Shellac and Dyes
Liz has been in the basement a lot lately, doing her mad scientist routine. She’s been methodically trying to figure out how to best stain the new trim we’re looking to purchase: vertical grain Douglas Fir.
So far, a lot of the tests have been bad – resulting in splotchy pieces. She’s since taken to trying to combine shellac and dye, to see if they yield better results.

Prepping the dyes.

For these samples, Liz chose a shellac as a control/base… and then began adding the dye directly to each jar.

Testing out the combinations on a piece of Doug Fir.

The results: good in terms of consistency and the absence of splotching. But the colors are very, very red.

So many jars, so many brushes.

Several test boards.
The top (square) is a test of some gel stain. Didn’t turn out very well.
The middle board is a test of just the shellacs themselves.
And at the bottom, it’s a board that has a layer of linseed oil. And then the various dyes mixed with the control shellac.
Believe it or not, Liz has even more stuff coming in to try out – all of it working towards some magical formula that we can use, to get our trim to pair well with our floor.
I think the term mad scientist is appropriate here. Liz has been down in the basement a lot, and I know she’s been having a lot of fun exploring all these variations.
Related:
Paint and Shellac
First Floor: Staining
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