The making natural paint series: swedish paint (part 4)

So today we are going to talk about a real paint. This paint is based on flour as a binder. The pigment can be any earth colour. My garden house is for example painted with it and it already lasts for 5 years.

Where to use it

The biggest drawback of this paint is that it can only be used on clean wood. The best would be softwood. It is also not suited for horizontal wood that is exposed to the element. So basically this leaves us with barns, fencing and interior wood. The plus side is that it's cheap, healthy and easy to make.

Flour paint recipe

• 10 liters of water
• 750 grams of white flour
• 2.5kg of pigment
• 250grams of Iron sulfate
• 1 liter of double boiled linseed oil
• 100ml dish washing soap in similar color.

How to make it

• Boil 9 liters of water and mix all the flour in the remaining 1 liter. When it's properly mixed add it to the boiling water.
• Now you cook it for 15 to 20 min while stirring.
• Add the pigments and the Iron sulfate and stir again for 15 minutes.
  -* add the linseed oil and stir for 15 minutes
• add the soap and stir it for 5 minutes.
• It's ready when the paint is cooled down. If it's to thick you can dilute it with water.

Dirt cheap flour paint for inside use

This paint is a bit weaker than the paint above but it is even cheaper! Another big benefit is that it can be used on most interior surfaces. The only exceptions are metal, plastic and glass this is too smooth.
The paint is very thick so you need a couple of cheap brushes.

Recipe cheap flour paint:

• 1 kg of flour
• 5 liters of water
• 5 kg of clay pigment
• paint mixer

Mix the flour in 1 or 2 liters of water. Mix it till its smooth. Boil the remaining water and add the flourmix.
Lower now the heat until it becomes a bit thick. If it's too thick you can add some more water until it becomes a workable paste. Add the pigment and mix it with a paint mixer