# Zinsser SealCoat - 2 Questions



## GAF (Nov 4, 2012)

I have read quite a bit about Zinsser SealCoat in this forum and others.

Question 1 - Is it fair to say that it will adhere to anything and anything will adhere to it? Or is that too simplistic?

Question 2 - If I use it to seal inside drawers to clean things up and control odors and I want to apply 2 coats, do I have to sand between the coats.

Feedback is always appreciated. Thanks you.

Gary


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

GAF said:


> I have read quite a bit about Zinsser SealCoat in this forum and others.
> 
> Question 1 - Is it fair to say that it will adhere to anything and anything will adhere to it? Or is that too simplistic?


That's pretty much it.



GAF said:


> Question 2 - If I use it to seal inside drawers to clean things up and control odors and I want to apply 2 coats, do I have to sand between the coats.


That's what I would do...just a light scuff coat.








 







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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Yes you are correct about sealcoat, it will stick and almost anything sticks to it. It is just shellac that has had the wax filtered out. Shellac is a popular finish that is durible and easy to repair. You could take a finish that is 20 years old that has been scratched and just brush it with dentured alcohol and the alcohol would disolve it and flow it back together and re-harden. Almost any finish you put on wood will raise the grain and make it fuzzy. Sanding the finish between coats will make the finish better with each coat.


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## GAF (Nov 4, 2012)

Steve Neul said:


> Yes you are correct about sealcoat, it will stick and almost anything sticks to it. It is just shellac that has had the wax filtered out. Shellac is a popular finish that is durible and easy to repair. You could take a finish that is 20 years old that has been scratched and just brush it with dentured alcohol and the alcohol would disolve it and flow it back together and re-harden. Almost any finish you put on wood will raise the grain and make it fuzzy. Sanding the finish between coats will make the finish better with each coat.


Steve, thanks for the feedback. When I use the SealCoat to seal the insides of drawers I dilute 50/50 with denatured alcohol - did not mention that in my original post. If the finish feels good after 1 coat, I may skip the sanding stage between coats just to save some time.

Gary


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## HowardAcheson (Nov 25, 2011)

Sanding between coats of shellac is not necessary unless you have some surface defect from a prior coat. Any new coat of shellac will partially dissolve the prior shellac coat and the two will melt together and flow out just fine. For the inside of a drawer I would not sand.

Let me also say that dewaxed shellac is necessary only if you plan to to overcoat it with an oil based poly varnish or a waterbased product. If you plan to overcoat it with standard oil based varnish or lacquer, you can use a shellac that contains it's natural wax.


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## GAF (Nov 4, 2012)

HowardAcheson said:


> Sanding between coats of shellac is not necessary unless you have some surface defect from a prior coat. Any new coat of shellac will partially dissolve the prior shellac coat and the two will melt together and flow out just fine. For the inside of a drawer I would not sand.
> 
> Let me also say that dewaxed shellac is necessary only if you plan to to overcoat it with an oil based poly varnish or a waterbased product. If you plan to overcoat it with standard oil based varnish or lacquer, you can use a shellac that contains it's natural wax.


Howard, thank you for the feedback. The melting of additional top coats of shellac makes perfect sense. Surface defect are unlikely to be an issue inside a drawer. This will make my process faster. Thanks again.

Gary


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## maniac (Dec 27, 2010)

I was at a Sherwin Williams store, told the guy that I put down a coat of SealCoat and wanted to know what options he had for a finish coat. He was very emphatic that NONE of the Sherwin Williams or Minwax products could be used on top of it. If I wanted to use their product for a topcoat, I had to use their product for the sealer. Then I told him I stained to wood with an oil based Cabot stain before the SealCoat. Also not good. Can't use any SW or Minwax product over top of Cabot stain. Must use their stain. He said there's very complex chemical reactions that take place, blah, blah, blah... Sounds to me like he was either 1) just trying to sell more of his products or 2) concerned about liability in case something went wrong. 
I strongly suspect that most of their products would adhere just fine over the SealCoat, but with his approach, I'd rather shop elsewhere, even a bigbox store.

Anyone else care to comment? Have you had problems as he suggested I would?

