Instructor Notes for Guiding Make and Apply Whitewash

Jul 13, 2022 16:35:26

Scheduling Notes:
Determine the location and solar aspect of the project if outside. Complete the project when the wall is in shade. West-facing walls need to be scheduled in the morning and east-facing walls need to be scheduled in the afternoon for the sake of the participants and the wall/whitewash.

Purchases:

FRESH or NEW Hydrated Lime

Farm Salt or rock salt - not for consumption

Purchase or Gather:

Buckets - at least 2 5-gallon buckets - several smaller buckets helps too

Lids for buckets is preferable if transporting to another location after mixing

Paint Brushes - at least 3" wide - 4" or 5" can be used and are great but are more expensive - one for each participant - estimate about 50% of participants when there are two tracks

Gloves

Dust Masks for working with lime powder and while preparing the wall

Eye Protection for working with lime powder and while preparing the wall

Stir Sticks or Paint Sticks

Prepare the hydrated lime mixture 24-48 hours before application

in bucket #1 add 1 gallon of water then 2 pounds of salt - stir well

in bucket #2 add 1 gallon of water then 10 pounds of Hydrated Lime - stir

pour bucket #1 into Bucket #2 - make sure you transfer all the salt

Note: we did not weigh the lime and our mix looked like transparent skim milk. The mixture should look somewhere between whole milk and half 'n half.

Prepare the Wall - scrape or brush off any loose or powdery material

Apply the Whitewash
after the dust settles, start applying the whitewash with a paintbrush
stir the bucket routinely - at least every 5-10 minutes

apply a coat evenly over the section of wall you are working on

let it dry for 20-40 minutes

repeat

BB requires at least two coats of whitewash be added to the wall to be certified.
We scheduled a 1-hour slot to mix the whitewash the day before and completed the wall prep and application during a morning session (3.5 hours).