What is Milk Paint?

When you decorate your home or upcycle an item of furniture, you will no doubt consider your color scheme, the desired effects of your chosen color palette, and whether your new walls or furniture item matches the rest of your home. However, it is easy to ignore the type of paint which you are covering your home with, with many people solely focusing on the color and grabbing the first color they like when they visit the store. In today’s market, however, there are so many different types of paint to choose from, made from different materials and offering a variety of benefits for you and your home.

Here at Best of Machinery, we love milk paint, the environmentally friendly paint which dries fast and releases zero noxious fumes. It may be easy to assume that the mixture for milk paint actually contains milk, but that would be inaccurate; actually, the base ingredient for milk paint is called casein which interestingly is a protein found in milk. We are going to empower you with all of the information you need in order to discover the benefits of milk paint and the advantages which milk paint can provide to you, your family, and your home overall.

The Benefits of Milk Paint

Milk paint is completely environmentally friendly and is non-toxic, additionally offering biodegradable properties which you simply cannot receive from standard paint. Milk paint is produced using 100 % natural ingredients such as milk protein, clay, pigment, and lime and is completely water-based. Furthermore, milk paint is also a smart choice due to the quick drying time which it provides, promising to dry in less than 30 minutes. For individuals who prefer to purchase a powder form of paint and then mix their own consistency, milk paint is commonly available in this way, offering versatility and convenience.

However, milk paint is not a new innovation; it has actually been used for thousands of years! It is one of the oldest forms of paint, utilizing completely natural ingredients. Interestingly, milk paint has been found in cave paintings as well as the inside of the pyramids! A batch of milk paint is durable yet is able to last many, many years if stored correctly.

Being made from a blend of completely natural ingredients is a great benefit of milk paint, eliminating any inclusion of toxicity and chemicals, abolishing noxious fumes and enabling an odor-free environment. In order to attain such an environmentally friendly and human-friendly material, however, milk paint will be more expensive for you to purchase in comparison with cheaper, chemical-laden paints which emit fumes and are not healthy for you to use.

Using Milk Paint

In addition to milk paint being a convenient and environmentally friendly choice for you to use, milk paint is also able to be used in a wide variety of places and for many different uses. Milk paint can be used both on the interior and the exterior, and there is no need to sand your surface or prime your surface. You can use milk paint on plastic, glass, plaster, metal, wood, and drywall, achieving a perfect finish every time.

Depending on the surface which you use your milk paint on, you will achieve a variety of finishes. For example, if you use milk paint across a wooden surface, then you may receive a worn-looking finish, perfect for achieving a farmhouse, vintage effect on upcycled furniture. Diluting milk paint to achieve a thinner coat can be perfect for this effect. Using milk paint on an item of furniture means that you do not have to prime your item first, saving a great deal of time, money, and effort. A less distressed effect can easily be achieved by adding a bonding agent to the milk paint.

Milk paint can sometimes be confused with chalk paint. However, chalk paint is made from different ingredients such as talc, pigment, and calcium carbonate, achieving a much thicker consistency in comparison to milk paint. Additionally, chalk paint achieves a finish similar to acrylic paint and is purchased at a much higher price tag.

Milk paint is so easy to use as the item you are painting does not need to be primed or sanded first, eliminating hours from your project timescale in comparison to standards paint. When applying the milk paint, you can use a variety of implements such as brushes, sprayers, and rollers, adding an element of versatility and freedom to your project. You could additionally try to mix your own color palette from a variety of milk paints.

To complete your finished look, you could place a top coat of either wax or oil across your painted surface, although this is completely optional. Either way, you will receive a beautiful finish every time while doing your best for the environment and providing numerous benefits for you, your home, and your family.