Linseed Oil Paint
Please note that Heritage and Design Ltd doesn't supply the paint.
Please contact linseedpaintcompany directly for sales and advice.
Ross Samson or Valerie Lyon
0141 632 8681 or 07985 046827
What is linseed oil paint?
It’s a traditional paint made primarily of linseed oil. The invention of modern, oil paints, which dry faster and generally produce a harder finish, saw the downturn in the market for traditional paints and varnishes like shellac. Nowadays acrylic (plastic) paints have taken over as the most popular paint for woodwork which are still oil-based but emulsified to produce a lower VOC product.
The Linseed Oil Paint Company is one of only three manufacturers of natural oil paints but, unlike the other companies, make a much more traditional oil paint using natural plant oils and resins which make the paint much better.
Why should you use natural plant oil paint?
The paramount reason is because it’s good for the planet. It’s made from natural materials and without a chemical or manufacturing process which involve fossil fuels. Linseed oil paints scarcely contribute to global warming compared to conventional paints.
Secondly natural oil paints last longer than conventional exterior paints, easily lasting ten or fifteen years. Compare that to modern paints. Theoretically, it should last a generation. While it is more expensive to buy, it works out cheaper in the long run, especially if access scaffolding is required.
Where we score over our competitors is that we offer a colour mixing service. It isn't backed by a computer-driven Dulux mixing machine, but by hand with a measuring spoon and a large, filthy notebook. “...the range of colours offered far exceeds our linseed oil paint rivals.”
For more details on using our paint and recommendations for internal use, please go to our page on the subject.
Some background on linseed oil paint
Long before natural oils stopped being the main base for paint mixtures, all manner of additives were used to improve the drying speed and the opacity of the colour. And a century ago, lead was the single most important. Primarily used to block out whatever was being painted so it didn't show through (increase the opacity of the paint), lead made paint last a very long time, it acted as a fungicide, and it increased drying speed. Today most linseed paint manufacturers trade on the environmentally friendly aspects of the paint (pure oil, natural pigments).
However, faced with the same problems, other additives have replaced lead. Metal driers were discovered to act as catalysts in the oxidation process over a century ago, and manganese and cobalt are still used today by myself and my rivals.
Our products are not to be confused with the Linseed Paint and Wax Co. which is a Swedish company which sells only Linseed oil paints, an inferior product which still allows mildew to form.
My paint is much more a "traditional" paint rather than linseed oil paint. The key is that I add resin to the oil. For the moment, we simply use resin from pine trees, the sticky stuff that oozes from the tree that people often call sap
The products
Linseed oil paint dries satin/gloss
£35 per litre, and thus more expensive than champagne.
can be ordered as 500ml, 750ml or larger quantities.
Two Tree varnish (generally for use outdoors)
£22 per litre
Pre-treatment oil (raw or boiled)
£8 litre if bought with paint, any quantity
Beeswax toughened with tree varnish
£8
Ordering
To order, please email the linseedpiantcompany or phone (07985 046827) for a chat and don’t forget to mention Heritage & Design.
What makes our paint so green?
When it comes to judging how green a paint’s credentials are, there are three important questions, but none of the three alone gives a complete answer.
1. Does the paint contain volatile organic compounds?
2. Is the paint made of natural ingredients?
3. How much fossil fuel was burnt and how much pollution was created to make the paint?
Linseed oil paint is made of natural ingredients, which undergo no more intensive industrial processing than being heated. No fossil fuels are used as ingredients and less fossil fuel is used in the paint’s production than any other type of exterior paint. It thus contributes the least to global warming. The small risk to the health of users comes from natural plant products which are considered a low poisonous danger and are, in any case, used in minuscule amounts.
But painting wood is not just about adding colour, it also protects the wood from moisture following which, if left untreated, is decay. Some timber species are extremely resistant to decay such as oak. But the ubiquitous coniferous woods are utter softies. To stop the rot, pine and spruce are today often pressure treated or dipped in decay-delaying chemicals. Keeping the timber relatively dry is a better preservative technique. The end grain is where much of the moisture enters and leaves timber, but this is quite often where the painter doesn't bother to paint. Just look at the bottom of your front door if you ever take it off the hinges.
