Traditional Paints & Pigments
Mar 21, 2016 12:40:35 GMT
Post by Jack Loomes on Mar 21, 2016 12:40:35 GMT
Homemade Paint
20 RECIPIES
for traditional types of PAINTS from Denmark
By Søren Vadstrup
INTRODUCTION
There could be many different reasons why you would want to paint the woodwork or the masonry of a house. Maybe it is because of a
delight in colours, or just because of tradition, habits or a wish to emphasize particular details.
The starting point for the majority of the following types of paints intended for woodwork or masonry is mainly that they must preserve the
underlying wood or the brickwork for as long as possible.
Therefore, they first of all have great covering power against the sunlight (pigmentated), secondly they are porous (open to diffusion), so
that the humidity contained in the wood can evaporate and thirdly they are much weaker than the material they cover, whether it is wood or
masonry.
Emulsion paint is a very strong paint suitable for all kinds of purposes.
However, it is too strong for outdoor woodwork or brickstone and furthermore it is dense and unflexible. The plastics do not go very well
with alteration and changes of old materials caused by humidity, temperature and natural decomposition. Beyond this, emulsion paint polutes
our environment both in the course of its manufacture as well as application and decomposition.
Finally, it must be added that there have been enormous economic consequences on society in all its aspects because of the many problems
due to damaged wood and masonry (often quite new) as a result of an incorrect treatment with emulsion paint.
All the paints mentionned in the following recipies solely contain binders that are environmentally degradable as they consist of harmless
materials, that are completely decomposed in the nature. The paints neither contain any dangerous solvents nor preservatives that affect the
surrondings while they dry up.
It may seem a paradox that paints containing such weak materials as linseed oil, flour, casein (buttermilk), paste, wax etc. are suitable for
anything at all. On the contrary we have thousands of years of experience with some of the paints while we only can relate to some of the
other kinds for the last ten, twenty or maybe hundred years.
All of the 20 mentionned types of paint are well tested and they turned out to be very different. Some are "strong", some are very delicate
and weak, some are for indoor use, while others are preserved well outdoor and some are suitable for planned wood and others for rough
wood.
Unfortunately only a few of these 20 types of paint can be bought ready-for-use on the market (only paint made from linseed oil plus
distemper made from cellulose-glue or casein-glue) and sadly enough only very few professional house painters and decorators are
interested in these paints or even know them and know how to prepare them.
Anyhow, returning to the esthetic aspect when painting your own house, experience shows that in contrast to various modern products of
surface treatment, old types of paint are far more beautiful, whether they are quite new or going through their natural phase of
decomposition.
OVERVIEW
of traditional and natural PAINTS
A: Oil Paints
1.Oilpaint made from boiled linseed oil
2.Oilpaint made from raw linseed oil
3.Oilpaint made from wood tar
4.Oilpaint made from fish-oil
B: Glue Paints
1.Distemper made from animal glue
2.Distemper made from cellulose-glue
3.Moss-colour (Carragen-glue-colour)
4.Distemper made from beer
5.Distemper made from potato flour (Sichell-glue)
6.Distemper made from flour-paste
7.Distemper made from flour-porridge (Swedish mud-colour)
8.Distemper made from casein.
C: Tempera Paints
1.Glue tempera made from animal or vegetable glue
2.Paste tempera made from flourpaste
3.Paste tempera made from flourporridge
4.Casein tempera
5.Soap tempera
6.Egg and oil tempera
7.Waxcasein tempera
8.Oxblood
A: Oil Paints
Pigments:
All pigments are suitable for the preparation of oilpaints, apart from some of the real earthern colours as terra di Siena, earth green and chalk
white.
How to use:
Oilpaints can be used on planed and rough wood. Some of the oilpaints are completely fast and weatherproof. Paints made from linseed oil
can be used both indoors and outdoors.
Generally:
The paints must be coated on the surface in very thin layers, 2 or 3 layers that contain still more linseed oil in proportion to the pigment.
The drying demands a large amount of daylight (but not direct sunlight) and air. Do not mix the paint with white spirit.
a1: Paints made from linseed varnish:
1 litre of boiled linseed oil (linseed varnish) is added to about 1/2 kg of pigment. The precise amount of pigment depends of the colour, the
product and the oil. First a thick paste is well mixed and then more linseed varnish is added until the paint seems suitable to cover and put on.
If necessary, max. 5 per cent of the so called "drier" or "siccative" is added to cut down the drying proces of the paint layer. Some times the
varnish contains drier already.
White linseed oil paint can be made from 2 white pigments:
Titan white and zinc white in the proportion of 8:2 (80% of titan white and 20 % of zinc white) because the titan white makes a porous and
faint paint while the zinc white makes a very hard, tight and hard-wearing paint.
Qualities:
Half mat, often with visible strokes of the brush.
The paint turns vaguely yellow in the dark but is bleached by daylight.
Drying:
48 hours - depending on the pigment.
Use:
Planed wood both indoors and outdoors, for instance windows.
Durability:
10-15 years. After 5-10 years a coating of linseed varnish or raw linseed oil must be given to maintain the qualities.
a2: Paint made from raw linseed oil.
This paint is made as the paint mentionned in the recipe a1, - paint made from linseed varnish -, but instead of adding the linseed varnish, raw
linseed oil is added.
Qualities:
Half glossy. Wheatherproof and fast.
Drying:
48 hours - depending on the pigment.
Use:
Planed wood both indoors and outdoors, for instance windows.
Durability:
About 10 years. After 5-10 years a coating of linseed varnish or raw
linseed-oil must be given to maintain the qualities.
a3: Paint made from wood tar:
The wood tar can be used without dilution, but it does demand either heating of the tar or preparation in nice hot wheater, while the tar is
very thick. The colour of the wood tar is light brown, but it becomes darker in the course of time.
If you wish to use the wood tar as a binder/glue for a pigmentized surface treatment it will be an advantage, - all though not necessary, to
dilute the tar. 1 litre of wood tar can for instance be diluted with 1 litre of linseed oil. Depending on the wheather and the temperature as
already mentionned, the mixture might seem too heavy and an additional thinner can be adde$, such as white spirit, kerosine or even the so
called "wood preservation". This mixture is added an adequate amount of "colour paste", prepared from some of the binder mixed with the
pigment.
Qualities:
Mat and relatively rough and shimmering surface and appearance. Wheatherproof and fast, but wild probably smell of wood
tar in the beginning. The paint turns darker in the shadow but is bleached by daylight. If the paint gets wet, by rain for
instance, the colour will be tinged with white (saponification), but when this will disappear when the paint dries up.
Drying:
About 3 weeks.
How to use:
Outdoors on rough wood.
Durability:
About 10 years. After 5-10 years a coating of linseed varnish or wood tar can be given.
a4: Paints made from fish-oil:
An old Greenland recipe states that 2 kg of train oil (seal- or whale cod-liver oil or blubber) is added 300 gm of crushed resin and about 1 kg
of red iron oxide.
The ingredients must be boiling when they are mixed.
First some of the train is heated up until boiling point and then the crushed resin is added and eventually the remains of the train oil. When the
mixture is boiling the pigment is added while stirring.
If the preparation is done on an open fire you must be careful that the train oil does not catch fire. If occasion should arise close the lid tightly.
You can also use cod-liver oil as a binder and mix it with the pigment. Fish-oil paint made from cod-liver oil does not hardly smell at all and it
will dry up in a couple of weeks, depending on the pigment.
