Francesca @ FuoriBorgo
This past week, we've been busy doing some necessary maintenance around our ancient house, which includes giving a fresh coat of paint to the walls and ceilings (here). Some of our walls are colored, and for those I buy eco-friendly paints, which are pricey but something we don't skimp on, for our family and the environment alike. For our ceilings and white walls, instead, we use lime, which is natural and solvent-free, and inexpensive. Also, lime is particularly suited to the thick, centuries-old stone walls of our farmhouse (but it also works on timber and brick). The walls are built of stone, sand, clay and water, and soak up lots of humidity in the cold season; thanks to its porousness and anti-bacterial properties, lime tends to prevent the formation of mold. All this almost for free.
For the ceilings, we use lime putty, which is the easiest lime preparation to handle for painting: I dilute it with water and then apply with a brush. For walls, instead, we make our own inexpensive lime wash: I get a couple of kilos of slaked lime at the building supply store (which the shop clerks usually scoop out of 25 kilo bags and just give me for free), slowly mix it with water, let it sit overnight, and apply the next day. Over a day or two, the lime wash cures to a hard, opaque white layer with a rough texture that I personally really like.
So this is how we use lime and make lime wash. However, I did a little research on lime washing, and found differing opinions on the subject, especially as to whether additives (salt and glue) should be added to the mixture to make it more durable, and whether it's suitable for interiors. Should you want to give lime wash a try, you might read up on it first. Here are some starting points:
All you need to know about lime wash - points out to the importance of using good-quality lime wash and a suitable substrate.
Fias Co Farm white wash recipe - has some safety warnings about handling lime, and is of the opinion that lime wash should not be used for interiors (which is contrary to our experience - see above for information about properly preparing and applying lime wash)
Have you ever used lime on your interior walls?
5 comments:
Our walls are timber studs, infilled with a mixture of sand, cement and sawdust, painted with lime wash. They were cheap to build, they have good insulation properties, there's no cavity for creatures to set up home in, they have good fire-proof properties, and the limewash gives a lovely, Tudor-like look. But wear gloves! Lime burns when it is wet.
Lime wash...brilliant! I just heard of this option in _Giants in the Earth_, and now recall just what it looks like on the walls from our Italian honeymoon. Maybe one day we'll have our own place to try it on (glad you weren't easily talked into pastel paint for your other walls - some bright & some white are a brilliant way to go...we need the winter colour here, too :-).
This post is very interesting. We're painting some brickwork outside soon so I should look at your links and see what we can do with lime.
THANK YOU! Both for the post and the link. We have a timber-framed 18th century house that still has original whitewash on many of the timbers (of course, now a bit patchy and the worse for wear). Over the years there have been many...let's just say "interesting"...attempts to deal with this as limewashing became something of a lost skill. Previous owners were clearly mystified when modern paint simply bubbled off in the usual New England seasons. Our national parks service, which prints bulletins for the care and feeding of antique homes, had nothing to say about whitewash, assuming in their simple way that it would have all flaked off by now. Hah! This stuff has lasted a few hundred years.
Breathability is key for timber-framed houses. The milk paints we used on our kitchen cupboards and on laundry room woodwork? In lovely condition despite the humidity and all sorts of cooking messes being splashed upon them and repeated scrubbings with Murphy's Oil Soap. The latex used on new laundry room shelves? Bubbled and peeled within two years, despite being taxed with nothing more than dry jars of laundry soap and the occasional bottle of stain treatment. Massive hardwood timbers breathe. You cannot stop them no matter how hard you try.
Great post! I have thought about doing some lime wash in my house. I think I will! I just love the look of it! It's very rustic.
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