removing newbaums+shellac from painted surfaces

[Brent Eastman]

heya,

i just bought a pre owned clem frame and there are some areas of the frame wrapped with cotton tape and shellac (top tube curve and chainstay). I'd like to start fresh on this build and i am afraid of messing with the paint during removal. 

anyone done this successfully? is it easy? risky?

[Ben Miller]

Denatured alcohol will removed shellac easily without damaging paint. I've used it before to clean up after shellacking handlebars. Should help removing residual glue from the tape as well, but goo gone is better. (Though the smell is way worse)

[John Hawrylak, Woodstown NJ]

Newbaum's used a VERY tenacious tape.    I wrapped a Nitto B177 with it, removed it, let it sit for 5 years and it was a PITA to remove using 70% alcohol and rough nylon pad.   The stuff left after removing the tape was very tacky and rubbing with a nylon pad & alcohol did not work.  The nylon pad picked up some glue and got very tacky,    I had to use Goo Gone, but did not had to worry about it affecting paint.

 Suggest applying the alcohol (a lot, saturate it ) with a brush, apply more while removing the tape.   Put the frame in a stand and set the taped section horizontal to minimize alcohol run off and apply alcohol with brush as you remove the tape.  Wear sone cheap gloves to protect your hand.  put a container below to catch excess and reuse the excess

John Hawrylak

Woodstown NJ

[Brenton Eastman]

update. 

the bar tape and twine and adhesive came off no problem. 

my new concern is the amber shellac may have stained the clear coat. is this possible?

i can’t feel any change in the surface where the amber soaked through. (variation in the color of the gold paint is from my headlamp)

anyone got a solve for this? 

On Apr 12, 2026, at 11:59 AM, 'John Hawrylak, Woodstown NJ' via RBW Owners Bunch <rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Newbaum's used a VERY tenacious tape.    I wrapped a Nitto B177 with it, removed it, let it sit for 5 years and it was a PITA to remove using 70% alcohol and rough nylon pad.   The stuff left after removing the tape was very tacky and rubbing with a nylon pad & alcohol did not work.  The nylon pad picked up some glue and got very tacky,    I had to use Goo Gone, but did not had to worry about it affecting paint.

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[Mike Rossi]

Definitely stained it. The same thing happened on my Susie, but in a much smaller and inconspicuous spot. Alcohol, ammonia, Goo Gone, mineral spirits,… nothing worked. I actually went through the clear a bit and started to “eat up” one of the chain stay decals, so I stopped and left it alone. Personally, I think it(on your bike) looks cool and would be tempted to recreate the effect on the whole length of that tube. It might be possible to wet sand the clear with 2000 grit to get rid of the stain and buff it back to a shine, but I’d be scared to try it as I wouldn’t be sure how much clear there is. 

Best wishes.

Mike

On Apr 12, 2026, at 4:00 PM, Brenton Eastman <brenton...@gmail.com> wrote:



update. 

the bar tape and twine and adhesive came off no problem. 

my new concern is the amber shellac may have stained the clear coat. is this possible?

i can’t feel any change in the surface where the amber soaked through. (variation in the color of the gold paint is from my headlamp)

anyone got a solve for this? 

<image0.jpeg>

On Apr 12, 2026, at 11:59 AM, 'John Hawrylak, Woodstown NJ' via RBW Owners Bunch <rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Newbaum's used a VERY tenacious tape.    I wrapped a Nitto B177 with it, removed it, let it sit for 5 years and it was a PITA to remove using 70% alcohol and rough nylon pad.   The stuff left after removing the tape was very tacky and rubbing with a nylon pad & alcohol did not work.  The nylon pad picked up some glue and got very tacky,    I had to use Goo Gone, but did not had to worry about it affecting paint.

 Suggest applying the alcohol (a lot, saturate it ) with a brush, apply more while removing the tape.   Put the frame in a stand and set the taped section horizontal to minimize alcohol run off and apply alcohol with brush as you remove the tape.  Wear sone cheap gloves to protect your hand.  put a container below to catch excess and reuse the excess

John Hawrylak

Woodstown NJ

On Sunday, April 12, 2026 at 12:32:00 PM UTC-4 brenton...@gmail.com wrote:

heya,

i just bought a pre owned clem frame and there are some areas of the frame wrapped with cotton tape and shellac (top tube curve and chainstay). I'd like to start fresh on this build and i am afraid of messing with the paint during removal. 

anyone done this successfully? is it easy? risky?

