• Post Reply Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
permaculture forums growies critters building homesteading energy monies kitchen purity ungarbage community wilderness fiber arts art permaculture artisans regional education skip experiences global resources cider press projects digital market permies.com pie forums private forums all forums
this forum made possible by our volunteer staff, including ...
master stewards:
  • Nancy Reading
  • Carla Burke
  • r ranson
  • John F Dean
  • paul wheaton
  • Pearl Sutton
stewards:
  • Jay Angler
  • Liv Smith
  • Leigh Tate
master gardeners:
  • Christopher Weeks
  • Timothy Norton
gardeners:
  • thomas rubino
  • Jeremy VanGelder
  • Maieshe Ljin

Can you buy natural paint for inside walls?

 
steward & author
Posts: 38404
Location: Left Coast Canada
13657
8
books chicken cooking fiber arts sheep writing
  • Likes 3
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Right now I'm working with Zero VOC paint and it's still very strong-smelling with a bad effect on me if I spend too long painting.  I get dizzy and faint when exposed to certain chemicals.

In the distant future, I'll need to paint my bedroom.  It's a small room, so the fumes will be too strong and I'll have to move out for weeks/months.  

I would like to spend some more money to buy paint that won't have as strong an effect on me.  But does this exist?  What do I plug into google to find this?
 
pollinator
Posts: 4024
Location: Kansas Zone 6a
284
  • Likes 2
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Google lime wash or natural lime paint

There are a few brands, but tricky to find. You can DIY but probably not worth it for a small bedroom.  Definitely would be if you needed several gallons, paint is stupid expensive these days.
 
pollinator
Posts: 1781
Location: Victoria BC
315
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I was surprised to see this milk paint at crappy tire the other day:

https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/rust-oleum-interior-milk-paint-pewter-grey-946-ml-0488049p.html

Bloody expensive, and being available at crappy tire is not exactly proof of quality..
 
gardener & author
Posts: 3089
Location: Tasmania
1845
7
homeschooling goat forest garden fungi foraging trees cooking food preservation pig wood heat homestead
  • Likes 6
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I used Volvox clay paint for inside my house. I chose it because it is 100% VOC-free, doesn't need a primer (I used it straight on plasterboard, I'm not sure how to go about using it over other paint or surfaces though), and all the colours except ivory only need one coat, so it worked out to be cheaper than the other options.
 
D Nikolls
pollinator
Posts: 1781
Location: Victoria BC
315
  • Likes 2
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Kate Downham wrote:I used Volvox clay paint for inside my house. I chose it because it is 100% VOC-free, doesn't need a primer (I used it straight on plasterboard, I'm not sure how to go about using it over other paint or surfaces though), and all the colours except ivory only need one coat, so it worked out to be cheaper than the other options.



That sounds rather nice; have you had it on long enough to comment on durability?
 
D Nikolls
pollinator
Posts: 1781
Location: Victoria BC
315
  • Likes 2
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
https://cottagepaint.com/product-category/cottage-paint/

This company makes clay/chalk based paint, and shows quite a few dealers around Van. Isl.

Not much mention of VOC, or lack thereof, on their website.. hm.
 
Kate Downham
gardener & author
Posts: 3089
Location: Tasmania
1845
7
homeschooling goat forest garden fungi foraging trees cooking food preservation pig wood heat homestead
  • Likes 9
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

D Nikolls wrote:

Kate Downham wrote:I used Volvox clay paint for inside my house. I chose it because it is 100% VOC-free, doesn't need a primer (I used it straight on plasterboard, I'm not sure how to go about using it over other paint or surfaces though), and all the colours except ivory only need one coat, so it worked out to be cheaper than the other options.



That sounds rather nice; have you had it on long enough to comment on durability?


Nearly 3 years.

The bathroom that we painted in blue looks as good as new. Everywhere else we painted in ivory, and anywhere untouched by messy child hands looks good, but places that have been touched a lot by children running hands along walls and bouncing off them will need touching up soon I think. We lived here while we painted it and there was no smell, so touching it up with leftover paint isn't such a big deal.

In hindsight I probably should have chosen a different colour for the walls, but I think this might be an issue for any natural paint, that white walls are not a good choice when there's children around.
 
steward
Posts: 4837
Location: West Tennessee
2438
cattle cat purity fungi trees books chicken food preservation cooking building homestead
  • Likes 2
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I've used Ecos Paints several times. It really has no odor, and no voc's.

https://www.ecospaints.net
 
Posts: 14
2
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
“The Greenest Paint There Is” http://www.milkpaint.com/path_safe.html
A milk paint by Old Fashioned Milk Paint - Utah, USA
 
pollinator
Posts: 820
Location: South-central Wisconsin
329
  • Likes 3
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Milk paint is fairly simple to make, especially for the small amounts you'll need for one room. Here are a couple recipes to choose from:

https://www.bobvila.com/articles/milk-paint-recipe/

https://www.wikihow.com/Make-Milk-Paint

Personally, I'd go with the Bob Vila one, it looks a lot easier to follow.
 
pollinator
Posts: 421
Location: zone 5-5
148
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
At a friend's house,..
we pulled clay from the ground, screened out the small stones and troweled that on.
On drywall it stuck good.

On the plaster that is used on drywall seems, it didn't stick worth a damn.
Too powdery for it to stick.
If clay was used on the seems too, it would probably work well.
 
Morning came much too soon and it brought along a friend named Margarita Hangover, and a tiny ad.
permaculture and gardener gifts (stocking stuffers?)
https://permies.com/wiki/permaculture-gifts-stocking-stuffers
reply
    Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic