repcholite both feature high hiding colorance. Now
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Speaker 1: because of that, dark colors hide way better today than
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Speaker 1: they ever have before. But and this is important, not
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Speaker 1: all dark colors are going to hide equally well. So
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Speaker 1: a vivid blue or a strong red often has less
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Speaker 1: hiding power than a deeper, more complex color like a
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Speaker 1: navy or a burgundy. You know, some colorants simply don't
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Speaker 1: hide as well as others, and reds in particular are
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Speaker 1: notoriously challenging. When those reds are blended into darker, more
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Speaker 1: muted colors using other colorants, hiding improves. So while a
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Speaker 1: darker color can hide a bright pink better than a
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Speaker 1: mid tone, it's not a guarantee. It really is going
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Speaker 1: to depend on the specific color that you choose. And
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Speaker 1: that's why the real answer here isn't just about picking
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Speaker 1: the right color, It's about following the right process. It's
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Speaker 1: a situation where a primer really can make a huge difference.
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Speaker 1: You know, tint primer to gray, for example, can neutralize
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Speaker 1: that bright pink before you ever apply your finished coat,
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Speaker 1: and that makes whatever color you end up choosing behave
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Speaker 1: the way that it's supposed to, and paint choice is
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Speaker 1: another thing that you should consider. You know, the paint
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Speaker 1: choice matters. Products like Benjamin Moore's Aura, for example, they're
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Speaker 1: engineered for extremely high hiding power. Repcollites Optima is another
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Speaker 1: excellent product when it comes to hiding. So if you're
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Speaker 1: painting over a strong color, you know, and you want
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Speaker 1: to do everything you can to minimize coats and frustration,
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Speaker 1: it's absolutely worth asking about, you know, one of those
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Speaker 1: higher end products, and Repcollites Optima comes at a great
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Speaker 1: price point, so definitely something to look into if you're
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Speaker 1: dealing with those funky colors, you know, something really bright.
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Speaker 1: The big takeaway in all of this, you know, this
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Speaker 1: particular question is this, Questions like this one don't usually
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Speaker 1: have a one size fits all answer. You know, it'd
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Speaker 1: be really nice if we could just you know, you
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Speaker 1: ask the question and here's the straight up answer. But
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Speaker 1: there's always so many other questions that have to be
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Speaker 1: asked and answered before you really can settle on what's
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Speaker 1: the right path for a given situation. And because of that,
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Speaker 1: you know the best results are going to come from
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Speaker 1: stopping out at any Repcolite and talking to us about
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Speaker 1: the color that you want to cover over. You know,
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Speaker 1: what are you dealing with, Bring us some pictures, show
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Speaker 1: us what you're working against, you know, show us the
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Speaker 1: color you want to get to, the color you want
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Speaker 1: to bring into that space, and then from that we
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Speaker 1: can help you figure out what products and what steps
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Speaker 1: you need to take to get there most efficiently. So
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Speaker 1: first step, stop out at a Repcolite store and talk
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Speaker 1: through your exact situation with us. That's going to help
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Speaker 1: us figure out if you need primer, tinted primer, you
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Speaker 1: know what product to use. All of that, all right.
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Speaker 1: The second question they had had to do with the
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Speaker 1: kitchen backsplash. It was a tile backsplash, but they really
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Speaker 1: didn't like it, and since replacing tiles a pretty big project,
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Speaker 1: they wondered if there was a way they could just
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Speaker 1: paint it, you know, for now, just to get them
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Speaker 1: by until they were ready to tackle a full replacement
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Speaker 1: down the road. Well, the short answer here is, yeah,
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Speaker 1: you can paint the tile. It's not a permanent solution,
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Speaker 1: and you may need to touch it up from time
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Speaker 1: to time to keep it looking good, but if you
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Speaker 1: do it right, it can absolutely work and buy you
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Speaker 1: some time. The key is the primer. You want something
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Speaker 1: that's going to truly bond to those slick surfaces, and
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Speaker 1: for that I really like to recommend sticks from Insulects
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Speaker 1: Stix sticks from Insulects. It's one of the best bonding
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Speaker 1: primers I've ever used, especially on tough to paint surfaces
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Speaker 1: like tile. So start with a thorough cleaning using TSP
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Speaker 1: tri sodium phosphate or a good degreaser like crudcutter. Clean
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Speaker 1: the tile well, rinse it well, and if you do
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Speaker 1: want a lightly scuff sand that's fine, just make sure
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Speaker 1: you do it after the cleaning, and then make sure
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Speaker 1: you wipe everything down after you've scuff standed with a
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Speaker 1: damp rag. Once it's dry, prime with sticks, and then
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Speaker 1: topcoat with a high quality paint, probably in an eggshell
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Speaker 1: or a satin finish so it's washable. Good options are
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Speaker 1: going to include Benjamin Moore Regal Select scuff X Advance
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Speaker 1: or Repcollites Optima. You know, any of those would work well,
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Speaker 1: and there are other options out there as well. Just
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Speaker 1: stop in and ask about it. This is going to
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Speaker 1: work well for backsplashes, not for wet areas. Like shower surrounds.
