Lacquer can best be described as a coloured or
clear varnish. Lacquer dries by solvent evaporation, and quite often a curing
process will be used to produce a durable hard finish for any type of sheen,
from ultra matte to a high gloss, and then the lacquer can be polished even
further if required. The word lacquer comes from the Portuguese word lac, and is
a form of resin excreted by certain insects. Lac based varnishes are known as
shellac. Lacquer refers to some polymers which are dissolved in volatile organic
compounds, such as nitrocellulose and acrylic and dissolved in lacquer thinner,
which is a mixture of several solvents. Lacquer and shellac are traditional
finishes, with lacquer being more durable than shellac. There are several types
of lacquer and some of these are acrylic lacquers, urushiol based lacquers and
water based lacquers.