Ken


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## jschaben (Apr 1, 2010)

Hi Ken - I confess, I haven't used Seal Coat but I have used a lot of BIN which is pigmented shellac. I think you could likely get the same type/quality of advice at a WalMart or Big Box paint department as you did from that particular S-W. I have been sealing new pine cabinet doors with BIN to pre-empt any pitch issues and top coating with S-W ProClassic.


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## Fred Hargis (Apr 28, 2012)

maniac said:


> I was at a Sherwin Williams store, told the guy that I put down a coat of SealCoat and wanted to know what options he had for a finish coat. He was very emphatic that NONE of the Sherwin Williams or Minwax products could be used on top of it. If I wanted to use their product for a topcoat, I had to use their product for the sealer. Then I told him I stained to wood with an oil based Cabot stain before the SealCoat. Also not good. Can't use any SW or Minwax product over top of Cabot stain. Must use their stain. He said there's very complex chemical reactions that take place, blah, blah, blah... Sounds to me like he was either 1) just trying to sell more of his products or 2) concerned about liability in case something went wrong.
> I strongly suspect that most of their products would adhere just fine over the SealCoat, but with his approach, I'd rather shop elsewhere, even a bigbox store.
> 
> Anyone else care to comment? Have you had problems as he suggested I would?
> ...



I think you assessed those comments correctly...IME getting advice from the local SW stores is worst than the box stores. They have some rudimentary training on _painting walls_, but otherwise are more clueless about finishing than most. Anything SW makes will adhere just fine to seal coat.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

maniac said:


> I was at a Sherwin Williams store, told the guy that I put down a coat of SealCoat and wanted to know what options he had for a finish coat. He was very emphatic that NONE of the Sherwin Williams or Minwax products could be used on top of it. If I wanted to use their product for a topcoat, I had to use their product for the sealer. Then I told him I stained to wood with an oil based Cabot stain before the SealCoat. Also not good. Can't use any SW or Minwax product over top of Cabot stain. Must use their stain. He said there's very complex chemical reactions that take place, blah, blah, blah... Sounds to me like he was either 1) just trying to sell more of his products or 2) concerned about liability in case something went wrong.
> I strongly suspect that most of their products would adhere just fine over the SealCoat, but with his approach, I'd rather shop elsewhere, even a bigbox store.
> 
> Anyone else care to comment? Have you had problems as he suggested I would?
> ...


Wow, the guy you talked to was either a complete idiot or a crook. As long as the type of product you are using is compatable there is no reason you can't mix brands. The products each company sells are so similar there is no reason you can't use one with the other. There is no reason you can't topcoat Cabot stain with any finish Sherwin Williams sells as long as the stain has dried. It's possible the guy you talked to was confusing Sealcoat with standard shellac. With standard shellac you have to be careful what you topcoat it with. I wouldn't stop shopping at Sherwin Williams because of one idiot. Just make sure what products you need so you don't have to ask advice or if you do ask only the manager. They are usually trained a little better.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

This is why we have forums, so we can bash the retail clerk that gets paid by the hour to sell his products. I'll bet somebody's else's life savings that the clerks don't have the technical experience that some of the members on forums have attained. If you are in doubt, you could do the trial and error method, like so many of us have learned by.








 







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## Handplane (Nov 28, 2012)

maniac said:


> I was at a Sherwin Williams store, told the guy that I put down a coat of SealCoat and wanted to know what options he had for a finish coat. He was very emphatic that NONE of the Sherwin Williams or Minwax products could be used on top of it. If I wanted to use their product for a topcoat, I had to use their product for the sealer. Then I told him I stained to wood with an oil based Cabot stain before the SealCoat. Also not good. Can't use any SW or Minwax product over top of Cabot stain. Must use their stain. He said there's very complex chemical reactions that take place, blah, blah, blah... Sounds to me like he was either 1) just trying to sell more of his products or 2) concerned about liability in case something went wrong.
> I strongly suspect that most of their products would adhere just fine over the SealCoat, but with his approach, I'd rather shop elsewhere, even a bigbox store.
> 
> Anyone else care to comment? Have you had problems as he suggested I would?
> ...


I used Zin dewaxed once under a Sherwin Williams Lacquer and got a perfect finish. A few days later, some funny things happened in a few spots, almost like something melted under the finish.

There are much better wash coats around though than de-waxed Shellac, both in easier sanding and in application. They are just not as versatile and more specific to the type of finish which will follow.


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