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Speaker 1: So keep that in mind. Those were just the first
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Speaker 1: two questions that they had. They had more, and we're
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Speaker 1: going to get to those right after. This Home and
7:14
Speaker 1: Progress is brought to you by repco Like Paints and
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Speaker 1: Benjamin Moore. You know, people often think of paint as
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Speaker 1: just another line item on the project's supply list. But
7:22
Speaker 1: here's the thing. Everything you do, every hour of prep,
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Speaker 1: every stroke of the brush, all comes down to the
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Speaker 1: quality of the paint. The paint is the project. Make
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Speaker 1: sure it's the best. We're working our way through some
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Speaker 1: questions that I was asked by some new homeowners. And
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Speaker 1: while they're kind of new at the whole painting thing,
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Speaker 1: the questions they had are great, and so we're talking
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Speaker 1: about them here. I think it's going to help a
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Speaker 1: lot of people as you work through your own design
7:47
Speaker 1: and decorating stuff at home. Now, the next question that
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Speaker 1: they had had to do with the trim in this
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Speaker 1: house that they're looking at. The house was full of
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Speaker 1: base boards that were big and beautiful, you know, very
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Speaker 1: old fashioned trim, you know, so looked really good. It
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Speaker 1: was all painted, but that big old trim, and naturally
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Speaker 1: they were wondering you know what that wood look like
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Speaker 1: underneath all the paint. You know, they were kicking around
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Speaker 1: the idea of stripping the baseboards down and exposing that
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Speaker 1: would bringing it back to life and then restoring them
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Speaker 1: to their original state, and they were wondering what that
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Speaker 1: process would look like. You know, how bad is that
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Speaker 1: work going to be? Because it'd be really nice to
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Speaker 1: bring that wood back to its original form. Well, once again,
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Speaker 1: just like the last question that we dealt with in
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Speaker 1: the first segment, the answer to this one is complicated
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Speaker 1: as well, and the main reason that it's complicated is
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Speaker 1: due to the age of the house. You know, if
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Speaker 1: paint was applied any time before nineteen seventy eight, and
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Speaker 1: especially in a home built in the nineteen forties or something.
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Speaker 1: I forget how old their house was. It's older though
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Speaker 1: a house built in that age, or any paint renovations
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Speaker 1: and stuff like that done prior to nineteen seventy eight.
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Speaker 1: If you've got that situation, there's a really good chance
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Speaker 1: that at least some of the paint that was put
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Speaker 1: on in that application contains lead. So lead based paint
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Speaker 1: you know that was eliminated in nineteen seventy eight or
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Speaker 1: so so after that we don't see it. Prior to
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Speaker 1: nineteen seventy eight, lead based paint is probably present in
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Speaker 1: your home. Now here's the thing to understand. With lead
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Speaker 1: based paint. It's not especially dangerous really when it's intact
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Speaker 1: and when it's sealed under newer coats of paint, when
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Speaker 1: it's encapsulated. The real risk spikes when you disturb it,
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Speaker 1: you know, when you're sanding it, when you're scraping it,
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Speaker 1: when you're stripping it. You know, windows when they're moved
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Speaker 1: up and down, you know, open and closed, that friction
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Speaker 1: can create some dust, and that lead dust can be problematic.
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Speaker 1: So windows are sometimes a concern. And the concern is
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Speaker 1: what I just implied. It's the dust. It's not you know,
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Speaker 1: paint chips or anything like that specifically, it's mainly that
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Speaker 1: lead dust that you create by disturbing it, scraping it,
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Speaker 1: you know, opening, closing, opening, closing those windows, if it's
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Speaker 1: lead based paint in those tracks. Lead dust is microscopic.
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Speaker 1: It gets everywhere, settles on the floors, it gets in
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Speaker 1: your furniture, It gets in your clothing if you're not
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Speaker 1: wearing the appropriate gear. It can get tracked throughout the
10:18
Speaker 1: whole house. It can even get pulled into the HVAC system.
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Speaker 1: And once you've created that lead dust, it usually spreads
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Speaker 1: way farther than people expect it to. And that's why,
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Speaker 1: you know, dry scraping or sanding old trim is a
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Speaker 1: really bad idea. You don't want to do that. Chemical
10:33
Speaker 1: paint strippers they can help produce the dust, which is good,
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Speaker 1: but you're still removing paint that may contain lead. So
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Speaker 1: you do need to be careful in a situation like that.
10:43
Speaker 1: So with this particular question, with this particular you know house,
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Speaker 1: when they ask me the question, what what do you
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Speaker 1: do in a situation like that? Do you bite off
10:53
Speaker 1: the project and jump in? Do you do you just
10:56
Speaker 1: skip over it? Well, the fact that the house is empty,
10:59
Speaker 1: you know, there are no kids, no pets, not even
11:02
Speaker 1: any adults living there. That does make things safer in
11:05
Speaker 1: this situation. But even then you do have to ask
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Speaker 1: yourself whether the project is really worth it, you know, personally,
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Speaker 1: I you know, here's how I'd look at it. If
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Speaker 1: the trim is historically significant, you know, or architecturally special,
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Speaker 1: and you're restoring maybe a small controlled area that you
11:22
Speaker 1: can fully isolate, then maybe it's worth considering. You know,
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Speaker 1: just understand that you're stepping into lead paint territory and
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Speaker 1: you need to treat it seriously. But even then, it's
11:32
Speaker 1: a lot of work, a ton of work, you know,
11:34
Speaker 1: chemical paint removers. They're not cheap, and with recent voc
11:37
Speaker 1: regulation changes that we've had here in Michigan, you know,
11:41
Speaker 1: last couple of years, they're also not as aggressive or
11:44
Speaker 1: as effective as they used to be, and that means
11:46
Speaker 1: more time, more product, more effort, all of that. In
11:50
Speaker 1: most situations, especially those in a first house, I kind
11:54
Speaker 1: of think the drawbacks, you know, for me, at least,
11:57
Speaker 1: the drawbacks outweigh the benefits, you know, between the spence,
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Speaker 1: the labor involved, the added concerns that come with working
12:03
Speaker 1: around lead based paint, and the unknown. You don't know
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Speaker 1: what that trim looks like underneath. You know, it may
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Speaker 1: not be the beautiful wood that you're expecting to find.
12:13
Speaker 1: You know, with all of those in play here, it
12:16
Speaker 1: can quickly turn into a non starter for a lot
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Speaker 1: of folks. You know, in many cases, the smarter move
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Speaker 1: is really the simpler one. Just clean the trim, really
12:25
Speaker 1: thoroughly repair what needs to be repaired, you know, get
12:28
Speaker 1: fixed what needs fixing, and then give it a fresh
12:30
Speaker 1: coat of paint. Benjamin Moore's advance. It's a water borne alkid.