Qualities:
Mat and relatively rough with an uneven surface and appearance. Wheatherproof and fast. Will smell of fish oil in the
beginning.
Drying:
About 2 weeks.
How to use:
On rough wood outdoors.
Durability:
About 10 years. After 5-10 years a coating of linseed varnish must be given to maintain the qualities.
B: Glue Paints
Pigments:
All pigments are suitable for the preparation of gluepaints, apart from black oxide that can be hard to work with and Terra di Siena that can
be difficult to mix with certain types of glue. White gluepaint is prepared with whiting as a pigment.
How to use:
The major part of gluepaints can only be used indoors, where they will appear very mat, colourful and beautiful. In return they are very
delicate towards wear, grease and stains of water, that only can be removed by repainting the surface. The most attrac-tive quality of the
gluepaints is its beautiful reflection of light due to the grains of pigment that are lying on the top of the paintlayer.
Particularly strong colours as red, green and blue, when not mixed uith white, will appear with a velvety reflection of light. The colours often
appear even more beautiful if they are mixed with some black pigment. You "make the colour dirty" as it is said.
If you wish to add a certain tint to the colour by preparing the colour from different basal pigments, you can either mix all the pigments into
one pigment-paste or you can put them in water one by one and eventually mix them all.
It is advisable to look at the nuances of the colour only in daylight and never in artificial light. Painting with glue-paint should also only be done
in daylight.
Do not keep the gluepaint in an iron or tin container for a longer period, as it can become rusty. The most suitable material for the keeping of
the gluepaints are plastic paint pots with tight lids.
Gluepaint made from chalk white can decompose in the pot, if it is not used for a long time. The same will happen if a wall painted with
gluepaint is humidified for a long period.
Repainting with gluepaint:
When the layer of gluepaint has become old and stained you can wash the old paint off with clean water and then, when the wall has dried
up, you can paint again with gluepaint. The method you can use is to weet the old paintlayer with water and bold strokes of the brush (large
brush) and then "pull off" the paintlayer with a sponge, that is frequently rinsed in clean water. In this way you avoid that the paint is running
down the wall and on to the floor.
Another method is to apply a "sealer" on the old paintlayer by using soapsuds (1/2 kg of soap and 3/4 litre of hot water). When the wall is
completely dry, you can repaint it with gluepaint.
Repairing:
The last-mentioned method can be used when you do smal, repair work. If you have kept the remains of the original gluepaint in a paint pot -
as dried lumps, these can be grated on a grater and mixed with a suitable amount of water and then be used again as a new gluepaint,
without adding more glue.
b1: Distemper made from animal glue (bone glue or skin glue).
Skin glue is made from raw hides,- often refuses of skin from the tanneries, that among other things are boiled and the gelatine is extracted.
The glue is also called a leather glue and is sold in powder form or as plates. Skin glue that is extracted from rabbitskin is containing the
requisite quantity of glue and that is why it is v%ry suitable for glue paint.
Bone glue is extracted by boiling degreased animal-bones, -gristle and -horn. The glue is also called "joiners glue" and is sold as crushed glue
or pearl glue. Bone glue does not contain the same requisite quantity of glue that skin glue does and that is why the last mentioned is
preferred for the preparation of gluepaint.
When preparing the gluepaint the first thing you must do is to to soak the pigment powder in water. A rule of thumb is that 1 kg of pigment
gives 1 litre of gluepaint. As different pigments absorb highly different amounts of glue the rule of thumb does not work exactly every time.
We shall return to this subject later on.
First you must soak the pigment powder in half the amount of water, that is 1 kg of pigment to 0,5 litre of water. Let the pigment macerate for
some time for instance through the night, in the way that all the the pigment grains are well water-saturated. Mix the so called pigment paste
well afterwards.
The next step is to prepare an amount of glue that will correspond to the other half of the gluepaint that you wish to use.The skin glue is
poured in cold water in the proportion 1:1. Absorbing the water the glue will swell (expand) in a couple of hours. You now heat up this
mixture of water and glue in a water bath, but be careful that the mixture does not boil.
After this, you pour about 5/6 of the pigment paste into a paint pot and then you add 5/6 of the hot glue and stir thoroughly. More water can
be added if necessary. The consistency required must be thick like junket.
It is now the time to brush out a sample of this temporary glue paint mix, preferably on a surface that correspond to the one you plan to paint
on. When this paint layer is dry, - if necessary the drying time can be speeded up with heat - , you can check if the gluepaint is containing the
requisite quantity of glue or not by touching the paintlayer. If it comes off it is not containing the requisite quantity of glue and more glue must
be added. If the paint is too glossy and without the reflection of light, that is caracteristic for gluepaint, more pigment paste must be ad`ed.
You repeat the brushing out of samples until the gluepaint is saticfactory.
The gluepaint can be applied on any kind of absorbing material: Paper, setting coat on a wall, rough or planed wood. Experience shows that
a pretreatment with thin soapy water (1/2 kg of soft soap and 3 - 4 litres of hot water) will make it easier to apply the paint, while the dried
soap will macerate the material on which the paint is applied and will delay the penetration of the gluepaint, which makes it possible to work
with wet paints. 1 or 2 layers of soapsuds can be used when applying new layers of paint or if you wish to change the colours because the
dried soap will seal the old paint layer.
After this, the gluepaint is applied with a specific brush suitable for gluepaint, that is to say a relatively broad brush with hair arranged in
bundles. While applying the paint it must never dry and you must work gently and quickly. It will often be necessary to apply two coats of
paint, and if so you must make sure that the first paint layer is well dry before you apply the next.
Qualities:
Mat with a beautiful reflection of light. Though gluepaint does not come off, it is neither hard wearing nor washable. Stains of
grease cannot be removed.
Drying:
2 hours.
Use:
Only indoors and only on absorbing materials: Paper, setting coat (dry) on a wall, rough or planed wood.
Durability:
It depends on the circumstances.
b2: Distemper made from cellulose-glue.
Cellulose-glue is made from the wadding contained in conifer wood that is pulverized and treated with alkaline salt. Cellulose-glue is thereby
a so called vegetable glue (plant glue) and is also called paste or methylcellulose. You can buy it as a powder and it is the most popular glue
used for gluepaints, while it is very easy and quick to mix with plain cold water.
Cellulose-glue is more elastic than the animal glue and that is why even a "glued over" paint layer will not peel off. The paint is drying up
when the water is evaporating. The glue is not poisonous.
The proportion between the glue powder and the water appear from the packing, but in most cases it is 1 part of glue to 25 parts of water.
The preparation of the gluepaint is done in the same way as described in "gluepaints made from animal glue". The pigment is soaked in water
the day before use so that the consistency does not become to thin. The glue is made from the recipe on the package.
The glue and the pigment-paste are now in each pot. In a third pot you pour 5/6 of the glue with 5/6 of the pigment-paste and you can now
brush out a sample. When the colour is dry you must test if it comes off and if so, you must add more glue . If the paint is too glossy you must
add more pigment-paste. If the paint itself seems too thick, you must add more water. The consistency required must bee like junket.
Qualities:
Mat with a beautiful reflection of light. Though gluepaint does not come off, it is neither hardwearing nor washable. Stains of
grease cannot be removed.
Drying:
2 hours
Use
Only indoors and only on absorbing materials: Paper, setting coat (dry) on a wall, rough or processed wood.
Durability:
It varies, depending on the circumstances.
b3: Distemper with a decoction of Iceland moss.
