How to Make Milk Paint for Furniture

While it may have been around at the time of King Tut, according to The Woodbin.com, milk paint is also an ideal furniture finish for the eco-conscious 21st century. Containing all-natural ingredients, including casein (milk curds), lime, and earth pigments, milk paint is biodegradable. Milk paint will add authenticity to period furniture. Odor-free, it dries quickly to a tough matte finish and requires neither a primer nor sealer if applied to sanded wood. Making your own milk paint is reasonably easy.

Things You'll Need

• 1 gallon fat-free milk
• 2 cups white vinegar
• 3/4 cup hydrated lime powder (available at building stores)
• 7 oz. pigment in the color of your choice
• Distilled water
• 1.5 gallon container for mixing
• 1 gallon paint can
• 2 large plastic tubs like margarine tubs
• 1 large wooden or plastic stirring spoon
• 1 small wooden or plastic stirring spoon
• Colander
• Eye protection
• Gloves
• Face mask
• 1/2 yard cheesecloth
• Scale for weighing dry ingredients
• Refrigerator

Instructions

1. Pour the fat-free milk into your 1.5 gallon container and allow it to reach room temperature.

2. Stir all the white vinegar into the room temperature milk, and place the container in a warm area for between 12 and 48 hours while it curdles. Stir it every few hours. Don't let it get warmer than 115 degrees. The milk will separate into solid curds and liquid whey.

3. Put the desired amount of colored pigment into one of your plastic tubs with a like amount of distilled water. Use distilled water to discourage bacterial growth. Thoroughly mix the water and pigment until all the pigment is moist.

4. Put on your gloves, face mask and protective eye wear. Pour all your hydrated lime powder into the other large plastic tub. Add 1.5 cups of distilled water a little at a time, stirring as you go until a smooth paste forms.

5. Place the colander in your sink and the cheesecloth in the colander. Pour your curdled milk into the colander and drain off the liquid. Rinse the curds (quark) with more distilled water to remove residual whey. Break up any large curds.

6. Lift the cheesecloth, and pour the quark into the one-gallon paint bucket and stir in the lime paste to create white milk paint. Wait up to 30 minutes for all the curds to dissolve.

7. Add your dissolved pigment and stir the mixture. If your paint doesn't have the consistency of light cream, add additional distilled water a little at a time until you get the right thickness.

8. Strain the paint through the cheesecloth once more to remove any undissolved particles. Use it as soon as possible, stirring it ocassionally to prevent separation.

Tips & Warnings

• This recipe, says Earthpigments.com, will make enough milk paint to cover 90 to 100 square feet. If your furniture requires less, halve or quarter the recipe's ingredients.

• While milk paint will keep for a few days if refrigerated; it tends to separate. For the best results, use it immediately after mixing.

References

• The Woodbin
• Earth Pigments

Resources

• Making Milk Paint from Powdered Mix