12:34
Speaker 1: It's basically, you know, an oil based paint that you
12:37
Speaker 1: can clean up with soap and water. That's a simple
12:40
Speaker 1: way to think about it. The fact that it's oil
12:42
Speaker 1: based or it has that nature to it means it
12:45
Speaker 1: self levels beautifully. It doesn't dry as fast as water
12:49
Speaker 1: based products will, and so it self levels beautifully. You know,
12:52
Speaker 1: brushstrokes are going to fade right out of it. You know,
12:55
Speaker 1: if it's brushed and rolled, it's going to almost give
12:57
Speaker 1: you a sprayed like finish. It can look appssolutely beautiful,
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Speaker 1: so that on this trim can look amazing, and it
13:03
Speaker 1: doesn't you're not tapping into any of the concerns with
13:07
Speaker 1: dealing with lead based paint. If you go that route,
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Speaker 1: it's faster, it's safer, and it still makes the space
13:12
Speaker 1: look amazing. So everybody's got to make their own decision there,
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Speaker 1: But you've got to understand what you're getting into when
13:17
Speaker 1: you're talking about stripping trim down in an older house.
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Speaker 1: All right, That was the third question they had. The
13:23
Speaker 1: fourth question they had was revolving around color again, and
13:27
Speaker 1: this time they were asking, you know, because they were
13:29
Speaker 1: very eager to start choosing paint colors for the space.
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Speaker 1: It's what we do, you know. We walk through a
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Speaker 1: new house or a house that we're looking at, and
13:36
Speaker 1: most of the time, the big conversations are, well, I
13:39
Speaker 1: can change this, I can change that color, I can
13:41
Speaker 1: do this, I can paint over here, and we're already thinking.
13:44
Speaker 1: Our brain is already thinking about the colors that we're
13:47
Speaker 1: going to bring into those spaces. It's a natural default.
13:50
Speaker 1: You know, whenever anybody does any kind of renovation in
13:54
Speaker 1: their home. I can't say everybody. When a lot of
13:57
Speaker 1: people do a renovation or a redecorating or anything like
13:59
Speaker 1: that in their home, a lot of times they want
14:02
Speaker 1: to start at the paint store. But the thing is,
14:05
Speaker 1: when you do that, you're potentially decorating out of order.
14:09
Speaker 1: You know, there really is an order to filling a home.
14:12
Speaker 1: When it comes to design and decorating and paint colors.
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Speaker 1: It comes way later than most people think it's going
14:19
Speaker 1: to come, you know, in a new house, especially when
14:21
Speaker 1: it's empty, a new house, in a house that you bought,
14:24
Speaker 1: you know, a house that's new to you, especially when
14:27
Speaker 1: it's empty. The temptation is incredibly powerful to want to
14:31
Speaker 1: paint everything right away. You know, you're not moving furniture,
14:34
Speaker 1: you're maybe not worried about the flooring and stuff like that.
14:37
Speaker 1: It's really tempting to want to get everything painted. And
14:41
Speaker 1: sometimes people want very specific colors. We've seen that they've
14:44
Speaker 1: got a big plan for how they're going to bring
14:46
Speaker 1: color throughout this new space to them, and they're in
14:50
Speaker 1: the paint store picking those colors out so they can
14:52
Speaker 1: get painting, and then they'll go and get their furniture
14:55
Speaker 1: and stuff. Sometimes sometimes they think we'll just paint everything
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Speaker 1: a nice neutral and then we'll figure out all the
15:01
Speaker 1: furniture and the flooring, you know, the other stuff that
15:03
Speaker 1: we need later. You know, down the road, either way,
15:06
Speaker 1: whichever path you choose, you've got specific colors or you're
15:09
Speaker 1: picking a neutral. Either way, you're decorating out of order
15:11
Speaker 1: at that point, and that can cause a lot of
15:14
Speaker 1: frustration down the road. And here's why paint is infinitely adjustable.
15:18
Speaker 1: You know, I recoll it. We have thousands and thousands
15:21
Speaker 1: of colors, and if none of those are just right,
15:23
Speaker 1: we can custom match just about anything. You know, when
15:26
Speaker 1: it comes to paint there are pretty much no limits. Furniture,
15:29
Speaker 1: on the other hand, lots of limits. You know, you
15:31
Speaker 1: find a couch that you love and maybe, if you're lucky,
15:34
Speaker 1: it comes in twenty different colors. You know, flooring options,
15:37
Speaker 1: they're going to be limited. You know, you'll find what
15:40
Speaker 1: you want, but you've got X number of colors in
15:43
Speaker 1: that style that you can choose from. You know, countertops,
15:46
Speaker 1: same thing, cabinets, same thing. So the smarter approach is
15:51
Speaker 1: to start with those less flexible choices first. You know,
15:54
Speaker 1: figure out the furniture that you're going to be putting
15:55
Speaker 1: in the space, or at least narrow it down and
15:58
Speaker 1: lock in the colors if you're replacing cabinets, countertops, or flooring,
16:02
Speaker 1: make those selections first. You know, once those big pieces
16:05
Speaker 1: are chosen and you can see how they relate to
16:07
Speaker 1: each other, then it's time to start looking at paint colors.
16:10
Speaker 1: If you do it the other way around, you know,
16:12
Speaker 1: painting everything first, you're making it much harder to find furniture, flooring,
16:16
Speaker 1: or finishes that actually work with the color that you picked.
16:19
Speaker 1: And that's why so many people end up repainting rooms
16:22
Speaker 1: shortly after they move in. Now. One more thing. A
16:25
Speaker 1: lot of people assume I mentioned it earlier. They assume
16:27
Speaker 1: that choosing a neutral paint color gives them a blank canvas.
16:30
Speaker 1: You know. They know they don't want to pick a
16:32
Speaker 1: bunch of specific colors because they don't want to get
16:35
Speaker 1: locked in, so they'll just go with a neutral so
16:37
Speaker 1: they can get everything painted right now. Well, here's the thing.
16:41
Speaker 1: Neutrals really can be incredibly tricky. You know, every single
16:44
Speaker 1: color has undertones, and those undertones don't always show up
16:48
Speaker 1: clearly on a paint chip. You know, I've personally done this.
16:51
Speaker 1: I've had walls that I painted that I painted what
16:54
Speaker 1: I thought was an incredibly neutral color, a true neutral.
