Ever since the fantastic Miss Mustard Seed announced in April that she would be launching her own line of Milk Paints, the blogospere has been abuzz with curiosity and anticipation.

WHAT IS MILK PAINT?

But what is milk paint?  How does it work? And what can it bring to your painted furniture pieces that store-bought latex paints can’t?

With all the buzz you might of thought milk paint was something new, but you may be surprised to find out that milk paint is probably THE oldest paint known to man.It has stood the test of time because it’s simple and effective.

Milk casein + pigment + optional filler (usually chalk) = Milk Paint.

It has many benefits for furniture refinishing including:

• ALL natural, 100% organic and environmentally safe paint
• distresses in an authentic, chippy, beautiful way when used without a bonding agent
• with the addition of a bonding agent, is a very durable finish that can be applied without priming (Yay for time savers!)
• you control the viscosity (thinness or thickness) to create different looks (thicker will be more opaque, whereas thinner will act more like a stain, wash or glaze)

As a furniture refinisher, I’m personally very excited about the launch of Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint, not because the paint itself is anything new or different, but because she, with her impeccable taste, has custom designed a CRAZY beautiful line of colors!  No tweaking necessary.

In the past, I’ve got my milk paint from The Real Milk Paint Co. I think they have a great product and super customer service. I used their traditional green on this anything-but-traditional side table.

Because of it’s simplicity, you could even try out making your own milk paint at home!

1. Combine 1 quart of skim milk and 2 tablespoons white vinegar over low heat for 5 minutes (being careful not to boil and curdle) until the yellowish liquid whey separates from the white, more solid curd.
2. Drain the whey off the surface and discard down the drain.
3. Pour the remaining curd to drain into a coffee filter over a cup or container overnight to remove the remaining whey.
4. Dilute a couple of pinches of Borax into 2 tablespoons of water and mix with your drained milk protein (referred to as curd or casein.) The Borax is both an antibacterial and makes the paint water-soluble.
5. In a separate bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups of whiting chalk to 1-2 cups of water, depending on your desired thickness.
6. Blend the casein mixture with the chalk mixture.
7. Add pigment. (For authentic, all natural paint, use powdered pigments. These can be purchased through Natural Pigments or The Real Milk Paint Co. or you can use Universal Tint that can be picked up at Home Depot.)

Finish off any milk paint with a flat or satin poly (I personally LOVE The Real Milk Paint Co.’s Dead Flat Burnishing Paste) or a finishing wax buffed to a buttery smooth sheen, and you will have a beautiful and durable finish that I’m sure you will love!

Happy painting!

from Twice Lovely

(I didn’t receive compensation in any form for the above opinions and I get nothing for you following the links contained above.  Just my humble, professional opinion based on experience and for your information only.)