250ml of shellac varnish. Shellac was one of the most commonly used varnishes for wet plate in the 19th century. This is the classical Shellac formula but filtered with activated carbon to lighten its color. The result is less darkening and a more similar color to the unvarnished plate.

Glossy finish, but a little less than sandarac rubber.

The use of alcohol based varnishes is suitable for freshly made collodion. If your plate has been shot with an old collodion we recommend you to choose an acrylic varnish to prevent dissolving the image. You could also seal your plate with a glass dome and Canada Balsam.

Our varnishes are sold in borosilicate glass bottles, which are easy to clean and more resistant than regular glass to impact and temperature changes.

If you have trouble with this varnish dissolving your images, adding a few ml of distilled water to the varnish could solve this problem.