16:58
Speaker 1: I was certain of it. And then I brought in
17:00
Speaker 1: a neutral colored chair that we found, you know, a
17:03
Speaker 1: year after that, and suddenly the wall I realized had
17:07
Speaker 1: red undertones and the chair had green undertones, and together
17:11
Speaker 1: they were hideous, absolutely terrible separate. You know, they were
17:15
Speaker 1: fine if I could put the chair on the front
17:17
Speaker 1: yard and you could kind of look through the window
17:19
Speaker 1: at the colors in the living room, fine, But putting
17:22
Speaker 1: the chair in the living room, Nope, it was a
17:24
Speaker 1: no go. I had to repaint or get rid of
17:26
Speaker 1: the chair. And I like that chair, so we repainted.
17:30
Speaker 1: The bottom line is this, When you can save your
17:32
Speaker 1: paint color decisions for near the end of the process,
17:35
Speaker 1: that's going to be a way better way to go.
17:36
Speaker 1: You know, start with the items that give you the
17:38
Speaker 1: fewest choices first, and then let paint be the flexible
17:41
Speaker 1: piece that ties everything together simpler. It's going to be
17:44
Speaker 1: way less frustrating, and it's going to lead to a
17:46
Speaker 1: better result in the end. Okay, there are more questions
17:50
Speaker 1: that they had, but that's all the time that I've
17:52
Speaker 1: got to focus on this. Just remember, if you've got
17:55
Speaker 1: paint questions of your own, Repcollites the place to get
17:58
Speaker 1: them answered. We've been doing this for a eighty years now,
18:01
Speaker 1: started in nineteen forty six in Holland, Michigan, making our
18:04
Speaker 1: own paint at that point, and we've been doing it
18:07
Speaker 1: ever since then. So we've got our own brand, We've
18:10
Speaker 1: got all these other national brands, including Benjamin Moore that
18:13
Speaker 1: we work with, and all the people in all of
18:15
Speaker 1: our locations are ready to help you with whatever you're
18:17
Speaker 1: working on or dealing with. You know, I guarantee you
18:20
Speaker 1: whatever you're dealing with no matter how crazy it seems,
18:23
Speaker 1: we've seen it and we've helped people work through it.
18:26
Speaker 1: So swing out to any Repcolite and get your questions answered.
18:29
Speaker 1: All right, have you ever heard of a lack bug?
18:31
Speaker 1: I'm switching gears dramatically here. Have you ever heard of
18:34
Speaker 1: a lack bug. It's a real bug. It's an insect
18:37
Speaker 1: that lives primarily in India or Southeast Asia. And you
18:40
Speaker 1: have definitely, whether you've heard of them or not, you've
18:42
Speaker 1: definitely encountered these bugs and their secretions. In fact, you
18:48
Speaker 1: may be encountering those secretions right this very minute. I'll
18:51
Speaker 1: tell you what I mean and why I'm talking about
18:53
Speaker 1: it right after This home in progress is brought to
18:57
Speaker 1: you by Repcolite Paints and Benjamin Moore. Think about it.
18:59
Speaker 1: You spent hours prepping, sandy, taping, and then finally painting.
19:03
Speaker 1: Don't throw all that work away with an inferior product.
19:06
Speaker 1: The paint isn't just another supply. The paint is the project.
19:10
Speaker 1: Make sure it's the best. There are these bugs that
19:13
Speaker 1: live mostly in India and Southeast Asia, and they're called
19:16
Speaker 1: lack bugs. And I can almost guarantee you that you
19:21
Speaker 1: and they have a history of sorts. Like I said
19:25
Speaker 1: at the end of last segment, you've encountered them, and
19:29
Speaker 1: more specifically, you've encountered some of their secretions in the past,
19:33
Speaker 1: and it's even possible that you're encountering these secretions this
19:38
Speaker 1: very moment. All right, here's the deal. The lack bugs
19:42
Speaker 1: crews around on trees, like I said, in India, Southeast Asia.
19:45
Speaker 1: They're cruising around on trees, up and down the branches.
19:49
Speaker 1: They're living the big life right as far as they can.
19:53
Speaker 1: You know, they're bugs, they're not you know, it's not
19:55
Speaker 1: that great, but you know, they're doing cool bug stuff.
19:59
Speaker 1: And the female lack bugs, well, as they're doing that,
20:02
Speaker 1: they're busy biting into the branches and sucking out, you know,
20:05
Speaker 1: the sap. They're just munching on it. And then that
20:09
Speaker 1: ingested sap is chemically modified inside their little bug bodies
20:14
Speaker 1: and then it's secreted as a thick, resinous liquid. Now
20:19
Speaker 1: they don't spit it out, it's not how they secrete it,
20:22
Speaker 1: and they don't send it out through the other possible
20:25
Speaker 1: area that you might be thinking about that would be
20:28
Speaker 1: excreting it. They don't do that. Instead, they've got special
20:32
Speaker 1: secretion glands on their body and that's how they do it.
