Milk paint first time

[Ronn W]

I am about to mix and apply my first milk paint to poplar and plywood toy chest.  I am limited to brush or sponge applicator.  You guys have any preference on which?  Any other words of "wisdom"?

[Ronn W]

Got one coat on - going for 2.  Interesting stuff, but not really much fun to work with.  will be intersting to see what it looks like after 1 more coat and then a couple coats of water based poly.

[mat60]

Havent done much painting and would intersting to see what your doing Ronn.

[shaneymack]

What did you end up going with, Ronn, foam or brush? You have any pics?

[wnaziri]

I used milk paint for the first time about 2-3 months ago.  After you get used to it, it is actually a nice addition to your skill set.

What I learned quickly is that you will need more than one or two coats to get good, even coverage; before you apply a sealant like polyurinate, sand the milk paint to a smooth texture.  I sanded with 220.

I really had excellent results with 2-3 coats of milk pain followed by Danish oil.  It really popped the color.  It would be great if you can post some pics of the end product.  Good luck.

And I did not know any better so I just used a cheap, disposable brush and worked just fine.

[Llama]

I've used the stuff on a few projects.

Did you mix the paint yourself?

If you did, I'd use more water than paint in the mixture for the first coat. Kind of like a wash coat... Use warm water when mixing.

Either way, I'd use a brush just like normal paint. Put on a few coats, and then a coat of BLO to finish it off.

[wtnhighlander]

Never used it, but I hear the first coat tends to penetrate more than other paints, so scratches and dents are less likely to show raw wood.

[JosephThomas]

I'm using the GF 'milk paint' right now...are you using something like that, or are you mixing actual milk paint?

[Gilgaron]

I used a cheap chip brush and don't think a sponge would've worked well, but I made mine from scratch so the commercial milk paints may differ. 

[Ronn W]

Here are pics of first coat applied with a brush.  I started of a little too thick, I think, but quickly thinned it to a spreadable consistency.  I like the idea of trying a much thinner first coat (next time).  Used 400 grit to smooth out the wood fibers after first coat - sanded quite easily.

BLO as a finish?  I will try a sample board.  Thanks for the feedback.

[wtnhighlander]

Some sort of latent Festool fetish involved in the color selection???

[Ronn W]

OMG.  You solved my problem for free, I don't need my shrink anymore!

[Ronn W]

Well, I have done 3 coats of milk paint.  Still looked terrible after 2 coats.  Each of the first 2 coats was with a newly opened package.  Never did all the little lumps to dissolve properly but wasn't too bad.  The third coat was done with the left over from coat 2 which was kept in the refrigerator over night.  When  opened it it was like lumpy yogurt. It took a lot of stirring and adding of warm water to get it to a paintable consistency but it had a lot of lumps.  I just dipped the brush lightly and picked out the lumps as I went.    I did not expect it to look like regular paint and I was not dissappointed.  The color is uneven and brush strokes are, for the most part very visible. I don't think I will use this product again.  It will be OK for a toy chest but it is unlikely that I will use it again

 

On 8/22/2016 at 9:11 PM, wnaziri said:

I really had excellent results with 2-3 coats of milk pain followed by Danish oil.  It really popped the color.  It would be great if you can post some pics of the end product.  Good luck.

I did a small sample board adding BLO after 2 coats of milk paint.  You are right, it deepened and enriched the color.  Question----Can I put a protective finish like a water based poly over the BLO???  Sounds counter-intuitive.

 

[wnaziri]

1 hour ago, Ronn W said:

I did a small sample board adding BLO after 2 coats of milk paint.  You are right, it deepened and enriched the color.  Question----Can I put a protective finish like a water based poly over the BLO???  Sounds counter-intuitive.

Applying poly as topcoat on BLO is not uncommon but I have not done it on top of milk paint.

As far milk paint goes, part of the attraction of it is the fact that it is "uneven", unlike latex paint.  I ended up appreciating the variations in the color of the milk paint.  The part that appealed the most to me was that you can see and feel the texture of the wood despite the milk paint.  I am posting a couple pics of my workbench that I painted with blue milk paint.  Don't get discouraged.  Just go through the proper steps, let the end product sit for a while and I am going to guess the you will come to appreciated it, like I did.

Here is the milk paint after it was sanded to 220:

Here is the end product after 2 coats of Danish oil:

Closer view of the panels, and I think the panel below has had only one coat of Danish oil.

Moral of the story: If I can make milk paint work, anyone can!

[Ronn W]

OK, That looks similar to mine after 3 coats. and the c hange in color with the oil confirms what my ample board told me.  I am going to use flat water base poly (2 coats) because I need a little more protection for the wood.  I will let you know how it turns out.  Thanks for the response.    It might be interesting to make my own since the little bags a woodcraft are pricey.