The glue in moss-colour, the so called Iceland moss, is neither connected with Iceland nor moss. It consists of an aqueous extract from
different kinds of lichen and alga, for instance the carragen, that grows in Ireland.
The moss-colour is suitable for painting of ceilings, because the glue is very weak, which makes it easy to wash off the paint if you wish to
repaint the surface and it leaves the most beautiful mat and clear surface with extreme reflections of light. Apart from this it has an adequate
viscosity that prevents the paint from "running" down the brush. As a pigment you can use whiting.
Moss-colour can be bought in pre-mixed packages and you just have to add some water.
Qualities:
Mat with a beautiful reflection of light. Will come off.
Drying:
2 hours
Use:
Only indoors and only on absorbing materials: Paper, setting coat (dry), rough or planed wood. It is mainly used on ceilings
(ceiling paint).
b4: Distemper made from beer:
Distemper made from beer is prepared by mixing pigment and beer (Dark lager as "Rød Tuborg" or "Gamle Carlsberg" is said to be the best) in
a way that the paint is having great covering power and is easy to apply.
When working with minor works, dor instance decorating like woodgraining or marbling, the beer-colour is often mixed on the palette. The
pigment is placed on the palettte, if necessary mixed with other pigments. You dip the brush in the beer and mix the colour on the palette. Use
an artistic brush.
Beer paint is often glazing but not waterproof. If you apply a lacquer afterwards it will make it waterproof.
Qualities:
Mat with a beautiful reflection of light. Some of the pigments are glazing but they do not come off.
Drying:
1-2 hours.
Uqg:
Only indoors and only on absorbing material: Paper, setting coat (dry), rough or planed wood.
b5: Distemper made from potato flour (painters glue or Sichel-glue)
The glue "painters glue" or Sichel glue are made from potato flour and can be bought in a dry form. The glue powder is mixed with water and
stands for 5-10 minutes after which the plant glue is prepared as described under "distemper made from animal glue", (b1).
Qualities, drying and use are the same as "distemper made from cellulose".
b6: Distemper made from flour-paste (cask glue)
The binder is made from an adequate amount of flour stirred into cold water until a paste free from lumps is reached. Still stirring, you add
boiling water until a jelly-like flour-glue, free from lumps, is produced. You can also buy flour glue under the name of "Fustagelim", (cask
glue).
This glue is mixed with the pigment, macerated with water into a thick pigment-paste, and you add water or glue until the distemper has a
great covering power and is easy to apply and does not come off. You can test this by brushing out one or more samples.
If you tend to keep the distemper for a longer period you must add a preservative.
Qualities, drying and use are as described under "Distemper made from cellulose", apart from the fact that distemper made from fl/ur has a
marked tendency to become mouldy if the painted wall is cold or humid for some length of time.
b7: Distemper made from rye flour-porridge (swedish mud-colour)
This distemper has a classic reddish brown colour and is called "swedish red colour". It is mainly used outdoors and is particularly known
from the numerous "swedish red" wooden houses. The paint can have other colours as: yellow (golden ochre), black (lampblack), brown
(umber), white. blue or green.
The oldest and most used pigment is however the "Falu-red", a by-product that is generated when extracting copper up in the mountains of
"Store Kopperberg" at the town of Falun in the middle of Sweden. A recipe on this so called mud-colour from the beginning of the eighteenth
century goes like this:
2 kg of ferrous sulphate is dissolved into 50 litres of boiling water. In this dissolution 2 - 2 1/2 kg of finely grounded rye or wheat flour is
whisked in. After 15 minutes of boiling and stirring 8 kg of red colour pigment is added while stirring energetically. Let this mixture boil for
another 15 minutes and the paint is ready. If necessary you can add 1 - 1 1/2 litres of linseed oil, wood tar or fish oil or cod-liver oil to make
the paint stronger.
The ferrous sulphate is mainly used to block for the algae. As the ferrous sulphate will become rusty in the course of time the colour will
become darker and darker. When painting with yellow, green and blue and other lighter colours zinc sulphate is used instead of ferrous
sulphate to block for the algae.
Qualities:
Mat. Weatherproof but not washable. Will normally cover after just one coat of paint. The pigment "Falu-red" is
non-inflammable.
Drying:
2 hours.
Use:
Only on rough, dried wood.
Durability:
About 10-15 years. Dark colours will last longer than the the light ones.
b8: Distemper made from casein
100 gm of dry casein is stirred into 200 ml of water. Then you add 800 ml of hot water (not boiling).
While still stirring you add 20-25 gm of powdered ammonia (ammomium hydrogen carbonate) for each litre of dissolution of casein. During this
proces the mixture will effervesce notably and there-fore it is very important, that you mix the glue in a big pot from the start. When the glue
is not effervescing any longer you add 5 ml of "Ata-mon" (antimould) a litre.
Instead of dry casein you can use 200 gm of curd mixed in 1 litre of hot water. You must still remember to add 20-25 gm of powdered
ammonia for each litre of dissolution of casein plus the antimould.
You now add the pigment to the glue (about 1/2 kg of pigment is used for one litre of glue, depending on the pigment). But first you must
prepare some pigment paste and make sure that it is well mixed and that it is of a thick consistency.
Afterwards, glue is added until the paint has great covering power and is easy to apply. Check that the paint does not come off by brushing
out some samples on an adequate material.
Qualities:
Mat. Weatherproof but not washable.
Drying:
1/2 hour.
Use:
Indoors on setting coats, paper, plasterboard or wood.
Outdoors on rough wood and on setting coats.
Casein paint is among other things very suitable on a quite new setting coat, while the paint will dry easily on this basic
material.
Durability:
5-10 years.
Distemper made from calcimine and casein
A variation of the casein-gluepaint is prepared by mixing the whitewash or limewater with a spot of casein, in the form of dry casein
dissolved in hot water or in the form of buttermilk, skimmed milk or curd. In this way the limewash is able to contain more pigment, as the
casein is providing the requisite quantity of glue to the lime. Intensification of the lime with casein is often used when painting with strong
colours (red, blue, green and black); But you must be aware of the fact that you change the lime-wash into a gluepaint, which will affect the
surface tension, the tempering process and the adherence to the material on which you are applying the paint.
C: Tempera Paints
When preparing tempera paints (latin: temparare = to mix in the right proportions) you mix the oil of the oilpaints with the water of the
gluepaints, and in so doing make the oil emulsify from an oil phase into a aqueous phase.
Pigments:
All pigments are suitable for the preparation of tempera-paints apart from certain genuine earthern colours as terra di Siena, earth green and
chalk.
How to use:
All tempera paints are water- and weatherproof and can be used both indoors and outdoors.
c1. Glue tempera made from cellulose-glue.
1 part of raw linseed oil (if necessary linseed varnish) to 1 part of cellulose-glue (texture like junket) are well mixed. 5 ml of "Atamon" per litre
is added to prevent mould growth.
From this glue you prepare a pigment paste made from, for instance, 1 kg of pigment mixed with an adequate amount of glue until the paint is
easy to apply and has a covering power. Check that the paint does not come off by brushing out some samples on a suitable material.
Qualities:
Semi mat. The paint is weatherproof and does not come off.
Drying:
2 hours.
Use:
Indoors on setting coats, paper, plasterboard or wood. Outdoors oJ planed or rough wood.
Durability:
5-10 years.
c2: Paste tempera made from flourpaste (cask glue).