20:36
Speaker 1: So they secrete this resinous material and then in the
20:39
Speaker 1: air it quickly hardens into this protective shell like tube
20:44
Speaker 1: that covers the insect. It often will coalesce with other
20:48
Speaker 1: secretions from other, you know, nearby female lack bugs on
20:52
Speaker 1: those same branches, and it can become this continuous coating
20:55
Speaker 1: over full branches you know of this, these trees or whatever. Anyway,
21:00
Speaker 1: they create this shell for protection so the female bug
21:03
Speaker 1: and her eggs are safe from predators, from desiccation, you know,
21:07
Speaker 1: drying out, and environmental stress of all kinds. So they
21:12
Speaker 1: create these little plastic I mean, these little resin protective
21:16
Speaker 1: shell like homes to kind of hang out in. All right,
21:19
Speaker 1: that's the female lack bug and the secretions. But I
21:22
Speaker 1: said you probably have encountered them and could be encountering
21:26
Speaker 1: them right now. Here's what I mean by that. Those
21:28
Speaker 1: secretions they're harvested and then they're turned into something that
21:33
Speaker 1: is used in so many ways. It's absolutely amazing. For example,
21:38
Speaker 1: if you are right now enjoying a snack of let's say, jellybeans,
21:42
Speaker 1: maybe skittles, maybe Reese's pieces, maybe candy corn, anybody really
21:48
Speaker 1: enjoy candy corn. It's just something that you add is
21:53
Speaker 1: what a weird texture, and it's just like sugar. It's
21:57
Speaker 1: just straight sugar. There's no taste to it other than
22:00
Speaker 1: sweet and kind of gummy but crumbly candy corn. I
22:06
Speaker 1: loved it when I was a little kid. I don't
22:09
Speaker 1: even want to be in the same room with candy
22:11
Speaker 1: corn as an adult. But anyway, if you're loving on
22:14
Speaker 1: candy corn, Ubu whoppers, you know those little guys, right,
22:19
Speaker 1: junior mints, all of those things. If you're eating those
22:24
Speaker 1: kinds of goodies, you're eating things that are coated with
22:28
Speaker 1: lackbug secretions. Not on accident, not like lack bugs got
22:32
Speaker 1: into the plant and kind of secrete it on the
22:35
Speaker 1: boxes and stuff. It's put there by people who intend
22:39
Speaker 1: to put it there. Now, of course it's been rigorously purified,
22:43
Speaker 1: but still the stuff on the candies that gives it
22:46
Speaker 1: the shine and makes the candies look oh so good
22:49
Speaker 1: and amazing is basically just bug secretions, all right. But
22:53
Speaker 1: it doesn't stop there. Apples and a number of other fruits,
22:57
Speaker 1: the ones that look a little shiny in the store
22:59
Speaker 1: yep sprayed on bug secretions It's also sprayed on nuts, cakes,
23:03
Speaker 1: and coffee beans, and the purpose is to give all
23:07
Speaker 1: of those things an appealing shine, but also to prevent
23:10
Speaker 1: moisture loss. You know, we don't want them to get
23:12
Speaker 1: all desiccated. It's to extend shelf life and provide other
23:16
Speaker 1: preservation effects. All right, So you could encounter it in snacks.
23:20
Speaker 1: But maybe you're sitting there right now kind of feeling
23:24
Speaker 1: high and mighty and thinking that you're not a snacker,
23:26
Speaker 1: and maybe maybe you don't eat a lot of fruit,
23:29
Speaker 1: but you're still even if you avoid those things, you're
23:31
Speaker 1: still sucking down bug secretions. I'm absolutely sure of it.
23:35
Speaker 1: You know, you've heard the whole apple a day keeps
23:37
Speaker 1: the doctor away thing, right, We've all heard that if
23:40
Speaker 1: you're not eating apples, you know, coated with bug secretions,
23:43
Speaker 1: then you're really, you know, very likely visiting the doctor. Right,
23:46
Speaker 1: Apple a day keeps the doctor away. If you're not
23:48
Speaker 1: eating the apple, of course, you're heading to the doctor
23:51
Speaker 1: on a regular basis. And any pills that they prescribe
23:55
Speaker 1: that have time released coatings, those coatings are made from
23:58
Speaker 1: lack bug secretions as well. These secretions are used in
24:02
Speaker 1: nail polish makeup binder. They're used to stiffened hats, they're
24:06
Speaker 1: used on leather, they're used in hundreds of other weird
24:09
Speaker 1: and unexpected ways. And on top of all of that,
24:11
Speaker 1: and this is the reason that we're talking about it
24:13
Speaker 1: in the first place, on top of all of those things,
24:16
Speaker 1: they're also used to create a common wood finish that
24:19
Speaker 1: you've most likely heard of, sillac. All right, The process
24:23
Speaker 1: of making furniture grade shillac is definitely different from making
24:27
Speaker 1: food grade shillac, but it's not that different. It's kind
24:32
Speaker 1: of surprising how not different it is. In both instances.
24:36
Speaker 1: The lack bug secretions are scraped off the branches sometimes
24:40
Speaker 1: lack bugs, and all they're processed, they're cleaned, they're melted,
24:44
Speaker 1: they're dried, and eventually they're turned into sillac flakes. And
24:47
Speaker 1: I should pause for one second because of this, Because
24:51
Speaker 1: of the fact that candies and apples and things like
24:54
Speaker 1: that are coated with schillac bug secretions, it makes those
25:00
Speaker 1: items unintentionally non vegan, which doesn't matter to me, but
25:05
Speaker 1: there are people who get all up in arms and
25:08
Speaker 1: want to boycott these items because they're non vegan, or
25:14
Speaker 1: they're harming the bugs. Because the bugs don't usually survive
25:19
Speaker 1: the process. It's not necessarily the process that kills them entirely,
25:24
Speaker 1: but the process isn't very great for the bugs. A
25:27
Speaker 1: lot of them die naturally, you know, that's just part
25:29
Speaker 1: of their life cycle. They secrete the stuff, they lay
25:32
Speaker 1: their eggs, they die. But still there's a lot of
25:35
Speaker 1: bug loss here. So if you're a big bug fan,
25:41
Speaker 1: shellac is probably problematic for you. Anyway, that's neither here
25:45
Speaker 1: nor there. I just it was an interesting little rabbit
25:47
Speaker 1: hole I stumbled down, and I was gonna convey that
25:50
Speaker 1: if I got a chance. And of course, since I
25:52
Speaker 1: kind of run the show now I get all the
25:55
Speaker 1: chances I want, all right, So getting back to food
25:59
Speaker 1: grade shellac and furniture grade sillac, I said, they're they're
26:04
Speaker 1: of course made differently, but they're not as different as
26:06
Speaker 1: you might want to think. So the secretions are harvested,
26:12
Speaker 1: they're turned into flakes, and basically it takes about one
26:15
Speaker 1: hundred thousand bugs to make a single pound of shellac,
26:18
Speaker 1: so a lot of bugs were lost in the making
26:21
Speaker 1: of this pound of shellac. And once the flakes are gathered,
26:24
Speaker 1: they're purified. If they're gonna be for food use, They're
26:28
Speaker 1: then dissolved, usually for food use, in a non denatured
26:31
Speaker 1: ethyl alcohol, basically grain alcohol, to avoid adding any toxins
26:36
Speaker 1: to the product. All right, So those flakes they're dissolved
26:39
Speaker 1: in grain alcohol and then they can be sprayed on
26:42
Speaker 1: all these food items and they give it that wonderful glow.
