I've mentioned this before but it continually amazes me how hard it is to source natural building products. The latest is natural paint. We have tried making our own casein paint with limited success. The volumes needed, however, have forced us to seek alternatives.
It's relatively easy to find truly natural, zero VOC (volatile organic compound) paint in the UK. There's Earth Born, Bioshield and Ecotec Natural Paint. But we struggled to find suppliers of these paints in Australia and the weight (and wait) involved in shipping from Europe made them an inviable option.
There's the less natural option of Volvox that is available in Oz but we were firm on the need for paint with no VOCs so kept looking.
There is method behind the madness. The high vapor pressure of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is caused by a low boiling point, which means that large numbers of molecules evaporate and are discharged into the air at ordinary room temperatures. One VOC in paint is formaldehyde which is colourless but has a pungent, irritating odour and is a known carcinogen (i.e. it causes cancer). Now, I am not one to look kindly on deliberately installing products in my home that are likely to cause my family ill health. Ergo, the need to find paint with no VOCs.
So, we continued on our quest and eventually contacted the lovely staff, Hartmut and Elke, from the Natural Paint Company, based in Port Macquarie New South Wales, and managed to purchase some brilliant natural paint and vega primer from them.
The paint that we purchased is casein marble paint, such as was used by the ancient Egyptians in 1300BC.
The vega undercoat dries clear.
The casein marble paint goes on clear
and dries white.
Best of all, there is no smell.
The paint comes in powder form and is mixed with a drill bit attachment. The best bit about the paint is that we made an oil-based version for use in the bathroom and on the roof in the kitchen as it is much more water resistant. To ensure the paint is still white once the oil has been added (we used tung oil but for a cheaper option safflower oil can be used) we purchased some titanium white pigment to include in the oil paint. For the walls and roof in the bathroom we used about 30% oil. We plan to make a richer oil-based paint for the windows.
It's relatively easy to find truly natural, zero VOC (volatile organic compound) paint in the UK. There's Earth Born, Bioshield and Ecotec Natural Paint. But we struggled to find suppliers of these paints in Australia and the weight (and wait) involved in shipping from Europe made them an inviable option.
There's the less natural option of Volvox that is available in Oz but we were firm on the need for paint with no VOCs so kept looking.
There is method behind the madness. The high vapor pressure of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is caused by a low boiling point, which means that large numbers of molecules evaporate and are discharged into the air at ordinary room temperatures. One VOC in paint is formaldehyde which is colourless but has a pungent, irritating odour and is a known carcinogen (i.e. it causes cancer). Now, I am not one to look kindly on deliberately installing products in my home that are likely to cause my family ill health. Ergo, the need to find paint with no VOCs.
So, we continued on our quest and eventually contacted the lovely staff, Hartmut and Elke, from the Natural Paint Company, based in Port Macquarie New South Wales, and managed to purchase some brilliant natural paint and vega primer from them.
The paint that we purchased is casein marble paint, such as was used by the ancient Egyptians in 1300BC.
The vega undercoat dries clear.
The casein marble paint goes on clear
and dries white.
Best of all, there is no smell.
The paint comes in powder form and is mixed with a drill bit attachment. The best bit about the paint is that we made an oil-based version for use in the bathroom and on the roof in the kitchen as it is much more water resistant. To ensure the paint is still white once the oil has been added (we used tung oil but for a cheaper option safflower oil can be used) we purchased some titanium white pigment to include in the oil paint. For the walls and roof in the bathroom we used about 30% oil. We plan to make a richer oil-based paint for the windows.
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