1 part of linseed oil is stirred into 1 part of cask glue (flourpaste). You can either buy the flour glue under the name of "fustagelim" (cask glue)
or prepare it yourself by mixing water and wheatflour into a jelly-like glue. Add 5 ml of "Atamon" (antimould) per litre.
The pigment (about 1/2 kg is used for the preparation of 1 kg of paint, - depending on the pigment) is thoroughly mixed with water in order to
reach a thick pigment paste. Then you gradually add the binder until the paint seems easy to apply and does not come off. You can test this
by brushing out some samples on a suitable material.
Qualities:
Mat. The paint is wheaterproof but it has a vague tendency to come off.
Drying:
1 hour
Usd:
Indoors on setting coats, paper, plasterboard or wood. Outdoors on rough wood.
Durability:
About 5-10 years.
c3: Paste-tempera made from rye flour-porridge.
Paste-tempera is prepared by mixing the pigment and 1/2 - 1 litre of linseed oil or wood-tar with the distemper made from rye flour-porridge
as described in the recipe b7, "swedish mud-colour". In this way the paint will not come off any longer.
If you wish to obtain a better adherence, - to processed wood for instance, you just let the paint boil for a longer time, 1 hour for instance.
Qualities:
Mat. Wheatherproof but not washable.
Drying:
2-3 hours.
Use:
Only outdoors on rough or planed wood.
Durability:
About 10-15 years.
c4. Casein tempera
1 part of linseed oil is stirred into 2 parts of butter milk and 20-25 gm of powdered ammonia is added per litre of paint. With this glue and some
pigment you prepare a pigment-paste and by gradually adding more glue while you carefully stir the mixture, you end up with a good paint
that will have a covering power. You can add 100 gm of ferrous sulphate per litre to avoid alga on the wood. N.B: You can only use the
ferrous sulphate when preparing dark colours while it will become rusty. When preparing light colours you must use zinc vitriol or
"Atamon"(antimould).
You can only prepare casein-tempera by mixing linseed oil with casein-paint as described in the recipe b8. 1 part of linseed oil to 2 parts of
casein-paint/casein-dissolution.
Qualities:
Semi mat. The paint is wheatherproof and does not come off.
Drying:
1 hour.
Use:
Indoors on setting coats, paper., plaster-board or wood. Outdoors mainly on rough wood or setting coats.
Dureability:
10-15 years.
c5: Soap tempera
1 part of soft soap is well mixed with 2 parts of linseed oil and some powdered ammonia is added (20-25 gm per litre). Some of this
glue/binder is used for the preparation of a pigment paste with the bulk of the pigment. When this paste is well mixed you add more pigment
and glue (oil/soap emulsion) until the paint seems easy to apply. Check that the paint does not come off by brushing out some samples on a
suitable material.
Qualities:
Half glossy and a little shining. The paint is wheatherproof and has a vague tendency to come off. It is not washable.
Drying:
6 hours.
Use:
Only outdoors on rough wood or setting coats.
Durability:
About 5 years. Experience shows that on a setting coat the paint will endure - for more than 20 years.
c6: Egg and oil tempera
Ingredients: 1 part of egg (both the yolk and the egg white), 1 part of boiled linseed oil (linseed oil varnish) and 1 part of water. First you whip
the eggs very well with the same amount of linseed oil. Afterwards you add the water little by little while stirring so that the water and the
linseed oil are dispersed, - in other words the egg makes the mixture emulsify. The pigments are well mixed with the binder to get a thick
paste, after which the remains of the binder is added.
Qualities:
Half glossy or high glossy. The paint is wheather-proof and will not come off.
Drying:
1 hour - depending on the pigment.
Use:
Rough or planed wood, both indoors and out-doors.
Durability:
20-25 years.
c7: Waxcasein tempera
3 parts of hot casein-glue (recipe no. b8) is mixed with 1 part of melted beeswax. The beeswax is melting at 64 degrees C and is poured into
the hot glue while stirring. Into this hot mixture you now pour the pigment in the usual way, that is you first mix a thick pigmentpaste with all
the pigment and some of the binder, after which you add more binder until the paint seems easy to apply and has a covering power and
furthermore does not come off.
The amount of wax varies. If you add more wax the paint will turn out more glossy and vice versa.
Qualities:
Half glossy. The paint is wheatherproof and does not come off.
Drying:
10-15 minutes, depending on the pigment.
Use:
Rough or planed wood, mainly indoors.
Masonry and setting coats, both outdoors and indoors.
Durability:
About 10 years.
Paints made from wax can only be repainted with waxpaints.
c8: Oxblood or deerblood tempera
Strain out the lumps in the fresh blood by whipping it before use. Mix the blood with a paste made from red, black or other dark pigments,
depending on the shade of colour you wish to reach.
Qualities:
Mat. The paint is wheatherproof and does not come off. It is a very strong paint that demands a hard ground.
Drying:
2 hours.
Use:
Planed or rough wood, both outdoors and indoors.
Durability:
300 years?
An oak door on the "Priors Hus" (Priors house) in "Ærøskøbing" on the island of "Ærø" in Denmark has, according to the tradition, been
painted with only one layer of oxblood. This took place in 1690 and it has never been necessary to repaint it again.
How to paint
Demands to the material you paint on.
Apart from the paints made from linseed oil, all of the mentioned paints demand an absorbing ground, which means that any glossy or
impenetrable paintlayers must be removed by scraping, grinding or by heating it up.
Impregnation of wood.
Before applying the paint all wood, also fresh wood, must be impregnated all with raw linseed oil. You can apply the oil with a brush or you
can dip it on, but you can also immerse the wood into a bath of linseed oil.
The linseed oil will prevent the wood from hydrate and thereby prevent mould growth or algae. If necessary you can furthermore apply an
antimould to the wood, for instance zinc sulphate mixed with linseed oil or "Atamon" (antimould).
Some good advice concerning the preparation of paints.
You must be aware that each pigment absorb different amounts of glue. Therefore you must always evaluate the paint after brushing out a
sample.
It will always be a good idea to let the paint stand until the next day, in the way that the colour and the glue will be well mixed.
If there are any lumps in the paint you must pour it through a strainer. Finally you must remember to stir the paint at regular intervals while
working with it.
Applying and extension.
It is very important that the paint is applyed in as thin coats as possible, while thick layers dry up very slowly and peeling can appear.
The majority of the paints will cover 10-15 square metres per litre of paint on an ordinary absorbing ground. If the ground is very absorbing, -
like dried wood for instance, the paint will cover a smaller area.
Pigments:
When preparing traditional paints finely grounded and fast pigments are used. They can be bought in well-assorted paint shops.
White pigments:
Chalk (not in oil), zinc white, titanium white.
Yellow pigments:
Golden ochre, ferric oxide yellow, (artificial ochre), cadmium yellow (poisonous).
Red pigments:
Red ochre (burnt ochre), red iron oxide (=indian red), Falu-red, cinnabar (+).
Blue pigments:
Ultramarine blue, cobalt blue, Paris blue (not in egg and oil-tempera).
Green pigments:
Green earth (bohemian green earth)(only in gluepaints), chromium oxide green.
Brown pigments:
Raw umber and burnt umber, raw terra di Siena, Kassler brown, ferric oxide brown (reddish-purple)(=caput
mortuum=death`s head)
Black pigments:
Lampblack (=carbon black), boneblack, ferric oxide black (artificial boneblack) (not in gluepaints).
