Lacquer

Used in many different ways to describe the protective coat applied to furniture, but also sometimes refers to the coloured coat applied to furniture. There are many types of lacquer that can be used to achieve different finishes, especially where pigment is dissolved in the lacquer to give very clear and smooth finishes. Traditional Lacquer pieces, such as Chinese and Japanese tableware, used Urushiol which was derived from tree extracts, but this is a very specialised form of lacquering. In furniture production Nitrocellulose based lacquers were also used, but have been phased out in recent years in favour of Acrylic and Water based lacquers becuase of concerns of=ver health and flammability issues.