26:45
Speaker 1: Furniture shellac is made and dissolved in denatured alcohol instead
26:51
Speaker 1: or another alcohol, but an alcohol with more toxins is
26:54
Speaker 1: really the big difference. That's about it. That's the big
26:57
Speaker 1: difference between food grade and for grade shellac. All right,
27:01
Speaker 1: think about that for a little bit. That's my fun intro.
27:04
Speaker 1: Now let's dig into shellac as a finish. You know,
27:06
Speaker 1: last week I started a weekly winter wood shop series
27:09
Speaker 1: that I wanted to do, and it's a great time
27:10
Speaker 1: of year, I think for heading out to the shop
27:13
Speaker 1: to do woodworking, maybe to refinish furniture, who knows, But
27:16
Speaker 1: if you do any woodworking at all, you most likely
27:19
Speaker 1: have run into some confusion when it comes to wood finishes.
27:22
Speaker 1: You know, there are a lot of options out there,
27:24
Speaker 1: and a lot of woodworking websites have their favorites and
27:26
Speaker 1: they promote them for a lot of different projects, and sometimes,
27:30
Speaker 1: you know, sometimes those recommendations just aren't very good. So
27:34
Speaker 1: I thought I'd take a few weeks and talk about
27:35
Speaker 1: some of the most common wood finishes out there and
27:38
Speaker 1: walk you through the pros and cons of each one.
27:40
Speaker 1: Last week we talked about tongue oil. This week it's shellac.
27:43
Speaker 1: And even if you're not a woodworker, sheillac has a
27:45
Speaker 1: really interesting history beyond just that bug secretion angle, and
27:49
Speaker 1: a wide variety of uses that can be helpful for
27:51
Speaker 1: any homeowner to know, and we're going to dig into
27:53
Speaker 1: all of that right after this. You're listening to Home
27:57
Speaker 1: in Progress, where the projects are real the mistake, they're educational,
28:02
Speaker 1: sometimes painful, mostly educational, and the only thing more stubborn
28:07
Speaker 1: than that old wallpaper on your bathroom wall is your
28:10
Speaker 1: determination to get it fixed. Probably sponsored by Repcollite Paints
28:14
Speaker 1: and Benjamin Moore Paint with a purpose, people who care
28:17
Speaker 1: and everything you need to get the job done right
28:20
Speaker 1: and Rebeck. You're listening to Home in Progress, sponsored by
28:22
Speaker 1: Repelite Paints and be more Recolite Paints and Benjamin Moore.
28:30
Speaker 1: Someday I will fully complete this puberty journey, and I'll
28:37
Speaker 1: have fully arrived at adulthood. But that day is not
28:42
Speaker 1: not today, and I don't think this is going to
28:45
Speaker 1: be my year for it, but one of these years
28:47
Speaker 1: it will happen. Anyway, you're listening to Home in Progress
28:50
Speaker 1: sponsored by Repolite Paints and Benjamin Moore. Why because the
28:54
Speaker 1: paint is the project all right? Talking about shellac, I
28:58
Speaker 1: mentioned the last segment, how the lakes of shellac, you know,
29:01
Speaker 1: the Lackbug resin secretions, How they're largely the same, whether
29:05
Speaker 1: the Shillac is being used on food as a confectioner's
29:08
Speaker 1: glaze or on a dresser as a protective finish. Well,
29:11
Speaker 1: the main difference is the type of alcohol those flakes
29:13
Speaker 1: are dissolved in. Well, speaking of dissolving Schillac flakes and alcohol,
29:18
Speaker 1: if you go right now in search Amazon, you can
29:20
Speaker 1: find bags and bags of Sillac flakes. I bet you
29:23
Speaker 1: didn't know that. Some of you did, but I bet
29:26
Speaker 1: some of you didn't. Just google it shlack flakes and
29:29
Speaker 1: you'll find them. These are the Lackbug secretions. You can
29:32
Speaker 1: buy them as flakes, and you can actually mix them
29:35
Speaker 1: yourself and make your own shillac. You know. I've got
29:38
Speaker 1: a video link in the show notes for this episode.
29:41
Speaker 1: If you want to check it out, just go to
29:42
Speaker 1: repco light dot com, click the on the radio tab
29:45
Speaker 1: and then find the January seventeen episode, the latest episode,
29:50
Speaker 1: and there you go. If you want to look at
29:53
Speaker 1: how it's done, that guy will walk you through it
29:55
Speaker 1: in about eight minutes. But basically, you just snag some
29:58
Speaker 1: of these flakes and you dissolve them in alcohol. Denature
30:00
Speaker 1: alcohol works. You can get that at our stores. I've
30:04
Speaker 1: seen a lot of woodworker sites recommend that you get
30:06
Speaker 1: regular grain alcohol, you know, something from the liquor store.
30:10
Speaker 1: Either way, you dissolve the flakes and alcohol and you
30:13
Speaker 1: can make your own shillac. Now there's more to it,
30:16
Speaker 1: the proportions to mix, and how long you need to
30:19
Speaker 1: agitate it, how you agitate it, all of that, but
30:22
Speaker 1: if you are interested to dig into it, it's really
30:25
Speaker 1: pretty cool in a way, all right. If you don't
30:27
Speaker 1: want to mix your own shellac, you know, like bootleg shellac,
30:32
Speaker 1: you can also buy pre mixed shillac, the most common
30:34
Speaker 1: one that people recognize as Bull's Eye Shillac from Zenzer.
30:38
Speaker 1: It's convenient works well, We've got quarts of it at
30:42
Speaker 1: most of our stores, so you can get it that way.
30:44
Speaker 1: Schillac comes in a range of different colors. It can
30:47
Speaker 1: be very pale blonde all the way through orange and
30:50
Speaker 1: into almost like deep browns. Orange shillac is probably that classic,
30:54
Speaker 1: you know, most classic that it's that traditional version, that
30:58
Speaker 1: warm tone that you associate with older nature and woodwork.
