{"title":"Button Lac","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eButton lac, the historically authentic form — pure, uncut, genuine.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFor most of shellac's working history, all shellac was button shellac. Seedlac would arrive at the refiner, be loaded into long cloth bags, heated over a charcoal fire, and pressed by hand into thin sheets or molten buttons left to cool on a flat stone. Whether the melt was sheeted into flake or left as a fused button was a question of trade form, not chemistry. The button is what came out of the press when the press stopped.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThat older way of making shellac has narrowed almost to nothing. Most commercial shellac sold today is dewaxed flake — a twentieth-century industrial form, chemically distinct from anything the early finishing manuals describe. Button lac is still made, but in steadily fewer places. It is produced as a cottage industry now: in homes and small facilities in India, by hand, by people whose families have done this work for generations. Most commercially available button lac is adulterated with rosin to bring the cost down. Pure uncut button lac is sourced through trusted cottage producers, by people who know which producers can be trusted.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThat is the shellac on this page.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhat the heat does\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhen seedlac is melted to make button lac, the heat doesn't just shape the resin — it changes it. The shellac thermally pre-polymerizes during the press, producing a film harder and more durable in use than what cold-processed shellac yields. The 5–6% natural wax that is in every form of unrefined shellac stays in the button. It is not dissolved out; it remains inside the resin as part of the structure of the dried film.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis is the chemistry that working finishers have leaned on for centuries, well before anyone could measure it. The hardness is real. The film behaves differently. Practitioners describe it; the chemistry is consistent with the description, even where it has not yet been measured directly.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWho uses it\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFloor finishers — button lac is the traditional choice for shellacked floors and interior woodwork, where the harder film earns its place under foot traffic.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFrench polishers — particularly those finishing musical instruments, where button lac produces the deep, glassy, unmistakably \u003cem\u003eold\u003c\/em\u003e surface the technique was developed around. Most French polishing manuals written before the 1920s assume button lac as the default; the technique and the material grew up together.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAntique restorers and conservators — period-correct work on furniture and instruments from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries calls for the material that was actually used. Modern dewaxed flake will not produce a finish indistinguishable from what is being repaired. Button lac will.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eInstrument repair shops — guitars, violins, the whole stringed-instrument world. The traditional French-polish finish on a violin is button lac.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eThe varieties we carry\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe grades we keep on hand span the tonal range from a light golden amber through a deep reddish brown. From lightest to darkest:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSuper Golden Kusmi Button Lac\u003c\/strong\u003e — the lightest button we carry. Develops a rich golden amber on light-toned woods. Seasonal, limited.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSpecial Golden Kusmi Button Lac\u003c\/strong\u003e — a shade darker than Super Golden, a shade lighter than Kusmi #1. New variety for 2026.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eKusmi #1 Button Lac\u003c\/strong\u003e — caramel amber. Develops warm amber tones on mahogany, red oak, cherry, and Douglas fir. Our most widely used button grade.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eKusmi #2 Button Lac\u003c\/strong\u003e — a deeper warm reddish-amber-brown than the #1. Suits oak floors, craftsman paneling, and the wood trim of late-nineteenth-century homes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDark Jethwa Button Lac\u003c\/strong\u003e — deep, warm, dark amber. Excellent on darker woods and on the dark trim and floors of homes from the late 1800s into the early 1900s. One hundred percent pure shellac; an exclusive grade.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe right grade is the one that matches the wood and the period. Lighter buttons let the wood's own color show through warmly; darker buttons assert themselves more, the way a finish on an 1890s walnut sideboard ought to. Many practitioners keep two or three grades on the shelf and reach for the one the piece calls for. If you would like a recommendation for a specific job, an email or a phone call will get you a real answer from someone who knows the material.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eReference: the \u003ca href=\"\/pages\/pound-cut-chart\"\u003epound cut chart\u003c\/a\u003e — dry weight per gallon, quart, and pint at the common working cuts. Useful when you are breaking a button for a French-polish session and weighing the flake into a fresh bottle.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBrowse the grades below.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"bysakhi-button-lac","title":"Bysakhi Button Lac","description":"\u003cp\u003eBysakhi button lac. A wax-containing button-form shellac, hand-refined in the cottage tradition, period-correct for French polishing and conservation work.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMost commercial shellac sold today is dewaxed flake — a 20th-century industrial product. Button lac is the older form, the one classical finishing texts describe. The wax is part of the structure, not an impurity to be removed. The buttons are still produced by hand in small operations, weighed and packed one bag at a time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBysakhi sits among the lighter button lacs in the lineup — a middle-tone shellac that builds without dominating the wood beneath it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSourced direct from a fifth-generation refining family in India who has supplied this bench since 1990. Pure, uncut, genuine.