White Wash?

[Elill]

G'day all,

Anyone know where I can get whitewash from?

I want to white wash a spotted gum (or European Oak) desk...never done it before/not sure where to start.

Cheers

[Harry72]

Its hydrated lime isnt it?

[Toymaker Len]

Whitewash you just make up yourself from lime, water and linseed oil. But it is a thick gluggy coarse textured fence paint type of stuff and would look truly hideous on a desk. Maybe you are thinking of limeing or bleaching ?

[Chief Tiff]

I agree with Len; are you sure you don't mean liming? Whitewash won't survive long as a furniture covering; it'll rub off fairly quickly in use. And look nasty. It's really designed for whitening fences and walls which is why it contains minerals like lime and chalk. A slightly thinned down version used for whitening dadoe rails and mouldings was called distemper.

Feast Watson make a liming solution available from your local Big Green Shed. It's real easy to use; just brush on...wait....wipe off...burst into tears as you realise you've just ruined a perfectly good piece of furniture....


If the desk is truly European oak have you considered shellac?

[Elill]

Liming yes (sorry never been down this path before so dont know the terminology)....I'll apply a sealer of some description over it.

I normally use Hard Shellac and EEE for everything

The room it (the desk) is going in requires something very pale and I dont mind the look. I was going to just go with a painted finish but I like the idea of having some texture/gain in it.

[d.m.s]

Feast Watson make a liming solution available from your local Big Green Shed. It's real easy to use; just brush on...wait....wipe off...burst into tears as you realise you've just ruined a perfectly good piece of furniture....

not often you read a 100% perfectly true statement on the internet.

i now have a nice "modern art" piece on my garage wall now in FW liming solution.....

[Ian Wells]

Liming yes (sorry never been down this path before so dont know the terminology)....I'll apply a sealer of some description over it.

I normally use Hard Shellac and EEE for everything

The room it (the desk) is going in requires something very pale and I dont mind the look. I was going to just go with a painted finish but I like the idea of having some texture/gain in it.

Add a little zinc white pigment or maybe whiting to a bleached shellac solution then wipe on let it dry then buff off with a rag made dampish with metho. This,ll leave the pigment in the grain and low spots . Wipe on more as needed or buff off to taste. I'd wax it to a dull sheen with steel wool.
Hope this helps
Ian

[Elill]

hmm...looks like I'll have to trya few of these methods and see which one I like.

Being a desk it'll suffer a lot of wear and tear from a mouse so I dont think a waxed finish will suffice

[ubeaut]

You should be able to get universal tint in white. This can be added to white shellac or the Hard Shellac and could do the job nicely giving you anything from a light opaque colour through to a full white cover.

Would be a suck it and see job on scrap to see which effect you like the most but no reason at all why it wouldn't work.

Cheers - Neil