31:01
Speaker 1: That's the orange shillac. And those colors are largely dependent
31:05
Speaker 1: on the sap and what particular tree the lack bugs
31:11
Speaker 1: are getting, you know, are eating or munching on, you know,
31:14
Speaker 1: the sap that they're munching on, that determines the color.
31:16
Speaker 1: All right. Now, shellac, it's one of those products that
31:18
Speaker 1: people either romanticize or they completely dismiss. You know. On
31:22
Speaker 1: the one hand, it gets talked about like some magical
31:25
Speaker 1: lost art. You know, you're gonna find websites where they
31:27
Speaker 1: just just lawd you know, all the benefits of shellac.
31:31
Speaker 1: On the other hand, you can find other places where
31:34
Speaker 1: it's written off as obsolete. You know, something that belonged
31:36
Speaker 1: to another era, another century, another millennia, and something that
31:42
Speaker 1: doesn't have a place in modern shops. Well, the truth
31:45
Speaker 1: I think is somewhere in between. You know, sheillac is
31:47
Speaker 1: old technology, really old. I mean, it's hard to even
31:51
Speaker 1: call it technology, it's bug secretions dissolved in alcohol. That's it.
31:56
Speaker 1: There's not a lot of bells and whistles here, but
31:59
Speaker 1: with that's it still does a few specific things better
32:02
Speaker 1: than almost anything else. And I love that. That is
32:05
Speaker 1: so crazy cool to me, you know, And once you
32:07
Speaker 1: understand how it functions and where it excels, you know,
32:11
Speaker 1: then it's place in the wood shop and around the
32:13
Speaker 1: house becomes really clear. So historically, sillac was the finish.
32:17
Speaker 1: You know, for centuries, furniture, cabinets, trim, wood paneling, almost
32:22
Speaker 1: all of it was always finished with shellac for the
32:25
Speaker 1: most part. You know, if you walked into a woodworking
32:27
Speaker 1: shop before the early twentieth century, that's what you were
32:30
Speaker 1: going to see on the shelf. You'd see lots of shellac.
32:33
Speaker 1: The dominance started the fade in the nineteen twenties, nineteen
32:37
Speaker 1: thirties something like that, when nitrocellulose lacker took over professional finishing.
32:41
Speaker 1: You know, lacquer dried fast, it sprayed beautifully, and it
32:45
Speaker 1: held up better to heat, moisture, and just daily abuse,
32:48
Speaker 1: you know, especially as manufacturing became faster and more industrial. Now,
32:52
Speaker 1: shellac didn't disappear, but it did stop being the default
32:56
Speaker 1: go to product, and once that happened, its limitation became
33:00
Speaker 1: a little more obvious. You know, it could be compared
33:03
Speaker 1: to lacquer and you could see where it didn't really
33:05
Speaker 1: hold up, and that's where a lot of Shlak's reputation
33:08
Speaker 1: problems come from. You know, you're often going to hear
33:11
Speaker 1: that shallac turns white with water. Now, in reality, it's
33:15
Speaker 1: not completely one hundred percent true. Fresh Schillac is reasonably
33:19
Speaker 1: water resistant. It's not water proof, but it's also not
33:22
Speaker 1: instantly ruined by a little bit of moisture. Most of
33:25
Speaker 1: the dramatic issues and failures that people talk about they
33:28
Speaker 1: come from very thin coats, prolonged exposure, or schillac that's
33:33
Speaker 1: already passed its usable life. Because shellac has a limited
33:36
Speaker 1: life span. If it's pre mixed. A lot of the
33:38
Speaker 1: time you can buy it and it's got about a
33:40
Speaker 1: three year life span. If you mix it, you know,
33:43
Speaker 1: from the flakes, like we talked about earlier, it's got
33:45
Speaker 1: about a one year life span, and after that you
33:49
Speaker 1: don't want to use it and you can run into
33:52
Speaker 1: a lot of issues. So a lot of the gripes
33:54
Speaker 1: and failures came about from Shillac that was old, okay,
33:57
Speaker 1: just too old. Another common criticism is that Shillac scratches easily,
34:02
Speaker 1: and while sheilac it's not designed to compete with modern
34:05
Speaker 1: high build coatings, it's worth understanding how it actually behaves.
34:09
Speaker 1: You know, it's not as bad as you might be
34:12
Speaker 1: led to believe. Compared to Lacker, Shellac is less brittle.
34:16
Speaker 1: You know, that doesn't mean Lacker's week. You know, Lacker
34:19
Speaker 1: is extremely durable and it revolutionized finishing for a reason.
34:23
Speaker 1: But what it does mean is that when laquer fails,
34:25
Speaker 1: it tends to crack or craze, while shellac tends to
34:27
Speaker 1: wear or soften. Shelac is also really easy to repair.
34:31
Speaker 1: It re dissolves into itself, so scratches, wear spots and
34:35
Speaker 1: touch ups. They can often be blended without stripping or sanding,
34:38
Speaker 1: you know, an entire surface. That repair ability is one
34:41
Speaker 1: of the reasons Shellac stuck around so long after it
34:44
Speaker 1: stopped being fashionable. Another criticism that it gets is that
34:48
Speaker 1: shlac is simply old fashioned. Right, This one really misses
34:51
Speaker 1: the point because there's some old people I'm thinking about
34:55
Speaker 1: myself that are still pretty current. You know, we still
34:58
Speaker 1: got something. In fact, I like to think we're just
35:02
Speaker 1: hitting our prime, you know. But anyway, shellac shellac isn't
35:07
Speaker 1: shouldn't be thought of as just simply old fashioned and
35:09
Speaker 1: that it should be discarded. You know, Shellac didn't get
35:11
Speaker 1: replaced because it was bad. It got replaced because priorities changed,
35:15
Speaker 1: you know, durability under abuse, resistance to heat and chemicals,
35:19
Speaker 1: and faster production became more important than ease of repair
35:22
Speaker 1: and all of that. So that's why it was replaced.
