Protect your family from lead paint by using Egg Tempera.
Egg paint is a great alternative to standard paints. You can have safe organic paint in your home.
Why would you spend extra time mixing your own paint when you can buy a finished product at the local hardware store?
Some paints still contain lead which can cause ADHD in children, as well as lead poisoning. Although lead in paint has been banned in many countries it’s still on the shelves in hardware stores around the world.
In South Africa, unsuspecting families were recently sold lead paint and it’s estimated that 50 percent of the homes in South Africa have lead paint on the walls.
If you live in the USA or Sweden you are less likely to be sold lead paint, but there are other toxins in your average pot of paint you may not want your toddler to lick off the wall.
Some paints which do not contain lead may contain ingredients that could cause cancer if consumed.
For a quick overview of how to make Egg Tempera check out my Picture Slideshow (Web Story).
Click here Making egg Tempera.
Egg Tempra Paint is made of eggs, flaxseed oil, water, and pigment. The pigment often comes from dirt, clay, or minerals. Although it won’t taste good, eating egg paint is the equivalent of eating homemade mayonnaise mixed with dirt.
How is it possible to consume enough Egg Tempera Paint to cause sickness?
Paint on old houses may contain lead or other toxins. When it chips off older houses it contaminates the soil around the house.
Small children often eat dirt, and adults may eat toxins if they grow edible plants in the soil around a contaminated house.
You would be surprised how many children eat paint chips inside their homes.
Peeling paint on the inside of a house will eventually be broken down into dust. The dust in your house could be poisoning you without you knowing it. Toxic dust affects adults and children alike.
Does Egg Tempera Paint require more coats of paint than regular paint?
I used egg paint on the ceilings of our home as well as on the trim, and baseboards. I have painted with egg paint in my daughter’s room and on some furniture items, so I have a good idea how many coats different items require.
Egg paint may require only two coats of paint but can require up to five coats depending on the color and what surface you are painting.
You should use a base coat to prime the walls before you paint with the final color. The base coat I used is from the Swedish company Av Jord. It’s dark beige egg paint. It does double duty covering knots in the wood and other differences in color as well as helping the other layers of paint to dry faster.
The beige paint that is considered the base coat or primer in Sweden is a nice color that you can actually use by itself. If you choose to use the base paint for your final color you don’t need to paint as many coats. I painted the trim in my bedroom this color and It only took two coats.
If you can’t find any paint specifically for priming the walls, it can vary from country to country, you can pick a beige pigment and make your own. If you have a nice white wall to start with you don’t necessarily need to prime the wall first.
If you choose a white or light color for your walls and you need to prime the walls first, you may need to paint four or five coats.
The Swedish companies who sell pigments suggest that you paint with beige primer twice before painting with other colors.
Most of the time I paint only one coat of primer. When painting on wood with lots of knots and color variations I suggest using two coats of primer.
When I painted wooden paneling in white paint I noticed it took an extra coat to completely cover the beige primer.
This could be because I only used one coat of beige primer, a friend who painted her entire interior with egg paint told me.
Or, It could be because I am extremely picky. My husband and several friends did not notice the slight variations in the white paint, but it bothered me enough that I painted an extra coat on the paneling.
Is Egg Tempera Paint more expensive than regular paint?
The price of egg paint may vary depending on which country you live in.
In Sweden, the price is quite similar to regular paint. If you are lucky enough to live where you can use clay or dirt to make your own pigments you only need to pay for the flaxseed oil and eggs.
If you can pay the same amount of money for toxin-free paint and regular paint why wouldn’t you take the organic, environment friendly, toxic-free, and kid safe paint?
What kinds of surfaces can you paint with Egg Tempera Paint?
You can basically paint anything with egg paint. I have painted wooden paneling, furniture, wooden trim, and windows.
I have friends who painted with egg paint on top of other layers of regular paint. They claim this works fine. I have tested painting with egg paint on top of wallpaper and this seems to work as well.
My kids use egg paint when they do crafts or paint things in the garden like rocks.
