Milk Paint

[jlloydparks]

I recently had the opportunity to finish two projects with milk paint. I had never used the material before. For my first coats I had some trouble with bubbles coming off the brush and the paint not bonding well to the surface. I am not sure if I fouled up the preparation of the paint or what, but the results looked worse than expected. A good friend who does a lot of Windsor chairs pointed me over to the bonding and anti-foam agents the milk paint companies sell. I am not one to hock a product, but boy did these make life a lot easier. The paint flowed off of the brush well (no bubbles) and it bonded to the material extremely well. These two little add-ons are now in the finishing arsenal for later use.

[markhochstein]

Did you use Milk Paint brand paint? I've used it before and had issues with lumps and a few bubbles even after running it through a strainer. My project with Milk Paint brand paint started showing fingerprints and water spots which looked terrible. I ended up cleaning in and then topcoating it with ZarMax flat polyurethane. It didn't change the look at all, but now everything wipes right off. Most recently I used General Finishes milk paint - which is pre-mixed and it was great. Goes on like any other paint without some of the quirkyness of some other brands. It has a satin finish unlike the flat finish of the other stuff and it's available in more colors.

[HoboMonk]

To seal milk paint I use either a tung oil sealer or shellac.

Note: General Finishes "Milk Paint" is actually acrylic paint.

Here's a good source for authentic milk paint and related products:

Real Milk Paint

[jlloydparks]

I used both brands, one for each project. They are a little different, but I had problems with both. No lumps after passing them through a fine mesh, but the bubbles were driving me nuts. I am going to burnish the projects with a light gray 3M pad and then 0000 steel wool then I will coat them with a wipe on varnish. One is a high wear item and will need the protection and the other project may be subjected to moisture changes and will also need the protection.

Thanks for pointing out the General Finishes milk paint product. I had not seen that before.

[hydromod]

I have used the milk paint from milkpaint.com for a number of projects. I found that the key was to very gradually mix in the dry paint to warm water, stirring religiously. This strategy almost eliminates lumps and foam even before straining. You do have to coat the surface afterwards to protect it.