Knowledge You Can Build On — Est. 1998
Milk Paint
John Lucas
>Does Milk paint go bad. I'm using a powdered paint. It's at least 3 to 5 years old. It's powdered and doesn't look bad but when I paint it on is goes on like there are undisolved clumps. When dry these clumps brush right off and leave very little paint. I've only tried one of my colors. I'll mix up some of the others in the next day or so and see if they do the same thing.
Re: Milk Paint
Brad Homman
>John, I have never used Milk Paint, but when I saw post I remembered reading about it in the book "Making a Windsor Chair With Mike Dunbar". He says " I mix the paint in a coffee can with an egg beater attachment in an electric drill.---Wait an hour or so for the froth whipped up by mixing to settle, then the paint should be water thin. Milk paint does not keep well, so make only enough for your immediate use. You can put the paint in the refrigerator overnight, but it will not last much longer than a day or two before it spoils and loses its ability to bond.--Milk paint is different than other paints---it is quickly absorbed by raw wood and you cannot draw out the first coat-you almost have to daub it onto the wood." 'The first coat will dry quickly-in the time it takes the water to evaporate. When it is dry, the chair will look terriable, and you will be in a state of panic, thinkinking the chair has been ruined. Do not worry. --Rub with 0000 steel wool--dust--apply second coat." " To complete the finish, apply a coat of linseed oil." (he states to use boiled linseed oil)
Hope this helps, let us know how it comes out!
Re: Milk Paint
John Lucas
>Brad
I've read that. I did find that mixed milk paint will store for several days in the fridge. This was mixed fresh from the powder. I'm going to mix some more up on Thursday and let it sit for much longer than the 10 minutes I let this sit. The can says to wait 5 minutes.
Re: Milk Paint
Mark Harrison -- in Sydney, Australia
>I've been lurking here for a little while but I pop up like a bad penny on the other boards :-)
Mike Dunbar in answer to a milk paint question in FWW slightly revised his advice on milk paint. He says now uses "danish oil" instead of BLO. There it is, FWIW.
