Friday, May 29, 2015

What IS Milk Paint? (OFMP)

The Old Fashioned Milk Paint.


What is Milk Paint?!

The easy answer: my favorite paint. ;)



The real answer, paint that is made from milk or casein protein. The history of milk paint dates back to before the 13th century, and it rose to popularity as far back as the early 17th century when it was used for furniture in places like Italy and France. In ancient Israel, it was used for home decor and even to paint the walls of their homes. Some of the earliest cave drawings were done in milk paint!

It was made by separating the curds from the whey using cow's milk, then drying out the curds, and adding color by using earth pigments and lime as a binder. 

I personally LOVE how green it is! OFMP is actually USDA BioBased Certified!


In 1974, Charles Thibeau was the first to create, market and package the modern day powdered form of milk paint we see today. His company, The Old Fashioned Milk Paint has continued to stay true to his roots, and have kept his vision intact.  His daughter, Anne Thibeau is the current President of OFMP, and I've been lucky enough to get to work with her on a few different occasions. They have a brand new page on Hometalk! Can you hop  over and give her some 'follow' love for me?!

Here are some amazing examples of what Milk Paint can do!

via Lilac Shack Furniture
 Nothing says 'chippy goodness' quite like milk paint! Since milk paint was originally created for porous surfaces, when used over a pre-finished surface, it results in the paint chipping, crackling, and peeling away to give it that shabby chic everyone goes crazy for.

via Knack Studios
 Seriously, how cheery is this dresser from Knack Studios!? Barb is a master of all things milk paint and furniture. Make sure you check out all her pieces!

via Knack Studios
 This piece is lovely and not too overly distressed.

via Knack Studios
Chippy goodness at its finest...

But wait, milk paint doesn't ALWAYS mean shabby chic or even chippy.

via The Friendly Home
Did you know that you can use OFMP as a stain?! Well, you can. Hillary of The Friendly Home did just that when she built and stained the above piece for her living room. Seriously, how amazing is that cabinet?! Check out how she did it by hopping over to her blog.

Though you can add some Extra-Bond to their paint, to control the chipping and for a smooth finish, OFMP also offers a version of their paint for walls and porous surfaces with the binder built IN that makes it super easy to work with.

via Domestic Geek Girl
Gingi of Domestic Geek Girl did just that and mixed a pretty custom pink using OFMP's SafePaint for her daughter's playroom and also used it on some IKEA toy boxes. How pretty, right!?

Many people are intimidated by milk paint, but I have to be honest, it's super easy to use. There are many tricks that you can use to control the chipping. Like I said before, if you are not a chippy-type of guy or gal, you can always add the bonding agent or just use the SafePaint formula.

Make sure you check my (super long) video over on YouTube to see OFMP in action! Stay tuned for some more OFMP fun coming up, very soon! (HINT! HINT!)

It's always a blast!

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