I got a PM this morning from a member who was having problems with shellac flakes.

To summarize, he asked, "It has always been my understanding that shellac flakes, any shellac flakes, had an INDEFINITE shelf life. To me, MY definition of indefinite means....applied to this scenario, shellac flakes, as long as they are stored in a tightly enclosed container, like the one purchased in, would last forever. Once the shellac is mixed up with denatured alcohol, it had a 6 to 8 month shelf life."  and went on to say after trying to use some 12-14 year old flakes, "4 days later, it appears to be pretty well dissolved. I start applying it to my project and soon figured out that it was mostly a thick gel substance, with lumps."

My response was yes, shellac flakes can and do go bad with age.   I can refer you to a good article on the subject by Jeff Jewitt, where he talks about the mixed and unmixed shelf life of shellac.

http://antiquerestorers.com/Article...hellac.htm