35:24
Speaker 1: But there are still plenty of jobs where shillac isn't
35:28
Speaker 1: just acceptable, you know, an acceptable solution. There are a
35:32
Speaker 1: lot of jobs in situations that homeowners run into on
35:35
Speaker 1: a daily basis where shellac is the ideal fix. And
35:39
Speaker 1: when I talk about these, I want to mention that
35:41
Speaker 1: there's the clear shellac, which is what we've been talking
35:43
Speaker 1: about so far, but there's also a white pigmented shillac.
35:47
Speaker 1: You probably know it as bin primer from Zenzer if
35:50
Speaker 1: you've ever used that, It's a white pigmented Shillac. So
35:54
Speaker 1: keep that in mind as I'm working through this. It's
35:56
Speaker 1: not just about clearcoats, all right. One of the ideal
35:59
Speaker 1: uses for shillac these days is in stain and odor blocking.
36:03
Speaker 1: You know, Shillak is one of the best sealers available
36:06
Speaker 1: for locking in tannin stains, smoke damage, water stains, and
36:09
Speaker 1: persistent odors. Furniture restorers use it constantly for this reason,
36:13
Speaker 1: and often when they do, they're working with a clear
36:15
Speaker 1: shillac because it allows them to seal in whatever problems
36:19
Speaker 1: they found without committing to a final look. You know,
36:22
Speaker 1: you can still paint over it if you want to,
36:23
Speaker 1: you can still distress over it, you can still apply
36:26
Speaker 1: a decorative finish on top of it. So a lot
36:30
Speaker 1: of furniture refinishers use it and tannin stains. I should
36:33
Speaker 1: probably mention what that is in case you're not sure
36:36
Speaker 1: what I'm talking about. Tannins are naturally occurring chemicals that
36:39
Speaker 1: are found in certain woods, and most of the time
36:42
Speaker 1: they're not a problem at all. They really only become
36:44
Speaker 1: an issue when you're trying to paint the wood, especially
36:46
Speaker 1: if you use the wrong primer or you skip a
36:48
Speaker 1: primer altogether. You know, tannins are water extractive, which means
36:52
Speaker 1: that when you apply a water based primer or paint,
36:55
Speaker 1: those chemicals can dissolve and migrate to the surface, and
36:58
Speaker 1: that's when you see brown or those stains bleeding through
37:01
Speaker 1: your paint. A thin coat of shellac on the surface
37:04
Speaker 1: before you put your paint down is going to seal
37:06
Speaker 1: those tannins in so you can put the latex paint
37:09
Speaker 1: over top without any bleed through problems at all. Same
37:11
Speaker 1: thing with water stains, same thing with smoke damage, same
37:14
Speaker 1: thing with unpleasant odors. So if you're refinishing an old
37:17
Speaker 1: piece of furniture and it has that old furniture smell
37:21
Speaker 1: or a smoke smell or anything like that, SHILLAC is
37:23
Speaker 1: off in the answer. It's going to seal the odor
37:25
Speaker 1: in so you don't have to worry about it coming
37:27
Speaker 1: back later. You'll also see a lot of finishers clean
37:30
Speaker 1: up the inside of dresser drawers and the dressers themselves
37:34
Speaker 1: and then seal it all in with shellac, so they'll
37:36
Speaker 1: get it all cleaned up, do some sanding, seal it
37:38
Speaker 1: with shellac, and that will seal in any of the
37:41
Speaker 1: old smells that that furniture is carrying with it. It
37:44
Speaker 1: drives fast, it's durable enough for drawer use, you know
37:47
Speaker 1: inside the drawers, and it does a great job of
37:49
Speaker 1: locking in those odors. And beyond just problem solving, SHILLAC
37:52
Speaker 1: is also a period authentic finish. You know, if you're
37:55
Speaker 1: doing antique furniture, if you're restoring an older piece and
37:59
Speaker 1: you don't want to use a pot ere athane or
38:00
Speaker 1: a modern finish, Sillac is an old, proven solution that's
38:04
Speaker 1: still really appropriate today, provided you don't need, you know,
38:07
Speaker 1: extreme durability on the piece. So Sheillac it definitely has
38:11
Speaker 1: its place. You know, there's a lot of good places
38:13
Speaker 1: to use it, but it's important also to be clear
38:15
Speaker 1: about where it doesn't belong. You know, high moisture environments
38:18
Speaker 1: are a problem. Bathrooms and kitchens near sinks don't want
38:21
Speaker 1: to do that. Alcohol exposure is another issue. You know,
38:24
Speaker 1: it's base is alcohol, so being exposed to alcohol is
38:28
Speaker 1: a big issue, which makes it a really bad choice
38:31
Speaker 1: for bar tops and dining tables and things like that.
38:34
Speaker 1: Heat can soften it. High traffic surfaces like floors and
38:37
Speaker 1: heavily used tabletops. They're way better served by going to
38:41
Speaker 1: a more modern finish like a poly eirthane. So here's
38:43
Speaker 1: the real takeaway. Shehillac. It's not a miracle product, but
38:46
Speaker 1: it's not outdated junk either. It's incredibly interesting in how
38:50
Speaker 1: it came to be and that old technology that it's
38:52
Speaker 1: built on still does a few things, you know, a
38:55
Speaker 1: few specific jobs remarkably well. And when you need those
38:59
Speaker 1: jobs done, blocking stains, ceiling orders, nothing else really works
39:03
Speaker 1: quite as well. All Right, that's gonna do it for
39:05
Speaker 1: this episode. If you want to catch it again, you
39:07
Speaker 1: can find it online at repco light dot com. Just
39:10
Speaker 1: click the on the radio tabret on the homepage and
39:12
Speaker 1: you can find all of our episodes right there. And
39:15
Speaker 1: if you have any paint questions at all, I know
39:17
Speaker 1: I answered a bunch of paint questions at the beginning
39:20
Speaker 1: of the show. If you have paint questions of your
39:23
Speaker 1: own that you'd love answered, just send them my way.
39:25
Speaker 1: You can reach me at radio at repco light dot com.
39:29
Speaker 1: Whatever you do today, make sure paints a part of it.
39:31
Speaker 1: For Home and Progress. I'm Dan Hansen. Thanks for listening.