Re: [RBW] removing newbaums+shellac from painted surfaces

[Mike Rossi]

Yeah, but not sure which one. I may have softened up the clear with one and went through with another. Basically, the French horn decal on the chain stay started to flake away in some spots, so I knew I was breaking through the clear. I’m going to guess mineral spirits coupled with too much elbow grease. It happened not long after I first got the frame and I was bummed. That feeling has long passed, now. Mike On Apr 13, 2026, at 12:43 AM, Brent Eastman <brenton.east...@gmail.com> wrote: BIG WARNING to other shellac users, based on this experience I would highly recommend only using clear shellac on anything painted as stated in earlier post, the cotton tape, twine, adhesive gunk, all came off, with flakes and chunks of shellac coming off as well. what i am now left with is a smooth as glass surface that looks like the photo i posted, pretty positive this is stained clearcoat i have read some success from other car/bike forums using; polishing compounds, and/or very fine sandpaper 2000-5000 grit, and/or magic eraser.  i'm going to start with the suggestions for least invasive/abrasive first, and see how far i get. testing inside of chainstay first another mystery to me; some rogue splatters of amber shellac came off, with no stain underneath, i believe the newbaums was dark red, maybe a reaction of the fabric dye+shellac+clearcoat? the adhesive backing seemed to protect the paint. updates to come once i try some more removal methods On Sunday, April 12, 2026 at 9:13:18 PM UTC-7 Guy Jett wrote: Alcohol is the solvent of choice for shellac.  It's what you use to thin shellac or to create a liquid by adding to shellac crystals.  That is also why a cocktail spill on a shellacked table top will damage the finish! Try a small bit of alcohol on a cotton swab on the paint but I couldn't imagine alcohol damaging the paint.  Also put a drop onto the cotton tape -- it should become slightly sticky.  If not then something other than shellac was used and you've got larger problems.   If both tests pass then soak the cotton tape with the alcohol and unwrap.  Finish up by wiping the tubes with an alcohol dampened rag until all traces of the shellac are removed. Note that I have never tried this on a bicycle, but I have successfully restored many pieces of furniture with a shellac-linseed oil finish (a "French Polish") over the years. On Sun, Apr 12, 2026 at 9:32 AM Brent Eastman <brenton...@gmail.com> wrote: heya, i just bought a pre owned clem frame and there are some areas of the frame wrapped with cotton tape and shellac (top tube curve and chainstay). I'd like to start fresh on this build and i am afraid of messing with the paint during removal.  anyone done this successfully? is it easy? risky? -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/e020e77b-3037-4bb9-b78c-70e3e0994aa4n%40googlegroups.com. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/41b23aeb-eaee-4354-8a59-18a7939a990an%40googlegroups.com. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/644CD60B-9159-4FEB-8C0B-2AD233CB65BD%40gmail.com.