Seedlac is a natural resin that is obtained from the secretions of the tiny lac insect Laccifer Lacca. The insects are cultivated on selected host trees. The insect secretions form a cocoon on the twigs of the trees which are then harvested and brought to our factory as Sticklac. After processing, we extract the natural resin known as Seedlac. Seedlac raw material supplied from our factory to customers is formulated to obtain Shellac and Aleuritic Acid which have multiple uses in a range of industries.
Contact Us| Essential Requirements | Matter insoluble in hot alcohol | Basic Limit | 3.0% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Relaxed Limit | 5.0% |
| Optional Requirements | Matter insoluble in hot alcohol | Color Index | 18 Max. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volatile Matter | 2.5% | ||
| Bleach Index | As agreed between Buyer and Seller | ||
| Matter soluble in water | 1% | ||
| Ash | As agreed between Buyer and Seller | ||
| Wax | 5.5% |
| Essential Requirements | Matter insoluble in hot alcohol | Basic Limit | 3.0% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Relaxed Limit | 5.0% |
| Optional Requirements | Matter insoluble in hot alcohol | Color Index | 18 Max. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volatile Matter | 2.5% | ||
| Bleach Index | As agreed between Buyer and Seller | ||
| Matter soluble in water | 1% | ||
| Ash | As agreed between Buyer and Seller | ||
| Wax | 5.5% |
| Essential Requirements | Matter insoluble in hot alcohol | Basic Limit | 3.0% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Relaxed Limit | 5.0% |
| Optional Requirements | Matter insoluble in hot alcohol | Color Index | 18 Max. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volatile Matter | 2.5% | ||
| Bleach Index | As agreed between Buyer and Seller | ||
| Matter soluble in water | 1% | ||
| Ash | As agreed between Buyer and Seller | ||
| Wax | 5.5% |
| Essential Requirements | Matter insoluble in hot alcohol | Basic Limit | 3.0% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Relaxed Limit | 5.0% |
| Optional Requirements | Matter insoluble in hot alcohol | Color Index | 18 Max. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volatile Matter | 2.5% | ||
| Bleach Index | As agreed between Buyer and Seller | ||
| Matter soluble in water | 1% | ||
| Ash | As agreed between Buyer and Seller | ||
| Wax | 5.5% |
| Essential Requirements | Matter insoluble in hot alcohol | Basic Limit | 3.0% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Relaxed Limit | 5.0% |
| Optional Requirements | Matter insoluble in hot alcohol | Color Index | 18 Max. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volatile Matter | 2.5% | ||
| Bleach Index | As agreed between Buyer and Seller | ||
| Matter soluble in water | 1% | ||
| Ash | As agreed between Buyer and Seller | ||
| Wax | 5.5% |
Dissolves easily in alcoholic solvents and mild alkalis but is resistant to hydrocarbons and insoluble in water.
Films show excellent adhesion to a wide variety of surfaces yielding high gloss, hardness, and strength.
Electrical properties are very good, especially freedom from tracking.
Powerful bonding material.
Both a thermoplastic as well as a thermosetting resin.
Resistant to UV-rays.
Colorless, tasteless, non-toxic, and non-injurious to health.
Stick lac is first crushed using a crusher machine and sieved to remove sand and dust. Once the sieving is done the crushed stick lac is fed by basket into a Barrel Washing Machine. The loading time taken is generally 15-20 minutes. The capacity of loading at the time of the barrel is its (diameter x length)/2.
This washing removes the dye from the sick lac and also removes other materials like sand, wood impurities, and insect body. The process usually takes around two to three hours to complete. It uses a lot of water and the rotary device inside the barrel helps the churning of the stick lac and helps in the cleaning process.
The water that comes out of the barrel is often taken onto a field and is allowed to dry down. The contents are sometimes used as pesticides and fertilizers. However, the use is much restricted nowadays. The washing time and the methods adopted to do this improves the quality of the seed lac.
Different types of washing are done for different grades single wash for low quality, double wash for medium quality, and triple wash for superior quality:
(a) Single Wash:
This involves simple washing without or with a negligible amount of soda for some 45 minutes.
(b) Double Wash:
Soda cleaning (750 gm for 500 kg) with a low quantity of water for 20 minutes. Water is poured into the barrel from the top through the pipe for about 25 minutes and stopped when colour of water passing through a 60-number net at the back side of the barrel appears white
(c) Triple Wash:
Water cleaning for 20 minutes. Soda washing (1 kg for 500 kg material) for 1 hour (superior quality) or 45 minutes (medium quality). Then again water cleaning for another 30 to 35 minutes. This is done till the water coming out of the barrel shows no pigment.
After the completion of washing, the bottom part of the barrel is opened and the total mass is poured into a circular cemented basin (the size of the basin depends upon the capacity of the washer). The masses thereafter are filtered through cloth (different quality of cloth is used for different grades). After removing the lighter impurities (‘Khari’ or ‘Pati’) from the mass, seed lac is collected.
The seed lac is then spread into the open cement floor for drying. The layer of seed lac is continuously rolled over the floor from one side to the other side with the help of a ‘Patri’ (a wooden flat strip having a long handle) for facilitating the drying.
The process of drying would take an hour or two. Usually, the washing should not go beyond 2 p.m. so that the finished product is dried by the end of the day.
After drying, the material is sieved through a number of Chaluni (circular hand-operated sieving tools). Each of them is of a different size and helps sieve the seed lac based on the size of the sieve. The residue so left out at this stage is called the ‘Kuni’ and ‘Molamma’.
Then all materials so sorted out are gathered and the remaining impurities are cleaned using the hand-operated winnowing baskets (bamboo-made instrument called ‘Kulo’) usually done by women.
The seed lac is obtained in the form of a grain of 10 meshes or smaller, and yellow or reddish brown in colour. Different grades of hand-made seed lacs are available in the market like genuine Baisakhi, Fine Baisakhi, Golden Baisakhi, Golden Kusmi, Golden Kusmi-bold grain, Manbhum fine seedlac, etc.