Milk paint?

[Randall Clark]

What is milk paint? What are the traditional uses of milk paint? Can I make it at home? Where do I get the color/pigment? Can I stain over it?
Sorry for all of the questions, but I have an old scarred up shelving unit that has dents, scars, nail holes, and over all wear. I thought I might try my hand at antiquey finishing (I know, it's not a word.) I don't like the cracked paint look, so someone suggested milk paint and tinted polyurethane over it. I have never been exposed to this finishing opportunity, so I came here to ask the experts. Thanks in advance for the help.

[Jim Rimmer]

I've never used it but saw a large selection at Woodcraft last time I was there. There's a lot of info on the package and numerous colors. If there's a WC near you, check it out.
Try this link: http://www.milkpaint.com/about_history.html

[John Schreiber]

I've used Milk paint with Danish oil over it and was very pleased with the look and durability. If you go to the website for "Old Fashioned Milk Paint", there's a ton of information.

If you want to make your own, a Google search for milk paint how to make will show you lots of ideas.

[Joe Cunningham]

I've used both Old Fashioned Milk Paint Company and Real Milk Paint Company products. They are both great.

I usually use boiled linseed oil after the paint has cured. I've also used dark tinted pure tung oil (from Real Paint) and it gives some of the colors a very rich appearance.

I've also used garnet shellac under the paint, then lightly distressed the sharp edges to have the shellac peek through.

Never tried to make it myself, I just use the two vendors above and their products last a surprisingly long time.

[Rob Young]

What is milk paint? What are the traditional uses of milk paint? Can I make it at home? Where do I get the color/pigment? Can I stain over it?
Sorry for all of the questions, but I have an old scarred up shelving unit that has dents, scars, nail holes, and over all wear. I thought I might try my hand at antiquey finishing (I know, it's not a word.) I don't like the cracked paint look, so someone suggested milk paint and tinted polyurethane over it. I have never been exposed to this finishing opportunity, so I came here to ask the experts. Thanks in advance for the help.

Milk paint is exactly that, paint made with milk (casein) as the base.

Yes you can make it from skim milk, slaked lime and pigment with the option of adding some chalk white for body. You can even make it from powdered milk and food coloring but it will look a little bit like the Easter Bunny barfed on your workpiece...

Good adhesion to bare wood but if painting over other paints, it may need a binder added. The Real Milk Paint Company (listed above) and other sources sell binders.

The premix powdered stuff is mixed with water to make the paint. It will not keep mixed much longer than 24 hours so mix as you need it. Any paint you see already in liquid form that claims to be milk paint, isn't. Read the label carefully, you will likely find it is really a latex based product doctored up to have something close to a milk paint like surface finish. But it won't have the toughness of a casein based paint.

Pigments are available from art supply houses and similar suppliers. Some pigments in powdered are however quite toxic and precautions are necessary. Ocher and other earth/mineral pigments are common and pleasing to the eye.

You can put poly over it but milk paint is pretty tough all by itself, especially after a coat or two of oil (BLO or Danish are good) followed by wax. It will require periodic rewaxing to maintain the water resistance. Without the wax it can be easy to cause a ring from water. The sheen you get from an oiled and waxed milk paint job is very hard to beat.

I've seen distressed paint jobs where they used several layers of different colors (say black, then barn-red, then kelly green) and after it was dry they used a coarse rope to rub along the edges, sort of burning down through the layers. It simulates the wear that might occur to the edge of a board or chair seat over the years.

You can browse around over at Fine Woodworking's web site and come up with an article by Mike Dunbar (of the Windsor Chair Institute) where he discusses the application of milk paint. Good article.

[Randall Clark]

Thanks, Rob and others, for the helpful information. I am trying to do something a little different than my usual Early American stain covered with three coats of satin poly. I think I will try a little milk paint on an almost throw away project. By the way, does milk paint go well with cookies?

[Rob Young]

Thanks, Rob and others, for the helpful information. I am trying to do something a little different than my usual Early American stain covered with three coats of satin poly. I think I will try a little milk paint on an almost throw away project. By the way, does milk paint go well with cookies?

It will taste icky ... The milk has to sour for the paint to "work".

[Denise Ohio]

We're using milk paint on the walls of our new house (except in the bathrooms).

To test to see if milk paint had the right look, I mixed some up. First, I soured some skim/non-fat milk (milkfat will never dry and will spoil on the wall/piece of furniture/whataver it's painted onto, and will stink) with white vinegar and let it sit over night. I got the recipe from The Joy of Cooking, though bing it and you'll quickly find a recipe. The next day, I drained the curds of whey and chucked them into an old blender specifically for making lime-based stuff.

I made two different batches, one with lime putty and one using Type S lime that was mixed up. I couldn't tell the difference between the milk paint samples, but Type S lime is cheaper than lime putty, so if I were to mix up a lot, I'd go that route. I then added powdered chalk---I bought a 25# bag from the local pottery supply place. The chalk is a filler. And then I added different earth-based tints to get certain colors. It was pretty fun and not terribly expensive. The end result is a mottled finish that seems to soften light hitting it directly in a way that's quite pleasing.

We ended up purchasing mixes from Real Milk Paint to maintain consistency from wall to wall. So far we've painted one wall that had been drywalled, taped and mudded, and covered with Prime Coat. The milk paint is it's own primer, so we're now three coats in. It is very easy to use, though it dries fast and keeping a wet edge is a nice, distant, dream. Part of it's charm is it's imperfection.

Our next mix of Real Milk paint will get blended to get rid of the lumps. They are annoying. Clean up is easy. You do need to stir the paint as you're painting to keep everything in solution. According to the Real Milk Paint website, once mixed, their paint lasts about two weeks to a month in a sealed container.

Also, the Real Milk Paint dude, Dwayne, has a recipe on his website: http://www.realmilkpaint.com/recipe.html.

[Shirley Dobbins]

I will be painting my kitchen cabinets in a couple weeks. They are the 50's style contractor (flat) cabinets which are veneered wood....uck! They have been varnished years back and I am very interested in the milk paint. I am a little hesitant about areas of veneer such as the curved shelving above the sink. Not sure how the cleaning, sanding and painting will effect the veneered surface. What precautions do I need to be concerned about....and are there any characteristics of the milk paint that might make it not a good choice over cheaper veneered 'wood' cabinetry?

[John K Jordan]

I've used both Old Fashioned Milk Paint Company and Real Milk Paint Company products...

I recently spent a week with world-class wood turner and artist Clay Foster who said he has also used both. He likes the Old Fashioned paint best. I think he said it was made with real milk while some are not.

BTW, I have a long-time friend here in TN named Joe Cunningham. If you are anything like him you must be an incredibly creative person!

JKJ

[Andy Giddings]

Shirley, General Finishes makes a "Milk Paint" that can be used for refinishing old cabinets. If you go onto their web site there are numerous videos showing how to do the prep work, different finishing techniques and so on. They also have a design center with users photos of completed projects to help give you some idea of what the end result is. Their Milk Paint is not the old fashioned version, but will give you a similar effect that is much harder wearing

[Dick Latshaw]

Milk paint is the traditional finish for windsor chairs. Curtis Buchanan, who is a real artist when it comes to windsor chairs (and an all around nice guy), has a series of videos on U Tube about constructing a comb back windsor chair. Videos 46 through 51 show the steps in finishing the chair with milk paint. I've tried it and it works (really well).

[Steve Schoene]

The General Finishes so called Milk Paint is just a good water borne acrylic paint in traditional milk paint colors. It is much less durable, not more durable than true milk paint, though for most used plenty durable enough. The acrylic paint would be a good choice over previously painted or stained surfaces.