<><><><>
1)
Interesting Danish site with 20 recipes for homemade paint
www.raadvad.dk/7_0/7_2_1.html
The Raadvad Centre
Source: www.ibiblio.org/london/rural-skills/homemade/homemade-paint
2)
20 RECIPIES
for traditional types of PAINTS from Denmark
By Søren Vadstrup
INTRODUCTION
There could be many different reasons why you would want to paint the woodwork or the masonry of a house. Maybe it is because of a
delight in colours, or just because of tradition, habits or a wish to emphasize particular details.
The starting point for the majority of the following types of paints intended for woodwork or masonry is mainly that they must preserve the
underlying wood or the brickwork for as long as possible.
Therefore, they first of all have great covering power against the sunlight (pigmentated), secondly they are porous (open to diffusion), so
that the humidity contained in the wood can evaporate and thirdly they are much weaker than the material they cover, whether it is wood or
masonry.
Emulsion paint is a very strong paint suitable for all kinds of purposes.
However, it is too strong for outdoor woodwork or brickstone and furthermore it is dense and unflexible. The plastics do not go very well
with alteration and changes of old materials caused by humidity, temperature and natural decomposition. Beyond this, emulsion paint polutes
our environment both in the course of its manufacture as well as application and decomposition.
Finally, it must be added that there have been enormous economic consequences on society in all its aspects because of the many problems
due to damaged wood and masonry (often quite new) as a result of an incorrect treatment with emulsion paint.
All the paints mentionned in the following recipies solely contain binders that are environmentally degradable as they consist of harmless
materials, that are completely decomposed in the nature. The paints neither contain any dangerous solvents nor preservatives that affect the
surrondings while they dry up.
It may seem a paradox that paints containing such weak materials as linseed oil, flour, casein (buttermilk), paste, wax etc. are suitable for
anything at all. On the contrary we have thousands of years of experience with some of the paints while we only can relate to some of the
other kinds for the last ten, twenty or maybe hundred years.
All of the 20 mentionned types of paint are well tested and they turned out to be very different. Some are "strong", some are very delicate
and weak, some are for indoor use, while others are preserved well outdoor and some are suitable for planned wood and others for rough
wood.
Unfortunately only a few of these 20 types of paint can be bought ready-for-use on the market (only paint made from linseed oil plus
distemper made from cellulose-glue or casein-glue) and sadly enough only very few professional house painters and decorators are
interested in these paints or even know them and know how to prepare them.
Anyhow, returning to the esthetic aspect when painting your own house, experience shows that in contrast to various modern products of
surface treatment, old types of paint are far more beautiful, whether they are quite new or going through their natural phase of
decomposition.
OVERVIEW
of traditional and natural PAINTS
A: Oil Paints
1.Oilpaint made from boiled linseed oil
2.Oilpaint made from raw linseed oil
3.Oilpaint made from wood tar
4.Oilpaint made from fish-oil
B: Glue Paints
1.Distemper made from animal glue
2.Distemper made from cellulose-glue
3.Moss-colour (Carragen-glue-colour)
4.Distemper made from beer
5.Distemper made from potato flour (Sichell-glue)
6.Distemper made from flour-paste
7.Distemper made from flour-porridge (Swedish mud-colour)
8.Distemper made from casein.
C: Tempera Paints
1.Glue tempera made from animal or vegetable glue
2.Paste tempera made from flourpaste
3.Paste tempera made from flourporridge
4.Casein tempera
5.Soap tempera
6.Egg and oil tempera
7.Waxcasein tempera
8.Oxblood
A: Oil Paints
Pigments:
All pigments are suitable for the preparation of oilpaints, apart from some of the real earthern colours as terra di Siena, earth green and chalk
white.
How to use:
Oilpaints can be used on planed and rough wood. Some of the oilpaints are completely fast and weatherproof. Paints made from linseed oil
can be used both indoors and outdoors.
Generally:
The paints must be coated on the surface in very thin layers, 2 or 3 layers that contain still more linseed oil in proportion to the pigment.
The drying demands a large amount of daylight (but not direct sunlight) and air. Do not mix the paint with white spirit.
a1: Paints made from linseed varnish:
1 litre of boiled linseed oil (linseed varnish) is added to about 1/2 kg of pigment. The precise amount of pigment depends of the colour, the
product and the oil. First a thick paste is well mixed and then more linseed varnish is added until the paint seems suitable to cover and put on.
If necessary, max. 5 per cent of the so called "drier" or "siccative" is added to cut down the drying proces of the paint layer. Some times the
varnish contains drier already.
White linseed oil paint can be made from 2 white pigments:
Titan white and zinc white in the proportion of 8:2 (80% of titan white and 20 % of zinc white) because the titan white makes a porous and
faint paint while the zinc white makes a very hard, tight and hard-wearing paint.
Qualities:
Half mat, often with visible strokes of the brush.
The paint turns vaguely yellow in the dark but is bleached by daylight.
Drying:
48 hours - depending on the pigment.
Use:
Planed wood both indoors and outdoors, for instance windows.
Durability:
10-15 years. After 5-10 years a coating of linseed varnish or raw linseed oil must be given to maintain the qualities.
a2: Paint made from raw linseed oil.
This paint is made as the paint mentionned in the recipe a1, - paint made from linseed varnish -, but instead of adding the linseed varnish, raw
linseed oil is added.
Qualities:
Half glossy. Wheatherproof and fast.
Drying:
48 hours - depending on the pigment.
Use:
Planed wood both indoors and outdoors, for instance windows.
Durability:
About 10 years. After 5-10 years a coating of linseed varnish or raw
linseed-oil must be given to maintain the qualities.
a3: Paint made from wood tar:
The wood tar can be used without dilution, but it does demand either heating of the tar or preparation in nice hot wheater, while the tar is
very thick. The colour of the wood tar is light brown, but it becomes darker in the course of time.
If you wish to use the wood tar as a binder/glue for a pigmentized surface treatment it will be an advantage, - all though not necessary, to
dilute the tar. 1 litre of wood tar can for instance be diluted with 1 litre of linseed oil. Depending on the wheather and the temperature as
already mentionned, the mixture might seem too heavy and an additional thinner can be adde$, such as white spirit, kerosine or even the so
called "wood preservation". This mixture is added an adequate amount of "colour paste", prepared from some of the binder mixed with the
pigment.
Qualities:
Mat and relatively rough and shimmering surface and appearance. Wheatherproof and fast, but wild probably smell of wood
tar in the beginning. The paint turns darker in the shadow but is bleached by daylight. If the paint gets wet, by rain for
instance, the colour will be tinged with white (saponification), but when this will disappear when the paint dries up.
Drying:
About 3 weeks.
How to use:
Outdoors on rough wood.
Durability:
About 10 years. After 5-10 years a coating of linseed varnish or wood tar can be given.
a4: Paints made from fish-oil:
An old Greenland recipe states that 2 kg of train oil (seal- or whale cod-liver oil or blubber) is added 300 gm of crushed resin and about 1 kg
of red iron oxide.
The ingredients must be boiling when they are mixed.
First some of the train is heated up until boiling point and then the crushed resin is added and eventually the remains of the train oil. When the
mixture is boiling the pigment is added while stirring.
If the preparation is done on an open fire you must be careful that the train oil does not catch fire. If occasion should arise close the lid tightly.
You can also use cod-liver oil as a binder and mix it with the pigment. Fish-oil paint made from cod-liver oil does not hardly smell at all and it
will dry up in a couple of weeks, depending on the pigment.
Qualities:
Mat and relatively rough with an uneven surface and appearance. Wheatherproof and fast. Will smell of fish oil in the
beginning.