Can you use flaxseed oil instead of expensive linseed oil to mix Egg Tempera Paint?
You can buy refined linseed oil which means it has been cleaned and filtered, but flaxseed oil works as well.
The difference between linseed oil and many other oils is that linseed oil will dry and form a hard surface while most other oils will remain wet.
Linseed oil can be bought at stores selling artists’ supplies, but it’s rather expensive.
Despite what the name brands of linseed oil would have you believe you can use flaxseed oil from the grocery store to make paint.
Read the label before you buy and make sure you’re buying 100% pure, refined flaxseed oil.
You don’t want to buy flaxseed oil enriched with fiber from flax seeds or flaxseed oil that has other non-drying oils mixed in.
Does Egg Tempera Paint continue to look nice over long periods of time?
I find that egg paint wears well.
If you paint on wood, the paint is sucked into the wood instead of sitting on top as many modern paints do.
When painted on wood it doesn’t flake off as it ages. It gets a nice patina over time and because many old house interiors in Sweden were painted with paint made from flaxseed oil, Linoljefärg or Äggoljetemperan (Egg paint), many beautiful paintings have survived several hundred years.
We have an old house from 1790. The oldest part of the house has a room that we believe is painted with egg paint. It’s a beautiful example of how egg paint looks after years of wear.
Sometimes you’ll have to touch up egg paint just like with any other paint job, but I find that it usually looks nicer after several years than modern paints do.
I have friends that have painted it on all kinds of surfaces and they have been happy with the results as the paint aged. It continued to look good on plastered walls and painted on top of wallpaper among other things.
How long does Egg Tempera Paint last?
If our suspicions are correct and our house from 1790 was painted with egg paint it can last a very long time!
Egg Tempra Paint is one of the oldest forms of paint. It’s believed that Leonardo Da Vinci painted with egg paint.
Does Egg Tempera Paint smell bad?
When I was doing research and deciding what type of paint was appropriate for a 200-year-old house one of the major deciding factors was the fact that egg paint doesn’t have a toxic smell!
I was planning to paint the ceiling in our living room and kitchen in the middle of winter. I didn’t want my kids playing in the midst of paint fumes. I picked the paint because it hardly smells at all and it’s completely nontoxic.
It does have a little earthy smell when you mix the pigment with the eggs, but it’s not strong and I barely notice the smell while I am painting.
When I finished painting a coat and left the house I did notice a rather organic smell when I came home, but this slight smell disappears in about a week.
Should you apply Egg Tempera Paint in thick or thin coats?
Egg paint is often a little bit thinner than regular paint. It tends to run and drip if you try to paint a thick layer of paint. I find it’s best to only dip the very end of my brush in the paint and to apply it in thin layers.
If you see that you missed a spot or feel the need to touch up something you just painted, wait until it’s dry and make sure you cover the spot on the next layer.
Often when I try to brush an area that I just painted ten minutes ago again I make things worse. If you see a drip use a very small artist’s paintbrush to smooth out the drip before it dries.
How long does Egg Tempera Paint take to dry?
Egg paint dries in two different stages. First, the water in the paint evaporates. This makes the paint basically dry and takes about 48 hours. Second, the eggs and oil in the paint need to oxidize. After the initial 48 hours of drying if you rub your finger on the wall you will get paint on your hand. It’s a bit like chalk paint in this respect, but unlike chalk paint, it will stop rubbing off as soon as it oxidizes.
Egg paint needs light and oxygen to complete the hardening process. When I painted our living room ceiling in the middle of winter this process took about a month.
We couldn’t open the windows to let in the air because it was extremely cold outside and in Sweden, we have very little light in the winter. This prolonged the drying process. When I painted in the spring and could open a window this process went much faster. My bedroom, which was painted in April, was completely dry after about a week.
The great thing is that once it’s completely dry, Egg Tempra Paint is known for being long-lasting and hard-wearing.
it will stay looking great through wear and tear.
Just make sure that your paint is completely dry before you start touching it. Egg paint is sensitive before it’s completely oxidized, but once it’s had time to completely harden Egg Paint is known for wearing well.
