paint alternative question

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Saw on Martha Stewarts' show the other day (yea, yea, I know), a guy who did historic renovations and he used non toxic paints. Just like people used to use WAY back before all the chmicals. He took egg yolk, water and vinegar and added coloring to it. Have checked her web site, but couldn't find the exact measurements for it. Does anyone know anything about this or a web site to direct me to? Or, has anyone tried this? Thanks!

-- Annie (mistletoe@earthlink.net), September 01, 2000

Answers

Sounds like your all purpose grade school tempera paint, doesn't it? I remember that one time the paint went bad (eggs, remember) and it squirted all over me. STANK to high heaven all day. Thrilling. By the way, what's the matter with Martha? (I'm the author of the "Part Laura Ingalls, part Martha Stewart post - you would be suprised at the number of similar minds that are out there). If you're not careful, we'll come over there and harshly judge your interior decor!

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), September 01, 2000.

Heehee. Thanks Soni, for starting my day off with a smile!

-- Annie (mistletoe@earthlink.net), September 02, 2000.

Annie:

You might consider using whitewash. There is a recipe for it in an item about a week or so ago. You can add color to it. Just go to a place which sells concrete products to builders and ask for the pigments which are added to wet concrete to color it. You are pretty well restricted to earthtones though. Why did barns use to be painted red? Because iron oxide (red) was the cheapest of the pigments.

-- Ken S. in TN (scharabo@aol.com), September 02, 2000.


I watch em' too. Love HGTV, Christopher Lowell, and ALL the gardening shows. Coffee works good to stain wood, and it's pretty. I have an old book, Magic and Medicine of Plants, that lists the colors each plant will turn something. You boil them to make the colors. Kids paints in those big tubs are non toxic, and you could mix the colors to get what you wanted. I will search for Martha and try to find her! Sounds like that paint would stink allot! What was the coloring?

-- Cindy in Ky (solidrockranch@msn.com), September 02, 2000.

I found this recipe in one of my books. It is supposed to be what the author used when doing restoration work on antique furniture. I have never tried it (always intended to, you know how that goes.) Anyway here it is.

Milk Paint: 1 gallon milk, 6 oz.slake lime, 4 oz. linseed oil, 3 oz. calcium carbonate, pigment to desired shade. Mix ingredients in this order, mixing thoroughly before adding the next. Stir frequently while using. Good luck

-- Marci (ajourend@libby.org), September 02, 2000.



Cindy, I watch all that stuff,too! My daughters always say "Mom,your little man is on!!"

Annie, have you tried looking up Historical Paints and Dyes on the net? They may have something you can use or have some other links. I got a recipe of paint off there but can't remember the correct addy. It's been a long time and my "drawer" doesn't always open when I need it too!LOL

-- Debbie T in N.C. (rdtyner@mindspring.com), September 02, 2000.


http://www.realmilkpaint.com

-- Cindy in KY (solidrockranch@msn.com), September 02, 2000.

If you make milk paint, I'm pretty sure you should use skim milk.

I've been playing with whitewash. I'm the one that posted the recipe here not long ago. Three parts slaked lime, one part salt, mix them together and then stir into water (or milk) untill it's the right thickness. I think the ratios of powder to liquid I had might be too thick, but I didn't measure how much of the dry mix I added to the water. If it's too thick it will crack when it dries. Make a test batch to try before soing anything big.

Today I mixed up about a pint that instead of just using water I mixed some reddish-orange clay in the water and let it set to settle for a while. I should have let it set a bit longer as there is still some grit that should have settled out. Anyhow, I poored off the clay-water, letting most of the solids stay in the pot. I then stirred in the lime/salt mix. I mixed it in a jar, so I shook it rather than stirred it. It's best to let white washes set over night before useing them, so I'll give it a real test in the morning. The splotch I tried has a nice earthy color.

-- paul (p@ledgewood-consulting.com), September 02, 2000.


Thanks all and to Cindy for the web site.

-- Annie (mistletoe@earthlink.net), September 02, 2000.

Believe it or not, I once used the "red clay" soil at my house to stain a fir floor repair to match the original stained boards. Was too broke back then to even think about buyiing stain. I got pretty close, too!

JOJ

-- jumpoffjoe (jumpoffjoe@yahoo.com), September 02, 2000.



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