If your books all agree on that, you're reading the wrong books. Sorry, but
there's simply no rule that always holds, here or anywhere. In general,
shellac you mix, or premixed shellac, will go bad somewhere between 6 months
and about 5 years. While it varies with the specific shellac, it primarily
depends on the storage temperature. When I had a cold workshop, I mixed
shellac and easily kept it for years, and never saw any go bad. A friend in a
warmer climate (and heated workshop) got just under a year.

Further, the new Zinsser has demonstrated it will remain good for much longer
than natural shellac. They sent me a test sample when it first came out, and
it lived up to their claims. Only more recent books are aware of this.

Further, I use different shellac colors which I mix from flakes. These are
stored in sealed container, in a refrigerator, and I've used some over 15
years old.

Finally, you may just have a bad batch of shellac. I don't know what cut
you're trying to mix, or what type of alcohol, but if some stirring together
with a pot of hot water doesn't do it then something's wrong with it. (I
assume you're not trying for a 12# cut, of course.)

GerryG

On 28 Dec 2004 11:58:54 -0800, "
wrote:

I'm steering clear of premixed because all the books agree that it goes
bad in six months, and if the flakes I'm buying are possibly bad, I
can't even imagine how bad the situation is at home depot. I need help
to figure out if my current batch is salvageable and what I should do
differently with my next batch.