Reply by Charlie

Milk paint is just cassein paint. You can mix it as thick or thin as you want. If you add 10% (no more than 15%) by volume of BLO or Pure Tung Oil (I use the Tung oil), you’ll improve the durability about 10-fold. Milk paint is a sacrificial coating. It will chalk up and slough. It basically sacrifices itself to save the wood. Outdoors this happens in as little as 2 years. Inside would take much much longer, but you usually put a clear coat of some kind on it indoors for easier cleaning. If you add the oil to the paint, you may not need the clear coat for durability. You can just wax it.

Thick or thin…. if I’m painting a birdhouse for outdoors, I mix it thick and put on a thin coat (a wash coat) first and then brush it on thick. For nicer pieces, I use several thinner coats. You can get nice antiqueing by using something like a dark green underneath a creamy white. As the edges wear, the green shows through. A deep bergundy under a colonial green also looks really nice.

Milk paint is easy to work with. It’s a wonderful medium and as long as you mix THOROUGHLY you won’t have any issues. Oh and no nasty vapors, AND you can clean your sprayer into the garden if you want. Milk paint is biodegradable. I use it on kids’ toys.