Shellac - Wiki

Prime it, paint it and forget about it.

Well is there a possibility the test gave a false positive....???

If its alligatored, all you need to do is get denatured alcohol and steel wool to dissolve/ remove/ smooth out the shellac - probably want to do that anyway to get a smooth painting surface. If you really think there is lead in it you dont want to sand it.

If its dissolved and being wiped up, then its not a hazard even if for some reason it has lead in it. Its airborne lead particles from sanding that is hazardous, not removing it by liquid stripper.

Or depending on the condition of your wood - some people find that steel wool + alcohol alone is enough - cleans/brightens and gets the finish looking like new again.

This threw me off also, but the only thing I can guess is that maybe a varnish was put over the top at some point and lead acetate was added as a drying agent to the varnish ( found a few threads talking about lead acetate in varnish ). This wood is very clean I don't know that it ever had paint on it. What is strange about it is there are two rooms with oak trim these test fine, it is the pine or what ever the other wood is in every other room that makes the 3M lead test go red....

Thats interesting - I had no idea. I wonder if they didnt do something similar to my woodwork since the shellac seems more "stuck on" than shellac typically is...

If it is beautiful old growth pine, fine grained and super-hard then it still may be worth removing the finish chemically (whether by alcohol or other stripper) and applying modern clear finish over ... that would safely remove it and encapsulate any remaining lead. I think by 1930s a lot of the old growth forests were gone and so the wood was starting to not be quite as good... but still lightyears better than what we have today, the splintery farmed wood that gets treated with growth accelerants. Is it the wood that is in poor shape or just the finish?

The wood is not in bad shape for the most part. The grain is just as prevalent in the "pine" as there is in the oak trim, and in its own way very beautiful. The finish is definitely in bad shape aligatored, cracked, and worn off in many spots, and therefore, I feel, is a hazard (lead). My worry is about people touching the trim (for example my pre teens chasing around the house grabbing onto the door frame to swing around the courner). We believe the house is either based on this model or is this model of house but has had some modifications to it. http://www.searshomes.org/index.php/2011/02/17/the-chelsea/  There is copious amounts of trim and doors and all of it is alligatored or cracked.

If there is a varnish over shellac, does this turn into a two part process, strip with a citrus or soy chemical strip then denatured alcohol after? I wish I could just re shellac but I can't seem to find if this is enough of a seal over the lead which leaves me with polyurethane I am guessing......

I would just strip it. No dust, no danger.

"90% of the trim in my 1920's house tested positive for lead."

What test was done? And how well did you follow directions? False positives are just as much an issue as false negatives.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2170477/ 

Its really helpsul to experiment first and figure out what's what. Try the denatured alcohol and steel wool first - that will tell you right off whether its shellac or not, or if youd have to go to a stronger stripper. If theres a lot of shellac as first layer then the alcohol might melt the shellac and take the top layer (whatever it is) off with it. The problem with the more caustic strippers is they start taking out the aged color of the wood, often in an uneven way which then could involve stains and futzing around to get it to look nice and even again. Whereas if you can get by with just alcohol it leaves a nice even tone.

Another thing I like about the alochol is that while it has strong odor it dissipates pretty quickly unlike some of the other products, even the "safe" ones.

Interesting article lazy - I think we have a state lab where we can get things tested for not a lot of $. Might be worth it - why freak out unless you have to! Although just merely touching a railing IMHO is not any sort of hazard - only if you injest or breathe particles ( ie if its crumbling and flaking or if you sand it or the dust gets on your hands and then you eat a sandwich without washing your hands, etc.) It is odd though that its only the pine and not the oak that's testing positive so it very well could be OP's theory is correct.

Hi there,

What came off your shellac conundrum?? We have a 1900 house with a very similar story! Beautiful natural wood trim around windows and doors, some of which is all "alligatored" and tests positive for lead! I had no idea they put lead in such things until we got this house. Some trim is fine, some not. It's clearly not been painted before. Love to know what you decided to do about this. We have an infant and I want to make things safe for him.

HU, did you have a pro come in and test? If you've only done a home test, I'd talk to a lab (call your Health Dept. either local or state and ask about it) and get a real sample analyzed. They can advise you how to collect it.

Comment on an older post two posts up:

>> Although just merely touching a railing IMHO is not any sort of hazard - only if you injest or breathe particles ( ie if its crumbling and flaking or if you sand it or the dust gets on your hands and then you eat a sandwich without washing your hands, etc.

And this is exactly what happens, especially with kids. Also, it can release small dust particles which fall to the floor or get suspended in the air. The HUD lead paint guidance explains that 'high traffic areas' such as doorways are most likely to flake off due to the friction of hands, feet etc. That dust may or may not go onto hands, but it's loose in the house. Keeping a good solid coat of something over it solves the problem.