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[Brenton Eastman]

hey mike, when you say “went through the clear” you mean just by using one of the liquids you listed?

On Apr 12, 2026, at 1:38 PM, Mike Rossi <mwill...@gmail.com> wrote:

Definitely stained it. The same thing happened on my Susie, but in a much smaller and inconspicuous spot. Alcohol, ammonia, Goo Gone, mineral spirits,… nothing worked. I actually went through the clear a bit and started to “eat up” one of the chain stay decals, so I stopped and left it alone. Personally, I think it(on your bike) looks cool and would be tempted to recreate the effect on the whole length of that tube. It might be possible to wet sand the clear with 2000 grit to get rid of the stain and buff it back to a shine, but I’d be scared to try it as I wouldn’t be sure how much clear there is. 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/EC5C72EC-2B97-4A77-ABF6-C52A4F5078D1%40gmail.com.

[Guy Jett]

Wow!  Something to keep in mind if wrapping Newbaum's on a painted surface.  Would be up for a discussion of alternatives.  Would probably go for the adhesive on the wool pads as well.

GAJett

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[Guy Jett]

Alcohol is the solvent of choice for shellac.  It's what you use to thin shellac or to create a liquid by adding to shellac crystals.  That is also why a cocktail spill on a shellacked table top will damage the finish!

Try a small bit of alcohol on a cotton swab on the paint but I couldn't imagine alcohol damaging the paint.  Also put a drop onto the cotton tape -- it should become slightly sticky.  If not then something other than shellac was used and you've got larger problems.  

If both tests pass then soak the cotton tape with the alcohol and unwrap.  Finish up by wiping the tubes with an alcohol dampened rag until all traces of the shellac are removed.

Note that I have never tried this on a bicycle, but I have successfully restored many pieces of furniture with a shellac-linseed oil finish (a "French Polish") over the years.

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[Brent Eastman]

BIG WARNING to other shellac users, based on this experience I would highly recommend only using clear shellac on anything painted

as stated in earlier post, the cotton tape, twine, adhesive gunk, all came off, with flakes and chunks of shellac coming off as well.

what i am now left with is a smooth as glass surface that looks like the photo i posted, pretty positive this is stained clearcoat

i have read some success from other car/bike forums using; polishing compounds, and/or very fine sandpaper 2000-5000 grit, and/or magic eraser. 

i'm going to start with the suggestions for least invasive/abrasive first, and see how far i get. testing inside of chainstay first

another mystery to me; some rogue splatters of amber shellac came off, with no stain underneath, i believe the newbaums was dark red, maybe a reaction of the fabric dye+shellac+clearcoat? the adhesive backing seemed to protect the paint.

updates to come once i try some more removal methods

[Mike Rossi]

Yeah, but not sure which one. I may have softened up the clear with one and went through with another. Basically, the French horn decal on the chain stay started to flake away in some spots, so I knew I was breaking through the clear. I’m going to guess mineral spirits coupled with too much elbow grease. It happened not long after I first got the frame and I was bummed. That feeling has long passed, now.

Mike

On Apr 13, 2026, at 12:43 AM, Brent Eastman <brenton...@gmail.com> wrote:

BIG WARNING to other shellac users, based on this experience I would highly recommend only using clear shellac on anything painted

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/41b23aeb-eaee-4354-8a59-18a7939a990an%40googlegroups.com.

[Mike Rossi]

Also, that stain on my chain stay was a result of applying a strip of newbaums followed by twine on the ends of the strip while the bike frame was in the work stand. I then used amber shellac on the strip and twine. After the bike was built up, I changed my mind and found that stubborn spot of shellac under the twine area on top of the decal.

Mike

On Apr 13, 2026, at 6:18 AM, Mike Rossi <mwill...@gmail.com> wrote:

Yeah, but not sure which one. I may have softened up the clear with one and went through with another. Basically, the French horn decal on the chain stay started to flake away in some spots, so I knew I was breaking through the clear. I’m going to guess mineral spirits coupled with too much elbow grease. It happened not long after I first got the frame and I was bummed. That feeling has long passed, now.

[Spencer Robinson]

I gotta agree! That looks SO cool!