Does anyone know whatever happened to Zinsser Bulls Eye French Polish? It seems to have lasted only a year or two on the market, and as far as I can tell is no longer available.
I have about a can and a half. If it was withdrawn from the market simply because no one bought it, I’ll keep using what I have. But if it was withdrawn because one of the solvents causes horrible long term health effects, then maybe I should stop….
-Steve
Replies
Why not go to the Zinsser website (http://www.zinsser.com) and ask them. They have a "Contact Us" link on their site.
Well, I got the official reply from Zinsser today:
We no longer manufacture French Polish or a replacement product.
(That's the entire text.)
-Steve
Well, at least they didn't waste your time with a longer reply. I'm sure that if you keep looking, you can find more info about what is in the old formula FP and then decide if you want to stick with that or just use de-waxed pre-mixed.flakes, buttons, etc. There seem to be quite a few here who do this kind of finishing.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
The solvent was almost certainly just some form of alcohol and not terrifically toxic. At this point your cans are getting old and the shellac may not harden properly when applied, so be sure to make a test board before applying the finish to something important.
John White,
Yestermorrow School, Waitsfield, Vermont
FWW Experts column contributor
My guess is that it was just shellac and alcohol with a fancy marketing spin on it.
If nobody buys it, then there isn't a specialty market for it.
No, it has a volatile oil in it. That's what makes it French Polish, rather than just shellac.
-Steve
Bull s...hit,French polish is the TECHNIQUE of applying shellac by rubbing it with a pad.
Not a product.C.
Agreed, but it's a technique that requires an oil, that was my mistake.
I wouldn't want an all-in-one can of French Polish though. As you go on, you need to change the alcohol/shellac to oil ratio.
Maybe that's why it's not on the market any longer.
I can hardly imagine someone who does french polish (like myself) not mixing his own stuff !C.
That's a big amen from my end. Lots of knots shellacers love that Zinsser shellac. I am just a happy little mixer that won't change.. I mix my own, I know when it was cut, I get the cut I like and I find the flakes have been very consistent over the years. Its a matter of what you like. I am not criticizing the can, I just don't use it everyday and I hate throwing another can in the landfill that didn't get used. Being cheap, I have tested old shellac and it does not dry the same way fresh shellac dries.
On the other hand, I just can not believe how much the flakes have gone up in price in the past 20 years. I used to buy it in 2lb plastic bags for 6 bucks. You've seen the prices on the cute little screw on containers.. its just outrageous.
This was just the Zinsser version of Padding Lacquer which has mostly shellac as the resin. Behlen Qualasole is one example. The solvents aren't the same however, and the padding lacquer has an "oily" solvent that allows it to be applied by rubbing a little like French polish, but without the spiriting off stage.
It ends up looking quite a bit like a French polished surface. It's often used in restoration and repair work.
I thought "Padding Lacquer" was just shellac dissolved in lacquer thinner with some parrafin oil or some other type of lubricant?Or I could be confused. Maybe a little of both?J.P.
I think you are right-shellac in lacquer type solvents, but I suspect that the oily "lubricant" may be more volatile than parafin oil so that it evaporates away in the process without having to be removed at the end like you would do with French polish. I'm not entirely sure that some variants may not have some resin other than shellac, but shellac is certainly dominant.
I was wondering if the oil was made to be more volatile or if there were other agents in the mix that would help to keep it from interfering with the finish?Just curious.Also, what is the difference in using padding lacquer as opposed to just padding on shellac. On my repairs I just use a small rubber for applying shellac to specific areas without using oil. I haven't used padding lacquer. Are there any advantages over just using shellac. Does the lacquer build faster?ThanksJ.P.
The Zinsser site still has a link to their French Polish and it describes the ingredients, but it's been too long for me to remember what they were, other than shellac, denatured and IIRC, mineral oil.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
"The Zinsser site still has a link to their French Polish..."
Are you talking about the news release? That's the original product announcement from 2004. I can't find any other information on the site.
-Steve
Edited 9/26/2007 7:38 pm ET by saschafer
I found it about a year ago, but it wasn't very easy after the first time and I hadn't bookmarked it. Forestgirl needed a fast finish a few months ago and...apparently I still haven't bookmarked it. It was a publication, kind of like you might pick up in a paint department. I'll see if I can find it, but it was definitely from their site.OK, it wasn't that hard this time- I just googled Zinsser French Polish. Here's the link:http://www.zinsser.co.nz/pdf/TDB/frenchpolishtdb.pdf"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
Edited 9/26/2007 10:22 pm by highfigh
Ah, you'll notice that that's on Zinsser's New Zealand web site. The U.S. web site only has the old news release.
-Steve
I didn't look that closely- I saw usable information, that's all.I haven't looked for this stuff and I'm not going to. I have been using the dewaxed seal coat shellac and it works pretty nicely. I have also been spraying it on more, lately. Much faster, more even, less putzing around and unless I actually need to build the film up, a few coats and I'm done. That is, if it's a hard, tight wood, like maple. I'm re-finishing a bass guitar now and sprayed a first coat to see if the sanding I did was good enough and it took all of 5 minutes. I have a few spots to sand better and then I'll spray the rest of the coats.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
"Bull s...hit,"So, what are you saying?
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
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