Using Clay Paint

[MatthewC]

Having just taken delivery of 10 litres of clay paint, I now have the issue of how to apply it. The sample pots that I tried all show the patchy effects of using my usual brushing technique which works on ordinary paint but clearly not for clay paint! I then found an instruction which said to "paint in all directions" or something similar, but this doesn't really help. I'm not sure if I can roll it which I woukld prefer if possible. Can anyone who has actually used it please give me some clearer instructions on how to apply it?

 

[FamilyWiggs]

We've used a lot of Earthborn clay paint.

It is the most lovely paint to use. Smells good enough to drink, and is a delight to apply.

I just used a normal hair brush - and as it suggests, I just applied it in every direction. By which I mean, I didn't stroke in one direction and then the next coat in the other (which is how I apply lime wash). I would just paint each coat in multiple directions at the same time. It is harder work, but not much.

 

[plasticpigeon]

I've used claypaint and rollered it. It is very very thick. If I was to do it again, I would water it down slightly to get it to flow a bit better.

 

[noj]

Lovely stuff - and covers a multitude of sins
Mix it very well - and then mix it some more... Mix again while using

Crosshatch brush pattern works well

But the last bit I did ended up with some strange shadow patches from the brush strokes on a very flat surface viewed from a shallow angle (rare in my place apart from a couple of panels made of chipboard covered in lining paper). This was because I was using pretty much the last of a big pot and it was maybe a bit thicker than it should have been.

I fixed this in three different ways:
1. Thinned my small remaining bit somewhat and applied over the top - this worked
2. Sponged over the brush strokey bits with some warm water which worked too
3. Just left some alone - after a couple of weeks it was really dry and mellowed out a lot - probably all I needed to do!

 

[El Greyo]

Matthew

We've used an Earthborn clay paint and I thought it was great to use and gave a very nice finish. It's thick and sometimes I added some water to thin it a little. I preferred to use a roller and it went on really well and one tin went a long way. For some reason, my other half prefers to use a paintbrush, which did leave brush marks. I dabbed the still wet paint with a sponge to remove them and it worked well.

 

[Roger H]

Roller.

 

[Cocoa]

I used a roller as well, and it looks very smooth. (apart from the 'unsmoothness' of my skimming, which became more evident once the walls were all painted!)

I used the earthborn eggshell on skirtings and other woodwork, and that is so lovely to use as well. Like the claypaint, the eggshell goes a long way!

 

[MatthewC]

Thanks for the advice. I was all set to start this weekend when t'other half asked me to remove the coat rack on the wall in the hall, so now I had a replastering job to do before I could use the paint. Then I saw the nasty bit of hardboard horizontallyy above the front door which I had ignored in 2010 when we did the plastering so I decided that now was the time to get rid of that eyesore as well.

When I bought the house, I raised a question here http://www.periodproperty.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=11509 about a crack in the wall. That question was resolved when I realized that the other half of the semi has an identical crack, and this suggested that it was due to settlement on both sides when the house was extended in c. 1860. Time has shown this to be correct after I filled the crack and nothing has happened since. The above nasty bit of hardboard covered the lintel of that door and, at the time, I had another question which was "what lintel did the door have?" as I wondered if the crack was linked to a damaged lintel. When I removed the hardboard I found some very loose plaster and some bare laths attached to a large and very solid bit of pine; this formed the lintel itself, at least 3" thick, and it's probably three bits of wood giving a depth of the wall thickness (about 16") - so the crack was in mostly decorative mortar .

Hence, I spent several hours yesterday removing the coat rack and the hardboard, then replastering those areas. Last night the house was full of that quite pleasant familiar smell of drying lime mortar after I filled in the screw holes and did a scratch coat on the lath. I had forgotten that smell, but as soon as OH came in she said "what have you been up to?"!!