Disinfecting wipes are bad for shellac

10 years ago

It's a perfect case of 20/20 hindsight. My boys' pet rooster had frost-nipped toes and spent the night in the house, recovering. They let the chicken run around the living room for a little bit before I noticed and put him in the "sick chicken pen." (I was distracted by the scary bathroom!)

Without even thinking about it, I grabbed some generic disinfecting wipes to clean up a spot of chicken mess, and (of course) rubbed off a layer of the shellac too.

So, don't be me. Don't grab the first thing to hand when spot cleaning messes. Conversely, I suppose disinfecting wipes could be a very expensive alternative to stripping shellac.

I'm going to try to strategically place a throw rug to hide the spot until after Thanksgiving. Then I get to try my hand at repairing the finish!

Comments (4)

renovator8
10 years ago
Alcohol is the solvent base that allows shellac to be applied as a liquid so anything containing alcohol will soften or remove shellac.

As a general rule, alcohol and chlorine are poor choices for cleaning or disinfecting surfaces contrary to advertising claims from companies who prefer these chemicals because they are cheap. If you want to clean something try washing it first.
Fori
10 years ago
On the other hand, when there's chicken poop on the floor, you do grab what's handy. :) Totally understandable.

Do let us know how the repair goes!
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AuntieChicken
Original Author
10 years ago
Well, the "repair" is pretty obvious to my eye, but since the whole floor needs work, it's probably not that noticeable. I used denatured alcohol to soften the shellac around the offending area and then feathered it into the bare spot with a brush. It'll have to do until I can tackle the whole floor.
jcalhoun
10 years ago
Lysol and hand wipes are also bad on some plastics and rubber products.