PSA: A client's basement in Cincinnati taught me about humidity and shellac

I was finishing a maple table down there last fall, and the shellac just would not dry. The basement felt damp, so I checked with a cheap gauge from the hardware store and it read 85% humidity. I had to move the piece upstairs and wait two full days before I could sand it smooth. Has anyone else run into a humidity problem that bad with a natural finish?

4 comments

4 Comments

harpercampbell1mo ago

Humidity ruins everything from wood to hair.

ryant5029d ago

Ever notice how humidity is basically nature's way of telling us we're not allowed to have nice things? It's like a tiny, invisible gremlin that just goes around ruining guitar necks and giving everyone bad hair days. I swear my own hair in the summer looks like I stuck a fork in a light socket, it's that bad. At this point I'm convinced the only thing humidity doesn't mess up is maybe a puddle.

tarahall1mo ago

My buddy's guitar got left in his car overnight during a heat wave. Opened the case and the neck had warped so bad it looked like a bow.

jordan_hill1mo ago

My old apartment in Savannah had this one warped floorboard by the window. The whole place just felt damp, like the air itself was slowly taking things apart. It curls book pages, makes salt clump in the shaker, and turns a simple cracker into something chewy and sad. It's this quiet, constant force of decay you can't really fight.