Bleached vs Unbleached Shellac: Which One to Buy

Every shellac starts as seedlac, which is amber to dark red. There are two ways to make it paler. One is physical: remove the wax with solvent and take out colour with activated carbon. That gives the pale dewaxed grades such as Platina and Super Blonde. The other is chemical: dissolve the seedlac in alkali and bleach it, which gives near-white bleached shellac. The two routes give products that look similar on a spec sheet but behave differently in storage, in use and under food law.

Side-by-side comparison

Property	Unbleached shellac (seedlac, flakes, button lac, dewaxed)	Bleached shellac (standard and dewaxed bleached)
How colour is reduced	Not reduced (seedlac, flakes, button lac), or physically decolourised with activated carbon (pale dewaxed grades)	Chemically bleached in alkali solution, then precipitated and dried
Colour	Garnet, orange, lemon, blonde, down to pale Platina	Off-white to near-white
Form	Flakes, buttons or grains	Powder or granules
Wax	Natural wax retained, or below 0.2% in dewaxed grades	Standard bleached keeps wax; dewaxed bleached is below 0.2%
Shelf life	Dewaxed flakes about 24 months sealed, cool and dry	About 12 months; slowly loses solubility, faster in heat
EU food additive E904	Not E904 in the EU since Regulation (EU) 2026/189	Only the wax-free (dewaxed) bleached grade
Indian HS code	1301 10 10 (shellac), 1301 10 20 (seed lac), 1301 10 40 (dewaxed and decolourised), 1301 10 70 (button lac)	1301 10 50 (bleached lac)
Our price	Seedlac ₹700–1,100, flakes ₹1,100–1,700, dewaxed ₹1,400–1,700 per kg	Bleached ₹2,100–2,350; E904 grade ₹1,700–2,100 per kg

Prices are ex-works guide ranges per kg and depend on grade, quantity and the lac crop. Freight is added by Incoterm. See each product page for MOQ.

How each one is made

Unbleached shellac

Seedlac is melted and filtered to make shellac flakes or button lac. Colour stays as nature made it, which is why these grades are amber to garnet. For dewaxed shellac, the resin is dissolved in alcohol, the wax is filtered out, and for the palest grades the solution is passed through activated carbon. No bleaching chemical is used, so the resin chemistry is close to the original lac. The full process is in how shellac is made.

Bleached shellac

Seedlac is dissolved in a mild alkali, bleached under controlled conditions, then precipitated with acid, washed and dried. The result is a white resin that keeps shellac's film-forming, gloss and barrier properties. It is sold as standard bleached, with the natural wax, and dewaxed bleached, with wax below 0.2%. See bleached shellac.

The practical differences that matter to buyers

• Colour: if the coating must not tint a white or very pale surface, only bleached shellac is truly white. Platina dewaxed is very pale but still faintly yellow.
• Shelf life and storage: bleached shellac ages faster. As it ages it dissolves more slowly and can leave insoluble gel. Buy it in quantities you will use within a year, keep it cool and dry, and use older lots first. Orange and dewaxed flakes are more forgiving. More in why shellac blocks in storage.
• Food and pharma: in the EU, E904 is now limited to wax-free bleached shellac. Orange, blonde and other unbleached grades are technical or wood-finishing grades there. Other markets have their own specifications. See what is E904 shellac.
• Wood finishing: most finishers prefer unbleached flakes. They dissolve reliably, keep for years and give the warm tone people expect from shellac. Bleached shellac is used when the wood must stay pale, as on maple or limed oak.
• Cost: bleaching adds a process step and the product has a shorter life, so bleached grades cost more per kg than flakes or seedlac.

Which one should you buy?

Confectionery glaze or tablet coating for the EU	E904 dewaxed bleached shellac
White or pale paper coating, overprint varnish	Bleached shellac
French polish and traditional furniture finishing	Button lac or orange, lemon and garnet flakes
Clear sealer under polyurethane or water-based finishes	Dewaxed shellac, Blonde or Platina
Light woods where any yellow is unwanted	Platina dewaxed, or bleached if it must stay white
Long storage or slow-moving stock	Unbleached flakes, which keep better than bleached

Not sure? Send us the application and the market you sell into, and we will suggest a grade and send a 100–500 g sample with its batch COA. For more on grades, read shellac grades explained and seedlac vs shellac flakes vs dewaxed.

Quick answers

What is the difference between bleached and unbleached shellac? Unbleached shellac keeps its natural amber colour, or is made paler physically by removing wax and filtering through activated carbon. Bleached shellac is chemically bleached to an off-white or near-white colour. Bleached shellac has a shorter shelf life and costs more.

Is Platina or Super Blonde shellac bleached? No. These are dewaxed shellac grades decolourised physically with activated carbon. They are very pale but not white. Bleached shellac is a separate product made by chemical bleaching.

Which shellac is E904 food grade in the EU? Only wax-free (dewaxed) bleached shellac, under Commission Regulation (EU) 2026/189. Unbleached grades and standard bleached shellac that keeps its wax are supplied for technical use.

How long does bleached shellac last? About 12 months in cool, dry storage. It slowly loses its ability to dissolve as it ages, faster in heat. Dewaxed flakes keep about 24 months sealed.

Why is bleached shellac more expensive? It needs an extra bleaching and precipitation step, and its shorter shelf life means it has to be made and stocked in smaller lots. Our bleached shellac is ₹2,100–2,350 per kg against ₹1,100–1,700 for shellac flakes.

This guide summarises industry practice as of October 2026. Confirm current regulations and requirements for your market before ordering. It is not legal advice.