The natural substance shellac offers many possible uses. You’ve probably come into contact with it before without even knowing it. Here you can find out what shellac can be used for and how it is made.
Shellac is a natural, resinous, amber-colored compound that can be used for a variety of purposes. Its properties are:
naturally
tough consistency when warm
very hard when dried and cold
good adhesion
shiny coating
not soluble in gasoline and turpentine oil
soluble in alcohol, organic acids and aqueous alkalis
Application of shellac
Due to its properties, shellac is primarily used as a coating agent, but is also used as an adhesive or binding agent. It is approved as a food additive as E 904. The range of application areas is large.
Food: As a protective layer, it keeps fruit and vegetables fresh for longer (often in combination with beeswax). You can find shellac as a coating on sweets such as chocolate, chewing gum, coffee beans and nuts.
Drugs: Coating of tablets
Cosmetics: shine effect in hairspray and nail polish, binding agent in mascara, emulsifier in creams
Paints and varnishes: binders, colorants, base for primers and printing inks
Surface treatment: polishing of wood (restoration and maintenance of furniture), fixing drawings such as pencil, charcoal or chalk drawings.
Adhesives: jewelry processing (e.g. for gluing stones), cigarette paper, as upholstery glue for instruments, for example the saxophone
Production of shellac
Shellac is formed when certain species of scale insects metabolize plant sap:
The (varnish) scale insect lives on the shoots, leaves and bark of various trees and feeds on plant sap. When the female lice lay eggs, they turn the sap into a resinous mass. This mass is a precursor of shellac. Gradually, this secretion completely surrounds the female lice like a kind of cocoon. When hardened, it acts as a protective layer for the eggs during the early stages of development. The mother lice die in the cocoon, the young lice burrow through the resin layer after about six months.
To obtain shellac, the resin is removed from the leaves and tree. The mass is washed and melted in several passes and formed into a thin layer. Once the material has dried, it breaks up and the characteristic flake shellac is formed. The secretion of around 300,000 lacquer scale insects is required for one kilogram of shellac.
Depending on the country of origin and tree species, shellac comes in different colors. For example, there is yellow lemon shellac or red ruby shellac. Lacquer scale insects are primarily native to South Asia.
Shellac: harmful to health?
Shellac is an animal product. Due to the diverse areas of application, the industry requires large quantities of the substance. During production, numerous living lice are processed, which are still hidden in residues of the resin on leaves and pieces of bark. Therefore, shellac is not vegan and not vegetarian.