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Shellac.net","offers":[{"title":"1 Lb","offer_id":52328547778853,"sku":"SHL-BTN-BYSAKHI-1LB","price":66.1,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"1\/2 Lb","offer_id":52328547811621,"sku":"SHL-BTN-BYSAKHI-HLF","price":34.7,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"1\/4 Lb","offer_id":52328547844389,"sku":"SHL-BTN-BYSAKHI-QTR","price":19.05,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0997\/5136\/2853\/files\/bysakhi-button-lac-hero.jpg?v=1779970364"},{"product_id":"kusmi-1-button-lac","title":"Kusmi #1 Button Lac","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe historically authentic form of shellac. Wax-containing, cottage-produced, period-correct for French polishing and conservation work. From the highest grade our partners select for us each season.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMost commercial shellac sold today is a 20th-century industrial product — dewaxed, processed by methods that did not exist when classical finishing texts were written. Button lac is what shellac was for most of its working history, including all of the period those texts cover. The buttons are still produced by hand in small cottage operations, weighed and packed one bag at a time. There is no industrial substitute.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMixing notes: see the \u003ca href=\"\/pages\/pound-cut-chart\"\u003epound cut chart\u003c\/a\u003e for dry weight per gallon, quart, and pint at the common working cuts.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWe carry the Kusmi #1 grade specifically because it comes from the Kusum tree itself and undergoes a hand-refining process that preserves the natural wax structure. The result reads warm honey in alcohol, builds with a few well-laid passes, and rubs out the way the old texts describe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSourced direct from a fifth-generation refining family in India who has supplied this bench since 1990. Pure, uncut, genuine.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Shellac.net","offers":[{"title":"1 Lb","offer_id":52328554594597,"sku":"SHL-BTN-K1-1LB","price":67.8,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"1\/2 Lb","offer_id":52328554627365,"sku":"SHL-BTN-K1-HLF","price":35.6,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"1\/4 Lb","offer_id":52328554660133,"sku":"SHL-BTN-K1-QTR","price":19.45,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0997\/5136\/2853\/files\/kusmi-1-button-lac-hero_b57db720-87fd-4cc1-9d3e-fa0eba289aa4.jpg?v=1779970455"},{"product_id":"kusmi-2-button-lac","title":"Kusmi #2 Button Lac","description":"\u003cp\u003eKusmi #2 button lac. The same Kusmi-grade button-form shellac as our #1 grade, sorted at a slightly lower selectivity — meaning a touch more variation in button color and a price that reflects the grade. The same hand-refined cottage process, the same wax-containing structure, the same source.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMost commercial shellac sold today is dewaxed flake — a 20th-century industrial product. Button lac is the older form, the one classical finishing texts describe. The wax is part of the structure, not an impurity to be removed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eKusmi #2 is the grade for finishers who want pure, traceable button lac at a working price — for shops doing larger volume, for restoration where multiple coats are needed, for any project where the difference between #1 and #2 is invisible in the cured film.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSourced direct from a fifth-generation refining family in India who has supplied this bench since 1990. Pure, uncut, genuine.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Shellac.net","offers":[{"title":"1 Lb","offer_id":52328554758437,"sku":"SHL-BTN-K2-1LB","price":66.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"1\/2 Lb","offer_id":52328554791205,"sku":"SHL-BTN-K2-HLF","price":35.15,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"1\/4 Lb","offer_id":52328554823973,"sku":"SHL-BTN-K2-QTR","price":19.25,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0997\/5136\/2853\/files\/kusmi-2-button-lac-hero.jpg?v=1779970461"},{"product_id":"kusmi-super-golden-button-lac","title":"Kusmi Super Golden Button Lac","description":"\u003cp\u003eKusmi super golden button lac. The top grade of the Kusmi button line — selected for color uniformity and the warm, golden tone that gives the variety its name. The most refined button lac our partners produce.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMost commercial shellac sold today is dewaxed flake — a 20th-century industrial product. Button lac is the older form, the one classical finishing texts describe. The wax is part of the structure, not an impurity to be removed. The buttons are still produced by hand in small operations, weighed and packed one bag at a time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSuper golden is the grade for the work where the shellac itself contributes to the visual character of the finish — fine furniture, instrument bodies, restoration where the warmth of the period-correct shellac is part of what is being preserved.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSourced direct from a fifth-generation refining family in India who has supplied this bench since 1990. Pure, uncut, genuine.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Shellac.net","offers":[{"title":"1 Lb","offer_id":52328555118885,"sku":"SHL-BTN-SGKUSMI-1LB","price":75.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"1\/2 Lb","offer_id":52328555151653,"sku":"SHL-BTN-SGKUSMI-HLF","price":39.45,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"1\/4 Lb","offer_id":52328555184421,"sku":"SHL-BTN-SGKUSMI-QTR","price":21.4,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0997\/5136\/2853\/files\/kusmi-super-golden-button-lac-hero.jpg?v=1779970481"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0997\/5136\/2853\/collections\/kusmi-1-button-lac-hero.jpg?v=1780017901","url":"https:\/\/shellac-net.myshopify.com\/collections\/button-lac.oembed","provider":"Shellac.net","version":"1.0","type":"link"}