Drying:
About 2 weeks.
How to use:
On rough wood outdoors.
Durability:
About 10 years. After 5-10 years a coating of linseed varnish must be given to maintain the qualities.
B: Glue Paints
Pigments:
All pigments are suitable for the preparation of gluepaints, apart from black oxide that can be hard to work with and Terra di Siena that can
be difficult to mix with certain types of glue. White gluepaint is prepared with whiting as a pigment.
How to use:
The major part of gluepaints can only be used indoors, where they will appear very mat, colourful and beautiful. In return they are very
delicate towards wear, grease and stains of water, that only can be removed by repainting the surface. The most attrac-tive quality of the
gluepaints is its beautiful reflection of light due to the grains of pigment that are lying on the top of the paintlayer.
Particularly strong colours as red, green and blue, when not mixed uith white, will appear with a velvety reflection of light. The colours often
appear even more beautiful if they are mixed with some black pigment. You "make the colour dirty" as it is said.
If you wish to add a certain tint to the colour by preparing the colour from different basal pigments, you can either mix all the pigments into
one pigment-paste or you can put them in water one by one and eventually mix them all.
It is advisable to look at the nuances of the colour only in daylight and never in artificial light. Painting with glue-paint should also only be done
in daylight.
Do not keep the gluepaint in an iron or tin container for a longer period, as it can become rusty. The most suitable material for the keeping of
the gluepaints are plastic paint pots with tight lids.
Gluepaint made from chalk white can decompose in the pot, if it is not used for a long time. The same will happen if a wall painted with
gluepaint is humidified for a long period.
Repainting with gluepaint:
When the layer of gluepaint has become old and stained you can wash the old paint off with clean water and then, when the wall has dried
up, you can paint again with gluepaint. The method you can use is to weet the old paintlayer with water and bold strokes of the brush (large
brush) and then "pull off" the paintlayer with a sponge, that is frequently rinsed in clean water. In this way you avoid that the paint is running
down the wall and on to the floor.
Another method is to apply a "sealer" on the old paintlayer by using soapsuds (1/2 kg of soap and 3/4 litre of hot water). When the wall is
completely dry, you can repaint it with gluepaint.
Repairing:
The last-mentioned method can be used when you do smal, repair work. If you have kept the remains of the original gluepaint in a paint pot -
as dried lumps, these can be grated on a grater and mixed with a suitable amount of water and then be used again as a new gluepaint,
without adding more glue.
b1: Distemper made from animal glue (bone glue or skin glue).
Skin glue is made from raw hides,- often refuses of skin from the tanneries, that among other things are boiled and the gelatine is extracted.
The glue is also called a leather glue and is sold in powder form or as plates. Skin glue that is extracted from rabbitskin is containing the
requisite quantity of glue and that is why it is v%ry suitable for glue paint.
Bone glue is extracted by boiling degreased animal-bones, -gristle and -horn. The glue is also called "joiners glue" and is sold as crushed glue
or pearl glue. Bone glue does not contain the same requisite quantity of glue that skin glue does and that is why the last mentioned is
preferred for the preparation of gluepaint.
When preparing the gluepaint the first thing you must do is to to soak the pigment powder in water. A rule of thumb is that 1 kg of pigment
gives 1 litre of gluepaint. As different pigments absorb highly different amounts of glue the rule of thumb does not work exactly every time.
We shall return to this subject later on.
First you must soak the pigment powder in half the amount of water, that is 1 kg of pigment to 0,5 litre of water. Let the pigment macerate for
some time for instance through the night, in the way that all the the pigment grains are well water-saturated. Mix the so called pigment paste
well afterwards.
The next step is to prepare an amount of glue that will correspond to the other half of the gluepaint that you wish to use.The skin glue is
poured in cold water in the proportion 1:1. Absorbing the water the glue will swell (expand) in a couple of hours. You now heat up this
mixture of water and glue in a water bath, but be careful that the mixture does not boil.
After this, you pour about 5/6 of the pigment paste into a paint pot and then you add 5/6 of the hot glue and stir thoroughly. More water can
be added if necessary. The consistency required must be thick like junket.
It is now the time to brush out a sample of this temporary glue paint mix, preferably on a surface that correspond to the one you plan to paint
on. When this paint layer is dry, - if necessary the drying time can be speeded up with heat - , you can check if the gluepaint is containing the
requisite quantity of glue or not by touching the paintlayer. If it comes off it is not containing the requisite quantity of glue and more glue must
be added. If the paint is too glossy and without the reflection of light, that is caracteristic for gluepaint, more pigment paste must be ad`ed.
You repeat the brushing out of samples until the gluepaint is saticfactory.
The gluepaint can be applied on any kind of absorbing material: Paper, setting coat on a wall, rough or planed wood. Experience shows that
a pretreatment with thin soapy water (1/2 kg of soft soap and 3 - 4 litres of hot water) will make it easier to apply the paint, while the dried
soap will macerate the material on which the paint is applied and will delay the penetration of the gluepaint, which makes it possible to work
with wet paints. 1 or 2 layers of soapsuds can be used when applying new layers of paint or if you wish to change the colours because the
dried soap will seal the old paint layer.
After this, the gluepaint is applied with a specific brush suitable for gluepaint, that is to say a relatively broad brush with hair arranged in
bundles. While applying the paint it must never dry and you must work gently and quickly. It will often be necessary to apply two coats of
paint, and if so you must make sure that the first paint layer is well dry before you apply the next.
Qualities:
Mat with a beautiful reflection of light. Though gluepaint does not come off, it is neither hard wearing nor washable. Stains of
grease cannot be removed.
Drying:
2 hours.
Use:
Only indoors and only on absorbing materials: Paper, setting coat (dry) on a wall, rough or planed wood.
Durability:
It depends on the circumstances.
b2: Distemper made from cellulose-glue.
Cellulose-glue is made from the wadding contained in conifer wood that is pulverized and treated with alkaline salt. Cellulose-glue is thereby
a so called vegetable glue (plant glue) and is also called paste or methylcellulose. You can buy it as a powder and it is the most popular glue
used for gluepaints, while it is very easy and quick to mix with plain cold water.
Cellulose-glue is more elastic than the animal glue and that is why even a "glued over" paint layer will not peel off. The paint is drying up
when the water is evaporating. The glue is not poisonous.
The proportion between the glue powder and the water appear from the packing, but in most cases it is 1 part of glue to 25 parts of water.
The preparation of the gluepaint is done in the same way as described in "gluepaints made from animal glue". The pigment is soaked in water
the day before use so that the consistency does not become to thin. The glue is made from the recipe on the package.
The glue and the pigment-paste are now in each pot. In a third pot you pour 5/6 of the glue with 5/6 of the pigment-paste and you can now
brush out a sample. When the colour is dry you must test if it comes off and if so, you must add more glue . If the paint is too glossy you must
add more pigment-paste. If the paint itself seems too thick, you must add more water. The consistency required must bee like junket.
Qualities:
Mat with a beautiful reflection of light. Though gluepaint does not come off, it is neither hardwearing nor washable. Stains of
grease cannot be removed.
Drying:
2 hours
Use
Only indoors and only on absorbing materials: Paper, setting coat (dry) on a wall, rough or processed wood.
Durability:
It varies, depending on the circumstances.
b3: Distemper with a decoction of Iceland moss.
The glue in moss-colour, the so called Iceland moss, is neither connected with Iceland nor moss. It consists of an aqueous extract from
different kinds of lichen and alga, for instance the carragen, that grows in Ireland.
