# Milk Paint



## wizer (14 Oct 2009)

What's the deal with Milk Paint? I hear the yankee doodles talking about it often. What's the difference between milk paint and dulux ?


----------



## MikeG. (15 Oct 2009)

Tom,

there is a bit of a green fashion for casein paints.....(casein is derived from milk, hence the name). They can look good, but certainly have their limitations, but the advantage is that they aren't full of all the nasties that modern paints contain. They are much more "natural".

Mike


----------



## yetloh (16 Oct 2009)

They have a very matt finish which is part of the attraction because they have a very different look to them but I understand they do really show greasy finger marks. I believe you can varnish over them but I can't see the point as you might as well have used Dulux in the first place. 

Jim


----------



## wizer (16 Oct 2009)

I'm in two minds. It's for a child's toy pram. I'm not fussed by the eco properties but do like the look (or what it looks like on t'net at least). Tho it sounds like its not really suitable for this purpose on its own. I guess I could add a clear top coat? I'll probably just use a coloured eggshell from brewers.

Thanks chaps


----------



## yetloh (18 Oct 2009)

Tom,

Have a look at this guy's work. 

http://michaelcullendesign.com/

Not what you had in mind I'm sure but pretty amazing

Jim


----------



## Alder (25 Jan 2015)

Milk Paint from General Finishes is a featured product in this months Furniture and Cabinetmakers magazine. This is an old thread on this Forum and I was wondering if anyone has recent experience of using Milk Paint.
Russell


----------



## bugbear (25 Jan 2015)

Alder":16j3nd0n said:


> This is an old thread on this Forum and I was wondering if anyone has recent experience of using Milk Paint.



I think in the case of casein/milk paint, old experience is fine!

BugBear


----------



## harvestbarn (26 Jan 2015)

I have just sprayed six items with the Annie Sloane chalk paint. Although they say you can apply without much preparation I sanded well including between coats. It does cover well but needs three coats of wax, this reacts with the paint and can take up to three weeks to finaly cure. Without the wax the paint is rather soft. 

Four small tables just needed just two coats of paint, the other two tables with drawers which were originally the very dark mahogany had a orange tint come through the first coat. This is either from the dye used or the wood , a coat of Zinsser 123 sorted this out. 

My wife wanted this paint finish and agreed to do all the waxing we are both pleased with the result. I have to say the waxing is as much work as the preparation and painting. 

The spraying was done in my workshop which was heated and all had to be water based paints. The sprayer was a HVLP Earlex HV5500, the paint needed to be thinned to a viscosity of about 80 seconds or less, a 2mm needle was used with a vertical spray pattern of about four inches. This contained the overspray to a minimum, I had a lot of narrow legs and adjusted the head to suit. This spray unit has three options easily switched between. The finished spray coat was almost perfect it was the first time I had done any spraying for very many years and had never used a water based paint before. 

I did as an experiment brush paint the first coat on one table but was not as pleased with the finish and found it did not save time despite the cleaning of the sprayer.


----------



## Alder (26 Jan 2015)

Thank you harvestbarn that was most helpfull


----------



## GarF (27 Jan 2015)

I used the General Finishes milk paint on my toolchest. My understanding was that this is not a true 'milk paint', more like a modern paint formulated to give the same look- but my recollection may be incorrect. I too used an Earlex, and was pretty happy with the result. I'm not sure how damage resistant the finish will be, but then I'm expecting the chest to look a bit banged about in time anyway.
G


----------



## John Brown (27 Jan 2015)

"I have just sprayed six items with the Annie Sloane milk paint."
I was under the impression that the Annie Sloan stuff was chalk paint, rather than milk paint. I could be wrong, though. It happened once before in 1967.


----------



## harvestbarn (28 Jan 2015)

Apologies you are correct Annie Sloane is a chalk paint and is more expensive but does go a very long way when sprayed, I have put the error right. This paint has a bonding agent and when sanded comes off easily producing a fine dust. I thought the bonding agent was the main difference but I could be wrong, the name came from the chalky appearance when dry. 
The following link may be of some interest http://www.usedeverywhere.com/chalk-pai ... ilk-paint/


----------



## mouppe (28 Jan 2015)

Milk paint is fantastic if you are going for that particular look. It has a lovely matt sheen, you can blend colours, and it ages well. Also non-toxic, easy to use and quite fun to use. Lots of people use it for that "shabby chic" look with distressing etc. but I prefer the two-tone elegance you can achieve. 

Here is a chair I painted with black over red milk paint, with shellac in between coats and an oil topcoat and wax to finish. Sounds like a lengthy process but it really isn't. You can see how the red subtly comes through the black. 

Apologies if you have seen this photo before but I posted it in the recent projects' thread. 

Unlike other paints the grain still shows through milk paint somewhat which is also an advantage. 

I used paint from the Real Milk Paint Company, but only this afternoon I bought some vibrant "Maritime Blue" from a Canadian company (I try to support the little locals when I can) called Homestead House.


----------



## Alder (29 Jan 2015)

Thank You Mouppe. The chair looks fantastic, you have set a high standard.
Russell.


----------

