Purchase pre-mixed shellac suitable for your wood. Choose white shellac for light wood and orange shellac for dark wood, for example mahogany and walnut. Alternatively, buy the shellac in flakes and prepare it by adding denatured alcohol.
Smooth the wood with sandpaper and dust with a dust brush. Clean the wood surface with a tack cloth until completely clean and dust again.
Apply the shellac steadily with a fine natural brush along the grains of the wood. Use single long strokes to avoid leaving brush strokes. Let the first coat dry for up to four hours. Rub the surface lightly with grade 7/0 sandpaper and clean the surface with a tack cloth. Apply another four coats of shellac and repeat the sand and cleaning process after each coat. Leave the final coat for 48 hours to harden.
Remove the gloss on the wood by rubbing it with a “0000” steel wool and dust the surface with a tack cloth after 48 hours. Apply wax with a clean cloth and buff to shine.