Sep 25

Sep 25 Calcimine removal and mixing shellac

This week I was solo for working on the cottage. My main focus was washing all the calcimine paint off the walls that were scraped last week. Actually there were still some parts with latex paint that needed to be scraped so I started with the infrared heat to scrape off the remaining latex paint.

After that was gone, I started the long process of filling up buckets of TSP mixed with detergent and a bucket of clean water. I then started scrubbing down the walls with a variety of brushes, scouring pads, and sponges. For the most part things work, but it’s just pure effort and time. It’s a bit daunting to face a wall full of calcimine and realize that will take hours to clean off. As I finish up for the weekend, I get most of it off, but there’s still lots of pockets of blue paint that I’ll have to get that next weekend.

To give my shoulder a break, I start mixing my own shellac which I’ll use for the woodwork. I bought 3 varieties of shellac to try. 1 is unwaxed flakes and then the other 2 are darker button shellac. I smash the buttons with a hammer and then measure out shellac for each variety to create a 1lb cut of shellac. From reading, it seems like 1lb cut is a good starting point for shellac. I assemble all of the flakes and then drop that into denatured alcohol and shake everything up in some mason jars. I won’t need the shellac for a while, but it should last for about 6 months which should give me enough time to finish this bedroom work.