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Environmentally Safe Paint

Chemical paint failure in America today. When you research material that was used 100 years ago, paint failure was unheard of. Why? 100 years ago, before chemical-based paint products were introduced, linseed paint was used. Linseed paint preserved the wood extremely well and did not cause any of the paint peeling or flaking problems we experience today.

A safe paint is available again. Linseed paint is back. Through the rediscovery of ancient wisdom, there is finally an alternative to modern paint hazards and failure. It is long lasting and contains zero chemicals. Linseed paint, window glazing, cleaned linseed oil, linseed wax, linseed soap and linseed varnish have compatible chemistry making solvents unnecessary in any step of the painting process. These are the best and safest materials available to preserve our wood structures for future generations.

Order linseed paint and products or read more about the benefits of environmentally safe linseed paint: www.solventfreepaint.com

History of Linseed Paint

Paint failure was unknown 50 years ago. Paint used before the 1930’s contained primarily pigment and boiled linseed oil. Problems with paint were not common back then and the paint job lasted much longer than it does today. The paint did not flake off or build up on the outside of the wood surface. The paint did not peel because linseed oil paint allows any moisture to easily escape. This eliminates any chance of paint failure (paint flaking & peeling ). We can see proof of the benefits of protecting with linseed paint in several hundred year old buildings in Europe and in the United States standing today.

The introduction of modern paint. In the 1940's after the 2nd world war, the paint manufacturing industry moved away from the old tried and true methods of making linseed oil paint and began heavily promoting chemical, petroleum and solvent based paints. Because they were inexpensive to manufacture but did not hold up well it became necessary to repaint every few years. These new paint products are the perfect products for the paint industry, but not very good for the customer.

When the introduction of the new petroleum paint products began to be marketed in the early 1900's, the arguments for the new type of oil paint were mostly:

1. Drying time was claimed to be shorter. Today, drying time is about the same for linseed oil paint as well as Petroleum based oil paint. You can paint a new coat of linseed paint every 24 hours.
2. Bright new colors. Very bright colors are not easily achievable with linseed paint, but the linseed paint colors are significantly longer lasting. Linseed paint can last 50 to 100 years with minimal maintenance. Maintain with the cleaned linseed oil and the linseed wax. The last coat will work as the sacrificial coat.
3. New high gloss surface. A high gloss can be achieved with linseed paint by adding just a small amount of linseed varnish (also a completely natural product) to the linseed paint or by applying a linseed varnish as a top coat.

Modern paint. A major difference in modern paints is the change in binder from the used of natural boiled linseed oil to alkyd oil which is generally derived from soybean and safflower oil. Use of synthetic resins, such as acrylics and epoxies has been prevalent in paint over the last 30 years. Acrylic resin emulsions in latex paints, with water thinners, have also become common.

Today we know the detrimental effects of exposure to chemicals and solvents. So why use them in paint if they are completely unnecessary? With the awareness of the danger of petroleum products to our health and in the environment, we are entering a new period for the painting industry. Legislation has been drafted to eliminate petroleum based oil paint from the market and to ban solvents in paint.

Other environmental hazards in modern paint. Mildewcides and fungicides were prevalent and popular until their environmental hazards were seen to outweigh their benefits. New formulations which retard the growth of the mildew and fungi are being used. Lead was eliminated after 1950. Most recently, volatile organic solvents in oil paint and thinners have been categorized as environmentally hazardous.

Returning to linseed oil. Linseed acreage in production has increased during the last few years and in 1998 is estimated to be around 18,000 hectares. The new interest in linseed cultivation is of course stimulated by the present acreage support. The oil pressing industry vanished back in the early sixties. Today, however, some twenty local farm pressing installations produce around 1,500 tons of linseed oil and consume about 6,000 tons of seed. Small local producers manufacture linseed oil and to a large extent bottle it for use in outdoor wood preservation.

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