With all the talk about the dangers of VOCs, many homeowners wonder if there is a greener, healthier alternative to traditional paint that still produces attractive results. Increasing numbers of these eco conscious consumers are discovering milk paint.
Although it is hot and trendy in green circles right now milk paint is not exactly a new, innovative product. It was first used by early pioneer settlers, so it actually more of a very old idea coming back into fashion.
Milk paint, as its name suggests, is actually made from real milk. The milk is mixed with lime and various organic pigments are added to provide the color. Borax is also often added to milk paint to act as a preservative.
The pros of using milk paint in place of "regular" paint include that it is completely non toxic, long-lasting and will never chip or peel. On the downside, your rooms are going to smell a bit like a dairy as the walls dry but that may be an improvement over that cloying new paint smell (it's those VOCs that give off the smell by the way) and the milk smell goes away once the walls are dry. You can use milk paint on most common surfaces both indoors and out and many people also use it to restore or personalize many different kinds of furniture.
Milk paint is usually sold in powder form. Another advantage of milk paint from an aesthetic point of view is that if you order several different shades of milk paint powder you can mix them together to create a custom shade that is completely unique to your home. It is also great for utilizing with specialist paint techniques like ragging.
At the moment the easiest place to find milk paint on sale is online but an increasing number of physical store locations are beginning to carry it as well. A great place to start shopping though is milkpaint.com the Internet home of a Massachusetts-based company which has been making and selling milk paint to interior decorators and professional painting contractors for over thirty-five years.
Although it is hot and trendy in green circles right now milk paint is not exactly a new, innovative product. It was first used by early pioneer settlers, so it actually more of a very old idea coming back into fashion.
Milk paint, as its name suggests, is actually made from real milk. The milk is mixed with lime and various organic pigments are added to provide the color. Borax is also often added to milk paint to act as a preservative.
The pros of using milk paint in place of "regular" paint include that it is completely non toxic, long-lasting and will never chip or peel. On the downside, your rooms are going to smell a bit like a dairy as the walls dry but that may be an improvement over that cloying new paint smell (it's those VOCs that give off the smell by the way) and the milk smell goes away once the walls are dry. You can use milk paint on most common surfaces both indoors and out and many people also use it to restore or personalize many different kinds of furniture.
Milk paint is usually sold in powder form. Another advantage of milk paint from an aesthetic point of view is that if you order several different shades of milk paint powder you can mix them together to create a custom shade that is completely unique to your home. It is also great for utilizing with specialist paint techniques like ragging.
At the moment the easiest place to find milk paint on sale is online but an increasing number of physical store locations are beginning to carry it as well. A great place to start shopping though is milkpaint.com the Internet home of a Massachusetts-based company which has been making and selling milk paint to interior decorators and professional painting contractors for over thirty-five years.
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