My experiences with Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint

~* First off let me just be clear that this is my FIRST time using milk paint!  So it is very possible that my problems with it could be due to user error! *~

Let's get to the basics...
What is Milk Paint?
It’s a powdered, organic paint that is environmentally safe. Milk paint is a formula that has been around forever, it has been dated back as early as Ancient Egypt.  It is a versatile paint that can be used to achieve a variety of looks from chippy and distressed, to smooth and sleek.
What Types of Finish can be used on Milk Paint?
Furniture Wax can be used as a protective topcoat, as well as Hemp Oil.  The Old Fashion Milk company also makes a clear top coat - I believe it's like a matte Polycrylic that they say can be used as a topcoat.
Can Milk Paint be used on raw wood?
Yes, it’s one of the best paints for raw wood.  It acts like a stain, but looks like a paint.  The color will penetrate the wood for a lasting finish that won’t chip or flake.
 Do I have to prime before using Milk Paint?
Nope!  If you aren't going for that chippy look you simply add the bonding agent to your paint mixture.


When I decided to try milk paint I started by doing some lite research on the lines available out there.  It seemed the two most popular were Old Fashioned Milk Paint (www.milkpaint.com) and Miss. Mustard Seed's Milk Paint (www.missmustardseedsmilkpaint.com), it was a real toss up between the two and I couldn't decide which to go with...it just so happened that Vintage Retold (www.vintageretold.com) was having a sale on all of Miss. Mustard Seed's paints so I decided to give her line a try and purchased a pint of her milk paint in Tricycle, a beautiful red color.  I watched all of the available tutorials on Miss. Mustard Seed's website then pulled out my piece and was ready to give it a shot.  (Of course, I took pictures of all of these steps, but later deleted them by accident, sorry about that guys!)  But you can find all of her tutorials here...http://www.missmustardseedsmilkpaint.com/tutorial
Mixing the paint was fairly easy!  At first the powder seemed reluctant to form a life long bond with the water, but after some coaxing they went together surprisingly smoothly and lived happily ever after

The piece I chose to paint was a child's rocking chair that had previously been painted yellow.  I did not prep it in ANY way - so I was pleasantly surprised when the paint went on smoothly and adhered well!  (At this point I should note - my little batch did NOT contain the bonding agent as I WAS going for the chippy look)  I chose to apply my pretty little mixture with a paint brush (although I've heard you can use a spray gun, foam brush - I've even heard of someone using a rag!) and found I had not a single brush stroke!  Even though I don't mind them in my own pieces as I feel they add character, I know a lot of people out there who STRIVE for a solid look - so if that's you, THIS is your paint.  Now...here's where I ran into my problems.  On the seat of the chair, the original owner (a child) had drawn a few designs with a black ball point pen.  I didn't anticipate it being a problem to cover because the markings were fairly light and the pen marks (because they were drawn in ball point) were thin.  But it was!  I had no problem in covering all of the yellow paint in just two coats, but it took me three or four to cover the pen markings completely.  I'm not sure being so new to this if I was making my batches to thin (to much water to paint ratio) or if this is just the way of the world, in the land of milk paint.  All I know is it threw me for a loop, I'm so used to chalk paint that is SO thick it has to be diluted by water and STILL I rarely use more than a single coat.  But, they are two very different paints so I guess that's not comparing apples to apples.   

However my biggest problem was painting the spindles on the chair.  It seemed for the life of me I could NOT get the paint to coat them evenly.  And this is the only way I can think to explain it...imagine if you had two pieces of scrap wood in front of you, if you painted one of those pieces with two coats of blue chalk paint, then you took the other piece of scrap wood and painted it with that same blue paint but this time applied ten coats - when all was said and done they would both be the same color blue right? Well, not so with milk paint - at least not in the case of these darn spindles. It seems that because it's a pigment based paint two coats will not be the same color as ten coats, so as I circled around each spindle, overlapping my paint I was creating multiple shades of color.  Although - that was never mentioned in any of Miss. Mustard Seeds tutorials so I'm left to wonder if I'm doing something wrong?  Once it had dried for a few hours I used a fine grit sanding sponge and buffed the entire chair which seemed to help even things out quite a bit.  The ONLY thing I have yet to do is to wax it.  There isn't a tutorial on her site about finishing yet and what it will mean in regards to the color.  If you've ever used chalk paint you know that the TRUE color of the paint is the way it looks when it's wet.  Once it dries it looks very lack luster...and well, chalky!  But then when you wax it, it brings it back to life!  The color changes and once again the color is vibrant and beautiful.  I am hoping, with toes and fingers crossed that this is what waxing will do for my little chair.  Because when the paint was wet you could not tell there was a variation in the color, and also because the vibrant red that I was looking for is gone, and the red of my chair looks nothing like the pieces pictured on her site painted in the same color.  But I guess we shall see!

Painted with Miss. Mustard Seed's Milk Paint

Stay tuned for an update!

Painted with DIY chalk paint recipe

**UPDATE**
I waxed a small area and it did help but it seemed as though the outcome was still not going to be what I was looking for.  So before waxing the entire piece I decided to quit while I was ahead!  I sanded over the entire piece and repainted it with my DIY chalk paint recipe in a similar red paint.  That covered nicely and then I waxed the entire piece.