Forum Home
PC World Chat
Thread ID: 76379	2007-01-30 13:02:00	Whitewash - For walls, not IT businesses	Laura (43)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
520739	2007-01-30 13:02:00	I know nothing at all about whitewash & Google merely gave me recipe choices to make it. So now it's made me realise this isn't necessarily the simple product I assumed, I need help. Or is a basic version available at paint shops?. Why whitewash rather than paint? Fits with the period. It's a 2 room Central Otago historic stone cottage which has 50s tat wallpaper - always in the long-term plans for a cleanup, but never making it to the top of the list as priorities change. Suddenly I have an offer from a "temporary camper" to whitewash it. I can't leave Dunedin just now, so can't supervise. If it's shop-bought, he can probably do no harm. But if he plans to make it, are there possible pitfalls? Hard-heartedly, I don't mean his safety (experience living with gas/kero lamps & coal range implies good survival techniques), rather the possibility that the wrong mix might damage old plaster. Any advice from any old-style painters out there, please? (Was going to mention Tom Sawyer, but not sure whether people still read Mark Twain?).	Laura (43)
520740	2007-01-30 19:12:00	It can still be bought. I used some a few years back to whitewash the greenhouse. I either bought it from a paint shop or from a garden centre.	user (1404)
520741	2007-01-30 21:46:00	Laura. I checked Google too and used the NZ section for search. Under "whitwash paint" there were three entries. I chose www.askthebuilder.com and i got the following "The recipe the architect provided to me was: 50 lbs of Ivory Hydrated Lime and 10 lbs. of Mortens table salt. Mix with clean water to a paste consistency. Apply with a stiff brush. Wet the masonry first. After partial drying rinse some off to achieve blotchy appearance". Hope it helps.	Bryan (147)
520742	2007-01-31 02:41:00	Thanks, user & Bryan for your replies. Since last night, I've phoned Dunedin's 4 largest paint retailers plus Mitre10. All said they don't think anyone makes commercial whitewash nowadays. (One man hasn't seen it for at least 15 years; another recalls something called Snowchem 10-12 years ago) So the buying option's not looking good... so far, anyway. As for making, Bryan's recipe link looks as good as any to my uninitiated eye, but as I said before, there are heaps of Google choices. (Great website, BTW. I plan to check it out for other domestic mysteries later - though amused the first entry I saw on a 'builders'" page was How to Make a Video) It seems I should now try some "heritage" info - maybe Historic Places Trust. But I'm still keen to hear from anyone with personal experience of whitewashing, of course - or somebody who knows somebody...	Laura (43)
520743	2007-01-31 02:48:00	Thanks, user & Bryan for your replies. Since last night, I've phoned Dunedin's 4 largest paint retailers plus Mitre10. All said they don't think anyone makes commercial whitewash nowadays. (One man hasn't seen it for at least 15 years; another recalls something called Snowchem 10-12 years ago) So the buying option's not looking good... so far, anyway. As for making, Bryan's recipe link looks as good as any to my uninitiated eye, but as I said before, there are heaps of Google choices. (Great website, BTW. I plan to check it out for other domestic mysteries later - though amused the first entry I saw on a 'builders'" page was How to Make a Video) It seems I should now try some "heritage" info - maybe Historic Places Trust. But I'm still keen to hear from anyone with personal experience of whitewashing, of course - or somebody who knows somebody... Resene make a product called aquapel or aquasheild which should be a suitable replacement.	rogerp (6864)
520744	2007-01-31 03:13:00	Resene make a product called aquapel or aquasheild which should be a suitable replacement. The local Resene shop was one who told me there was no such product as whitewash nowadays. Mind you, he sounded like a youngish man. Maybe too young to know what it was..? Can you tell me more? "Aqua" sounds water repellent - hence shiny? I don't want shiny.	Laura (43)
520745	2007-01-31 04:26:00	Can't help Laura but I have to tip my hat to you for aiming at authenticity. I think I'd just use watered down acrylic paint in the circumstances. Matt finish for consistancy with whitewash. Diluted paint could also soak in a little which gives the same effect as whitewash - but I'm no painter so thats only a guess.	Winston001 (3612)
520746	2007-01-31 05:03:00	Cautious for several reasons, Winston. Have seen a few dreadful "renovations" which destroyed the original atmospere of history - this is 1880s - and muttered about them. Don't want to be held responsible for that myself. The cottage will stand far longer than I will (stone walls structurally sound, sitting on a huge rock as foundations) so future generations count. But even now, my pride won't let me face the "experts," if I stuff up. Having said that, I guess the wrong mix might not do much in the way of irreparable damage? Yet without knowing the composition of old plaster ( or even how old it is - original or replacement) I don't feel brave enough to take chances. So perhaps it's simply cowardice that rules...	Laura (43)
520747	2007-01-31 08:14:00	You could try the local yellow pages and look for a large firm of master painters. They might be able to help.	Bryan (147)
520748	2007-01-31 08:40:00	You could try the local yellow pages and look for a large firm of master painters. They might be able to help. Nice one, Bryan. A job for tomorrow. (Goes off humming: "That Old Master Painter from the Faraway Hills"...)	Laura (43)
1 2 3 4