The moss-colour is suitable for painting of ceilings, because the glue is very weak, which makes it easy to wash off the paint if you wish to
repaint the surface and it leaves the most beautiful mat and clear surface with extreme reflections of light. Apart from this it has an adequate
viscosity that prevents the paint from "running" down the brush. As a pigment you can use whiting.
Moss-colour can be bought in pre-mixed packages and you just have to add some water.
Qualities:
Mat with a beautiful reflection of light. Will come off.
Drying:
2 hours
Use:
Only indoors and only on absorbing materials: Paper, setting coat (dry), rough or planed wood. It is mainly used on ceilings
(ceiling paint).
b4: Distemper made from beer:
Distemper made from beer is prepared by mixing pigment and beer (Dark lager as "Rød Tuborg" or "Gamle Carlsberg" is said to be the best) in
a way that the paint is having great covering power and is easy to apply.
When working with minor works, dor instance decorating like woodgraining or marbling, the beer-colour is often mixed on the palette. The
pigment is placed on the palettte, if necessary mixed with other pigments. You dip the brush in the beer and mix the colour on the palette. Use
an artistic brush.
Beer paint is often glazing but not waterproof. If you apply a lacquer afterwards it will make it waterproof.
Qualities:
Mat with a beautiful reflection of light. Some of the pigments are glazing but they do not come off.
Drying:
1-2 hours.
Uqg:
Only indoors and only on absorbing material: Paper, setting coat (dry), rough or planed wood.
b5: Distemper made from potato flour (painters glue or Sichel-glue)
The glue "painters glue" or Sichel glue are made from potato flour and can be bought in a dry form. The glue powder is mixed with water and
stands for 5-10 minutes after which the plant glue is prepared as described under "distemper made from animal glue", (b1).
Qualities, drying and use are the same as "distemper made from cellulose".
b6: Distemper made from flour-paste (cask glue)
The binder is made from an adequate amount of flour stirred into cold water until a paste free from lumps is reached. Still stirring, you add
boiling water until a jelly-like flour-glue, free from lumps, is produced. You can also buy flour glue under the name of "Fustagelim", (cask
glue).
This glue is mixed with the pigment, macerated with water into a thick pigment-paste, and you add water or glue until the distemper has a
great covering power and is easy to apply and does not come off. You can test this by brushing out one or more samples.
If you tend to keep the distemper for a longer period you must add a preservative.
Qualities, drying and use are as described under "Distemper made from cellulose", apart from the fact that distemper made from fl/ur has a
marked tendency to become mouldy if the painted wall is cold or humid for some length of time.
b7: Distemper made from rye flour-porridge (swedish mud-colour)
This distemper has a classic reddish brown colour and is called "swedish red colour". It is mainly used outdoors and is particularly known
from the numerous "swedish red" wooden houses. The paint can have other colours as: yellow (golden ochre), black (lampblack), brown
(umber), white. blue or green.
The oldest and most used pigment is however the "Falu-red", a by-product that is generated when extracting copper up in the mountains of
"Store Kopperberg" at the town of Falun in the middle of Sweden. A recipe on this so called mud-colour from the beginning of the eighteenth
century goes like this:
2 kg of ferrous sulphate is dissolved into 50 litres of boiling water. In this dissolution 2 - 2 1/2 kg of finely grounded rye or wheat flour is
whisked in. After 15 minutes of boiling and stirring 8 kg of red colour pigment is added while stirring energetically. Let this mixture boil for
another 15 minutes and the paint is ready. If necessary you can add 1 - 1 1/2 litres of linseed oil, wood tar or fish oil or cod-liver oil to make
the paint stronger.
The ferrous sulphate is mainly used to block for the algae. As the ferrous sulphate will become rusty in the course of time the colour will
become darker and darker. When painting with yellow, green and blue and other lighter colours zinc sulphate is used instead of ferrous
sulphate to block for the algae.
Qualities:
Mat. Weatherproof but not washable. Will normally cover after just one coat of paint. The pigment "Falu-red" is
non-inflammable.
Drying:
2 hours.
Use:
Only on rough, dried wood.
Durability:
About 10-15 years. Dark colours will last longer than the the light ones.
b8: Distemper made from casein
100 gm of dry casein is stirred into 200 ml of water. Then you add 800 ml of hot water (not boiling).
While still stirring you add 20-25 gm of powdered ammonia (ammomium hydrogen carbonate) for each litre of dissolution of casein. During this
proces the mixture will effervesce notably and there-fore it is very important, that you mix the glue in a big pot from the start. When the glue
is not effervescing any longer you add 5 ml of "Ata-mon" (antimould) a litre.
Instead of dry casein you can use 200 gm of curd mixed in 1 litre of hot water. You must still remember to add 20-25 gm of powdered
ammonia for each litre of dissolution of casein plus the antimould.
You now add the pigment to the glue (about 1/2 kg of pigment is used for one litre of glue, depending on the pigment). But first you must
prepare some pigment paste and make sure that it is well mixed and that it is of a thick consistency.
Afterwards, glue is added until the paint has great covering power and is easy to apply. Check that the paint does not come off by brushing
out some samples on an adequate material.
Qualities:
Mat. Weatherproof but not washable.
Drying:
1/2 hour.
Use:
Indoors on setting coats, paper, plasterboard or wood.
Outdoors on rough wood and on setting coats.
Casein paint is among other things very suitable on a quite new setting coat, while the paint will dry easily on this basic
material.
Durability:
5-10 years.
Distemper made from calcimine and casein
A variation of the casein-gluepaint is prepared by mixing the whitewash or limewater with a spot of casein, in the form of dry casein
dissolved in hot water or in the form of buttermilk, skimmed milk or curd. In this way the limewash is able to contain more pigment, as the
casein is providing the requisite quantity of glue to the lime. Intensification of the lime with casein is often used when painting with strong
colours (red, blue, green and black); But you must be aware of the fact that you change the lime-wash into a gluepaint, which will affect the
surface tension, the tempering process and the adherence to the material on which you are applying the paint.
C: Tempera Paints
When preparing tempera paints (latin: temparare = to mix in the right proportions) you mix the oil of the oilpaints with the water of the
gluepaints, and in so doing make the oil emulsify from an oil phase into a aqueous phase.
Pigments:
All pigments are suitable for the preparation of tempera-paints apart from certain genuine earthern colours as terra di Siena, earth green and
chalk.
How to use:
All tempera paints are water- and weatherproof and can be used both indoors and outdoors.
c1. Glue tempera made from cellulose-glue.
1 part of raw linseed oil (if necessary linseed varnish) to 1 part of cellulose-glue (texture like junket) are well mixed. 5 ml of "Atamon" per litre
is added to prevent mould growth.
From this glue you prepare a pigment paste made from, for instance, 1 kg of pigment mixed with an adequate amount of glue until the paint is
easy to apply and has a covering power. Check that the paint does not come off by brushing out some samples on a suitable material.
Qualities:
Semi mat. The paint is weatherproof and does not come off.
Drying:
2 hours.
Use:
Indoors on setting coats, paper, plasterboard or wood. Outdoors oJ planed or rough wood.
Durability:
5-10 years.
c2: Paste tempera made from flourpaste (cask glue).
1 part of linseed oil is stirred into 1 part of cask glue (flourpaste). You can either buy the flour glue under the name of "fustagelim" (cask glue)
or prepare it yourself by mixing water and wheatflour into a jelly-like glue. Add 5 ml of "Atamon" (antimould) per litre.
