Editing Shellac (section)

=== Historical ===
In the early- and mid-twentieth century, orange shellac was used as a one-product finish (combination stain and varnish-like topcoat) on decorative wood panelling used on walls and ceilings in homes, particularly in the US. In the [[American South]], use of knotty [[pine]] plank [[panelling]] covered with orange shellac was once as common in new construction as [[drywall]] is today. It was also often used on kitchen cabinets and hardwood floors, prior to the advent of [[polyurethane]].{{Cn|date=January 2021}}

Until the advent of [[Polyvinyl chloride|vinyl]], most [[gramophone records]] were pressed from shellac compounds.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Rheding|first1=Alexander|title=On the Record|journal=Cambridge Opera Journal|date=2006|volume=18|issue=1|pages=59–82|doi=10.1017/S0954586706002102|s2cid=231810582}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Melillo|first1=Edward|title=Global Entomologies: Insects, Empires, and the 'Synthetic Age' in World History|journal=Past & Present|date=2014|issue=223|pages=233–270|url=https://academic.oup.com/past/article-abstract/223/1/233/1426060|doi=10.1093/pastj/gtt026}}</ref> From 1921 to 1928, {{formatnum:18000}} tons of shellac were used to create 260 million records for Europe.<ref name=Berenbaum1993Page27 /> In the 1930s, it was estimated that half of all shellac was used for [[Phonograph record|gramophone records]].<ref name=HowManufactured1937>{{cite news|title=How Shellac Is Manufactured|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55073762|access-date=3 July 2014|publisher=The Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912–1954)|date=18 December 1937}}</ref> Use of shellac for records was common until the 1950s and continued into the 1970s in some non-Western countries, as well as for some children's records.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-12-28 |title=My Turntable Has 3 Speeds But Are 78 RPM Records Still Made? {{!}} Vinyl Bro {{!}} Elevate Your Music |url=https://vinylbro.com/are-78-rpm-records-still-made/ |access-date=2022-12-30 |language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The history of 78 RPM recordings {{!}} Yale University Library |url=https://web.library.yale.edu/cataloging/music/historyof78rpms |access-date=2022-12-30 |website=web.library.yale.edu}}</ref>

Until recent advances in technology, shellac ([[French polish]]) was the only glue used in the making of [[ballet]] dancers' [[pointe shoe]]s, to stiffen the box (toe area) to support the dancer en pointe. Many manufacturers of pointe shoes still use the traditional techniques, and many dancers use shellac to revive a softening pair of shoes.<ref>{{Cite web
| url = http://www.bloch.com.au/content/54-maintenance-of-pointe-shoes
| title = Maintenance of Pointe Shoes – Bloch Australia
| website = Bloch Australia
| access-date = 17 March 2016
| archive-date = 18 April 2019
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190418021244/https://www.bloch.com.au/content/54-maintenance-of-pointe-shoes
| url-status = dead
}}</ref>

Shellac was historically used as a protective coating on paintings.{{Cn|date=January 2021}}

Sheets of [[Braille]] were coated with shellac to help protect them from [[wear]] due to being read by hand.{{Cn|date=January 2021}}

Shellac was used from the mid-nineteenth century to produce small moulded goods such as [[picture frame]]s, [[box]]es, toilet articles, [[jewelry]], [[inkwell]]s and even [[dentures]]. Advances in [[plastics]] have rendered shellac obsolete as a moulding compound.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Freinkel |first=Susan |title=A Brief History of Plastic's Conquest of the World |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-brief-history-of-plastic-world-conquest/ |access-date=2022-04-21 |website=Scientific American |language=en}}</ref>

Shellac (both orange and white varieties) was used both in the field and laboratory to glue and stabilise dinosaur bones until about the mid-1960s. While effective at the time, the long-term negative effects of shellac (being organic in nature) on dinosaur bones and other fossils is debated, and shellac is very rarely used by professional conservators and fossil preparators today.<ref>{{Cite web |title=PaleoPortal Fossil Preparation {{!}} Tips |url=http://preparation.paleo.amnh.org/50/tips |access-date=2023-05-06 |website=preparation.paleo.amnh.org}}</ref>

Shellac was used for fixing [[inductor]], [[Electric motor|motor]], [[Electrical generator|generator]] and [[transformer]] windings. It was applied directly to single-layer windings in an alcohol solution. For multi-layer windings, the whole coil was submerged in shellac solution, then drained and placed in a warm location to allow the alcohol to evaporate. The shellac locked the wire turns in place, provided extra insulation, prevented movement and vibration and reduced buzz and hum. In motors and generators it also helps transfer force generated by magnetic attraction and repulsion from the windings to the rotor or [[armature (electrical engineering)|armature]]. In more recent times, shellac has been replaced in these applications by synthetic resins such as [[polyester resin]]. Some applications use shellac mixed with other natural or synthetic resins, such as [[pine resin]] or phenol-[[formaldehyde]] resin, of which [[Bakelite]] is the best known, for electrical use. Mixed with other resins, [[barium sulfate]], [[calcium carbonate]], [[zinc sulfide]], [[aluminium oxide]] and/or cuprous carbonate ([[malachite]]), shellac forms a component of heat-cured capping cement used to fasten the caps or bases to the bulbs of electric lamps.{{Cn|date=January 2021}}