Since a piece of raw wood is made up of small tubes known as trachea, they must be filled in with wood putty—composed of a kneaded mixture of crude urushi, rice glue and powdered wood shavings—before the piece is to become lacquerware. If a piece of wood contains defects that are larger than normal trachea, the “dough” of the wood putty is first made firmer before being applied. After drying, the wood is sanded down with sandpaper, resulting in a rough surface that makes it easier for urushi to be applied in the next step. Thereafter, the steps of drying and polishing each layer are repeated in each stage of the production process until the final urushi coating is applied.

Urushi is applied over the whole surface of the piece of wood and left to sink in, preventing moisture from seeping in. A mixture of crude urushi and a polishing powder (made up of a moistened fine soil dust) is then kneaded and applied to the entire surface of the wood, reinforcing the piece further in a process called sabitsuke. Next, a ground coating of urushi is applied atop the sabitsuke layer, thereby affixing it, in a process called jinuri. That ends the various steps involved in applying the ground coating.

The oil-free urushi to be used in the intermediate layers of coating is first filtered through traditional Japanese washi paper to remove its impurities, then applied evenly over the whole surface of the wood. This is repeated two times, after which the piece is left to dry for two to three weeks until the final coating is applied, allowing the urushi to sink in firmly.

An oily layer of the best-quality urushi is liberally spread over the whole surface of the piece. If the urushi starts to flow or drip off, the artisan flips the piece repeatedly at steady intervals until the urushi hardens evenly. This final coating of urushi is called the hananuri (flower coating). As the coating attains its finish without the surface being polished, the oil in the urushi becomes even more lustrous, giving the piece its trademark urushi gloss.