Painting the Windsor chair with milk paint

Paint has historically conjured some nasty feelings and sensations for me — that chemical smell oh-so liable to induce headaches, the almost plastic appearance of the finished product, the worry that washing brushes in the sink or out on the lawn is going to kill something, somewhere down the line… Well, it doesn’t have to be that way! Enter good old fashioned, homemade milk paint. Yes, paint… made with milk. It’s really that simple.

Milk is a brilliant natural alternative to synthetic binders, and has been used for thousands of years, and is perhaps a superior product to anything you would typically find in the store. I’ve learned that milk paint is a traditional finish for Windsor chairs, and you can actually buy it in powder form. I’ve made it myself in the past, but buying it is a convenient alternative to souring and stirring milk with your own pigment — see Old Fashioned Milk Paint.

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