[Cob] Limewash/Whitewash and other permeable paint options

[Dulane]

Both casein and manure are bonding agents. Manure also offers (horse or cow)
the small digested fiber, but the smell stays around for a week or better,
hence I did the outside with poo. I used river sand and our local blue-grey
clay in the outside batch. One pound of burnt ochre was more than enough to
color the whole outside of my cottage a rich mustard yellow. 

For the inside, I used either condensed milk or dried milk. I added small
amounts of bentonite and borax, plus river sand. (I added like a two pound
box of dried milk to 4 gallons.)  

Both batches have 'kept' well in plastic containers and I can use it again
this year for touch ups because of ongoing construction. BTW, I love the
smell of the interior walls. It just smells so clean and is VERY cheap to
make.

I found that the paints didn't spread very far, so I mixed them with my
mini-Imer mortar mixer (great for slip) and made at least 5 gallons at a
time. I did have left-over, but I also know that the left-overs will match.
So I don't cry if a 6-ft ladder accidentally scrapes my walls. (Having more
than enough is much better than having small batches that are hard to match
colors.)

Try to figure out a recipe and write it down for future reference. I had a
lot of tiny cracks in my interior wall paint, caused by too much bentonite.
I had to add more water and lime to that, but I also discovered that
spraying the wall with a mister and painting over it with just a clean wet
brush got rid of most of the cracking.

My paints were a little on the thick side, and I mostly did just one layer.
I sure like how it turned out. I started with a thick lime putty, which I
made with 4 gallons water and maybe 25 lbs of hydrated lime.  

-----Original Message-----
From: coblist-bounces at deatech.com [mailto:coblist-bounces at deatech.com] On
Behalf Of Simon Matthews
Sent: Saturday, March 07, 2009 5:38 AM
To: coblist at deatech.com
Subject: Re: [Cob] Limewash/Whitewash and other permeable paint options

Thanks for your reply,

I am interested to know your reasons for adding the casein to the inside
wash and the manure to the outside wash. I haven't heard of manure being
added to whitewash before.

When you say "touching it up" do you mean a complete repaint or just
patching worn or damaged areas. 

Thanks
Simon

On Fri, 2009-03-06 at 09:15 -0800, Dulane wrote:
> I have a small cob house, and mine has a manure/ochre/limewash outside and
a
> lime/casein/red clay (it is a light pink)wash inside. Because it is small,
I
> have no problem touching it up every couple years. I love the look of the
> surface, and I like how it wicks water away. Gotta love those old
alchemists
> who figured all this out centuries ago.
> 



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