Post #26 - Paneling and shellac issues.

So I'm finally back at working on the trailer since the weather has warmed up to 40-50 degrees during the day and in the upper 20's and 30's at night.

An issue I've run into with my birch paneling that I put on the trailer side panels is "blushing" or "ghosting" where moisture gets under the shellac and makes it turn a milky white.  Not sure how this happened - the trailer is under cover and protected for the most part.  I'm thinking that with February's weather so frigid and snowy, the humidity in the air somehow penetrated through the shellac coatings.

I've read up on this and supposedly I should be able to go over it again with more shellac and denatured alcohol which should remove the blush.  I sure hope so.

I've tried an experiment - I recoated another sheet of plywood - french polish method, and put two coats of paste wax over the top to see if it will protect the paneling from humidity.  We still have a lot of snow to melt, and the rainy season should be here soon.  I don't really want to have to wait until May to finish this trailer just because of humidity.

With the help of my hubby, we got this sheet of plywood installed today at the rear of the trailer - most of these two panels will be behind kitchen & bathroom cabinetry, so if they cannot be fixed I'll figure out how to cover them up.

Here are a few photos - notice the white ghosting/blushing to the first photo.

The bottom inch and a half of the edge to the upper sheet of plywood had "ghosted/blushed", but I managed to wipe it away with sanding and two more light coats of clear shellac.

The bathroom wall has started to blush out, but as you can see the side of the closet still looks good, and it's been in the trailer for quite awhile,  I put on an additional two coats of shellac using the French Polish Method, with a "Rubber" (a pad of cotton batting or wool, wrapped in cotton cloth), which is loaded with shellac, denatured alcohol and a drop of mineral oil. Once dried I put on a coat of paste wax.  I did this with all of my cabinetry and the bathroom wall and it all still looks good, while the walls has a milky white look to them.   

Here is a photo of the cushions seat and seat back together...the back is split because I plan on having two different options for the bed and dining table.