The pigment (about 1/2 kg is used for the preparation of 1 kg of paint, - depending on the pigment) is thoroughly mixed with water in order to
reach a thick pigment paste. Then you gradually add the binder until the paint seems easy to apply and does not come off. You can test this
by brushing out some samples on a suitable material.
Qualities:
Mat. The paint is wheaterproof but it has a vague tendency to come off.
Drying:
1 hour
Usd:
Indoors on setting coats, paper, plasterboard or wood. Outdoors on rough wood.
Durability:
About 5-10 years.
c3: Paste-tempera made from rye flour-porridge.
Paste-tempera is prepared by mixing the pigment and 1/2 - 1 litre of linseed oil or wood-tar with the distemper made from rye flour-porridge
as described in the recipe b7, "swedish mud-colour". In this way the paint will not come off any longer.
If you wish to obtain a better adherence, - to processed wood for instance, you just let the paint boil for a longer time, 1 hour for instance.
Qualities:
Mat. Wheatherproof but not washable.
Drying:
2-3 hours.
Use:
Only outdoors on rough or planed wood.
Durability:
About 10-15 years.
c4. Casein tempera
1 part of linseed oil is stirred into 2 parts of butter milk and 20-25 gm of powdered ammonia is added per litre of paint. With this glue and some
pigment you prepare a pigment-paste and by gradually adding more glue while you carefully stir the mixture, you end up with a good paint
that will have a covering power. You can add 100 gm of ferrous sulphate per litre to avoid alga on the wood. N.B: You can only use the
ferrous sulphate when preparing dark colours while it will become rusty. When preparing light colours you must use zinc vitriol or
"Atamon"(antimould).
You can only prepare casein-tempera by mixing linseed oil with casein-paint as described in the recipe b8. 1 part of linseed oil to 2 parts of
casein-paint/casein-dissolution.
Qualities:
Semi mat. The paint is wheatherproof and does not come off.
Drying:
1 hour.
Use:
Indoors on setting coats, paper., plaster-board or wood. Outdoors mainly on rough wood or setting coats.
Dureability:
10-15 years.
c5: Soap tempera
1 part of soft soap is well mixed with 2 parts of linseed oil and some powdered ammonia is added (20-25 gm per litre). Some of this
glue/binder is used for the preparation of a pigment paste with the bulk of the pigment. When this paste is well mixed you add more pigment
and glue (oil/soap emulsion) until the paint seems easy to apply. Check that the paint does not come off by brushing out some samples on a
suitable material.
Qualities:
Half glossy and a little shining. The paint is wheatherproof and has a vague tendency to come off. It is not washable.
Drying:
6 hours.
Use:
Only outdoors on rough wood or setting coats.
Durability:
About 5 years. Experience shows that on a setting coat the paint will endure - for more than 20 years.
c6: Egg and oil tempera
Ingredients: 1 part of egg (both the yolk and the egg white), 1 part of boiled linseed oil (linseed oil varnish) and 1 part of water. First you whip
the eggs very well with the same amount of linseed oil. Afterwards you add the water little by little while stirring so that the water and the
linseed oil are dispersed, - in other words the egg makes the mixture emulsify. The pigments are well mixed with the binder to get a thick
paste, after which the remains of the binder is added.
Qualities:
Half glossy or high glossy. The paint is wheather-proof and will not come off.
Drying:
1 hour - depending on the pigment.
Use:
Rough or planed wood, both indoors and out-doors.
Durability:
20-25 years.
c7: Waxcasein tempera
3 parts of hot casein-glue (recipe no. b8) is mixed with 1 part of melted beeswax. The beeswax is melting at 64 degrees C and is poured into
the hot glue while stirring. Into this hot mixture you now pour the pigment in the usual way, that is you first mix a thick pigmentpaste with all
the pigment and some of the binder, after which you add more binder until the paint seems easy to apply and has a covering power and
furthermore does not come off.
The amount of wax varies. If you add more wax the paint will turn out more glossy and vice versa.
Qualities:
Half glossy. The paint is wheatherproof and does not come off.
Drying:
10-15 minutes, depending on the pigment.
Use:
Rough or planed wood, mainly indoors.
Masonry and setting coats, both outdoors and indoors.
Durability:
About 10 years.
Paints made from wax can only be repainted with waxpaints.
c8: Oxblood or deerblood tempera
Strain out the lumps in the fresh blood by whipping it before use. Mix the blood with a paste made from red, black or other dark pigments,
depending on the shade of colour you wish to reach.
Qualities:
Mat. The paint is wheatherproof and does not come off. It is a very strong paint that demands a hard ground.
Drying:
2 hours.
Use:
Planed or rough wood, both outdoors and indoors.
Durability:
300 years?
An oak door on the "Priors Hus" (Priors house) in "Ærøskøbing" on the island of "Ærø" in Denmark has, according to the tradition, been
painted with only one layer of oxblood. This took place in 1690 and it has never been necessary to repaint it again.
How to paint
Demands to the material you paint on.
Apart from the paints made from linseed oil, all of the mentioned paints demand an absorbing ground, which means that any glossy or
impenetrable paintlayers must be removed by scraping, grinding or by heating it up.
Impregnation of wood.
Before applying the paint all wood, also fresh wood, must be impregnated all with raw linseed oil. You can apply the oil with a brush or you
can dip it on, but you can also immerse the wood into a bath of linseed oil.
The linseed oil will prevent the wood from hydrate and thereby prevent mould growth or algae. If necessary you can furthermore apply an
antimould to the wood, for instance zinc sulphate mixed with linseed oil or "Atamon" (antimould).
Some good advice concerning the preparation of paints.
You must be aware that each pigment absorb different amounts of glue. Therefore you must always evaluate the paint after brushing out a
sample.
It will always be a good idea to let the paint stand until the next day, in the way that the colour and the glue will be well mixed.
If there are any lumps in the paint you must pour it through a strainer. Finally you must remember to stir the paint at regular intervals while
working with it.
Applying and extension.
It is very important that the paint is applyed in as thin coats as possible, while thick layers dry up very slowly and peeling can appear.
The majority of the paints will cover 10-15 square metres per litre of paint on an ordinary absorbing ground. If the ground is very absorbing, -
like dried wood for instance, the paint will cover a smaller area.
Pigments:
When preparing traditional paints finely grounded and fast pigments are used. They can be bought in well-assorted paint shops.
White pigments:
Chalk (not in oil), zinc white, titanium white.
Yellow pigments:
Golden ochre, ferric oxide yellow, (artificial ochre), cadmium yellow (poisonous).
Red pigments:
Red ochre (burnt ochre), red iron oxide (=indian red), Falu-red, cinnabar (+).
Blue pigments:
Ultramarine blue, cobalt blue, Paris blue (not in egg and oil-tempera).
Green pigments:
Green earth (bohemian green earth)(only in gluepaints), chromium oxide green.
Brown pigments:
Raw umber and burnt umber, raw terra di Siena, Kassler brown, ferric oxide brown (reddish-purple)(=caput
mortuum=death`s head)
Black pigments:
Lampblack (=carbon black), boneblack, ferric oxide black (artificial boneblack) (not in gluepaints).
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1)
Interesting Danish site with 20 recipes for homemade paint
www.raadvad.dk/7_0/7_2_1.html
The Raadvad Centre
Source: www.ibiblio.org/london/rural-skills/homemade/homemade-paint
2)
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