Milk Paint – Homemade Environmentally Safe Green Paint

The concern for our environment is growing on a daily basis and many people around the world are pitching in to do their part. If we took more time to research the chemicals that are in some of the products we use, we probably wouldn’t use them at all!

There’s all kinds of toxic chemicals in the cleaning products we use in our homes and even in the products our homes are made of. And, we all know how toxic paint can be, the smell can even give you headaches and wreak havoc on allergies.

There’s a great toxin free, natural paint that you can make yourself to use instead of buying a petroleum based paint that can make you sick. With a few simple ingredients you can make milk paint! The end result of milk paint is an old world plaster effect that is muted and looks amazing.

Milk paint has been around for literally thousands of years, items painted with milk paint were even found in King Tutankhamen’s tomb! And, there have been paintings and drawings done in milk paint that date back to over 20,000 years!

You can actually buy milk paint that you just need to mix with water. It’s easier than making your own, but it averages around $35 to $40 a gallon! Quite expensive for paint, especially when you can easily make the same mixture yourself for about half that price.

You will need one gallon of skim milk, some vinegar, Type S hydrated lime powder, paint pigment and some cheesecloth. Find a container that has a lid that’s at least two gallons so that you can have room to mix the ingredients properly.

The milk needs to curdle and this is what the vinegar is for. Pour the milk into the large container and let it set until it reaches room temperature. Add two cups of vinegar and mix it thoroughly, place the container in a warm place to sit overnight. It will need to be stirred occasionaly, maybe if you wake up to go to the bathroom you can give the bucket a good stirring!

By the next day the solids in the milk should be noticeably separating from the liquid. Try to have all your other items ready by the time this happens, you want to mix the milk paint while the milk is as fresh as possible.

Place 1/2 cup of the pigment into a separate container and mix an equal amount of water into it. If you’ve got it mixed properly, the pigment will have the consistency of a paste. Put 1/4 cup of the Type S hydrated lime powder in another container and thoroughly mix in 1 1/2 cups of water until it also resembles a past.

You really should wear a protective mask when working with the lime dust so that you don’t inhale any of it. Now, you need to strain your milk and vinegar mixture. Pour it through a colander to separate the curds and whey. Leave the curds in the colander and rinse well with clean water, don’t let the curds dry out.

Rinse the large bucket or container out and place all of the pieces of curd back into it breaking up any large pieces. Now, add the lime mixture and mix it up really good. Add the pigment mixture and again, mix thoroughly making sure to dissolve any of the pieces of curd.

Place the cheesecloth over another large bucket and strain the mixture through it. Your milk paint is now ready to use and any leftover paint can just be stored in your refrigerator for several days.

The milk paint mixture will be thin, if it doesn’t give you the coverage that you want you can just use as many coats as you want. Once the milk paint is dried you can wax it to give it a smoother finish and help seal and protect it.