How long should I wait before painting the next coat of Egg Tempera Paint?
If you are using the beige base coat first it’s best to wait and make sure that this first coat has completely oxidized before painting with your final color.
I have painted over this coat after four days, but this was barely enough time for it to oxidize. The best thing is to have time to wait at least a week. If you’re not in a hurry waiting a month is recommended.
I have not waited long between coats of the final color. Often two days between coats, but you may get a better result and need fewer coats of paint if you wait a few more days than I did.
If you are only using the beige primer for your final coat you will be done painting fast. I painted the trim in my bedroom on two consecutive days. One coat each day and then it was completely dry in a week.
You can see the beige primer in the picture below.
Do you mix Egg Tempera Paint the same way for all surfaces?
The answer to this question is both yes and no! You can mix the paint the same for woodwork and sheetrock or other types of material.
If you are painting on wood that has never been painted, stained, or varnished you will get a better result if you add extra eggs and oil to your paint.
In areas of the house where the walls often get wet, like the kitchen and bathrooms, you should definitely add extra oil and eggs to the paint.
The extra egg and oil will give the paint a glossy finish, be easier to wipe off, and protect the surface underneath better.
Exactly how to mix egg paint with extra oil and egg you’ll find in the illustrated guide.
Can I get a glossy (slightly shiny) finishy without adding extra eggs and oil to my Egg Tempera Paint?
Yes, you can. You can brush the painted surface to make it shine! You must wait until you are 100% sure that the paint is completely done oxidizing.
When you think it’s done oxidizing I would wait another couple of weeks to be sure you don’t ruin your paint job by brushing too soon. I would liken this to buffing a car. You can brush the wall with a special buffing brush in small circular motions to bring out the shine.
How long will Egg Tempera Paint that I mix with fresh eggs last in the fridge?
Once you mix the paint with the eggs and oil you need to keep it in the fridge. It will last for a maximum of one week. Usually, I try to use up the paint in five days.
Make sure you have fridge space for your paint before you start mixing it, and be aware that the egg paint isn’t going to last forever like regular paint because it’s organic and preservative-free.
Can you buy Egg Tempera Paint that is already mixed?
In Sweden, you can buy egg paint that is already mixed. It comes in a can like regular paint. The only difference from mixing it yourself is that if you buy it mixed it has preservatives in it. What they add to the paint depends on what company you buy from.
Premixed paint must have preservatives added to it or the eggs would literally rot in the bottom of the can on route to your house.
If you want to paint without additives you will need to mix it yourself. If you are more interested in convenience you may want to buy mixed paint.
Is Egg Tempera Paint hard to mix?
Egg paint is not hard to mix. You first put pigment in water overnight, then mix eggs and oil with a handheld mixer until they resemble mayonnaise (the eggs and oil should both be room temperature or both be in the fridge).
The last step is mixing the pigment in water with the mayonnaise-like eggs and oil mixture to make the paint. That’s it in a nutshell.
What kind of a brush should you use when painting with Egg Tempera Paint?
You can use any brush you want, but I find that I get the best results when I use brushes that are made of natural fibers.
How many layers of Egg Tempera Paint should I paint?
Below, I painted everything with beige base paint first, then I painted the right side two times with white egg paint and the left side with one coat of white paint. The right side still needs another coat of paint.
Below, is the finished egg paint (egg tempera) on my ceiling.
For more info and book, tips check out the page Our Favourite Resources https://theadhdminimalist.com/our-favourite-resources/
To read about how to mix your own Egg Tempera Paint check out our blogg post
‘A Helpful illustrerad guide for making organic egg paint’
Click below
https://theadhdminimalist.com/a-helpful-illustrerad-guide-for-making-organic-egg-paint/
To buy Pigments and other painting supplies from Sweden you can click on the link below.
The link will take you to Av Jord the company I have purchased my painting supplies from.
http://www.avjord.se/?affiliate=11185
If you purchase pigment or other paint supplies through this link I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Copyright Annie Eklöv