So, paint the pine. Make it colourful and lovely and stop the rot. Paint inside your house lasts and lasts and lasts but outside it fails quickly. Most of us think the culprit is moisture which is partly right. Water can get enter woodwork for several reasons, including poor preparation and timber joints that move (because that is just what timber does). But paint also fails, slowly but surely, as its molecular structure is destroyed by ultraviolet light. Sunlight breaks down the paint which is why several coats of paint will protect your woodwork beautifully with the oldest coats of paint protected by the younger coats. The final coat is always subject to the powerful rays of the sun which is most noticeable when the timber has no more than a coat or two of polyurethane varnish. The varnish on a garden seat might not last more than a couple of years. Look carefully and you will notice that the bits in permanent shade, especially dark shade, will not have blistered (and note, many of these shaded bits are precisely those exposed to prolonged moisture).
What makes linseed paint so good?
Traditional linseed paint is significantly longer lasting than ordinary gloss paint primarily because vegetable resins are far more impervious to ultraviolet radiation than are synthetic resins. The tree huger might suggest that the mother sun that nourished flax (linseed) in life gave it the strength to withstand her withering rays even in death. There is probably a scientific answer too.
We believe, without any proof, that around traditional sash windows, traditional linseed paint simply has to bind well with traditional linseed mastic and linseed putty, and surely lasts longer here than any other paint.
http://www.linseedpaintcompany.co.uk/
It’s a traditional paint made primarily of linseed oil. The invention of modern, oil paints, which dry faster and generally produce a harder finish, saw the downturn in the market for traditional paints and varnishes like shellac. Nowadays acrylic (plastic) paints have taken over as the most popular paint for woodwork which are still oil-based but emulsified to produce a lower VOC product.
The Linseed Oil Paint Company is one of only three manufacturers of natural oil paints but, unlike the other companies, make a much more traditional oil paint using natural plant oils and resins which make the paint much better.
Why should you use natural plant oil paint?
The paramount reason is because it’s good for the planet. It’s made from natural materials and without a chemical or manufacturing process which involve fossil fuels. Linseed oil paints scarcely contribute to global warming compared to conventional paints.
Secondly natural oil paints last longer than conventional exterior paints, easily lasting ten or fifteen years. Compare that to modern paints. Theoretically, it should last a generation. While it is more expensive to buy, it works out cheaper in the long run, especially if access scaffolding is required.
Where we score over our competitors is that we offer a colour mixing service. It isn't backed by a computer-driven Dulux mixing machine, but by hand with a measuring spoon and a large, filthy notebook. “...the range of colours offered far exceeds our linseed oil paint rivals.”
For more details on using our paint and recommendations for internal use, please go to our page on the subject.
Some background on linseed oil paint
Long before natural oils stopped being the main base for paint mixtures, all manner of additives were used to improve the drying speed and the opacity of the colour. And a century ago, lead was the single most important. Primarily used to block out whatever was being painted so it didn't show through (increase the opacity of the paint), lead made paint last a very long time, it acted as a fungicide, and it increased drying speed. Today most linseed paint manufacturers trade on the environmentally friendly aspects of the paint (pure oil, natural pigments).
However, faced with the same problems, other additives have replaced lead. Metal driers were discovered to act as catalysts in the oxidation process over a century ago, and manganese and cobalt are still used today by myself and my rivals.
Our products are not to be confused with the Linseed Paint and Wax Co. which is a Swedish company which sells only Linseed oil paints, an inferior product which still allows mildew to form.
My paint is much more a "traditional" paint rather than linseed oil paint. The key is that I add resin to the oil. For the moment, we simply use resin from pine trees, the sticky stuff that oozes from the tree that people often call sap
The products
Linseed oil paint dries satin/gloss
£35 per litre, and thus more expensive than champagne.
can be ordered as 500ml, 750ml or larger quantities.
Two Tree varnish (generally for use outdoors)
£22 per litre
Pre-treatment oil (raw or boiled)
£8 litre if bought with paint, any quantity
Beeswax toughened with tree varnish
£8
Ordering
To order, please email the linseedpiantcompany or phone (07985 046827) for a chat and don’t forget to mention Heritage & Design.
What makes our paint so green?
When it comes to judging how green a paint’s credentials are, there are three important questions, but none of the three alone gives a complete answer.
1. Does the paint contain volatile organic compounds?
2. Is the paint made of natural ingredients?
3. How much fossil fuel was burnt and how much pollution was created to make the paint?
Linseed oil paint is made of natural ingredients, which undergo no more intensive industrial processing than being heated. No fossil fuels are used as ingredients and less fossil fuel is used in the paint’s production than any other type of exterior paint. It thus contributes the least to global warming. The small risk to the health of users comes from natural plant products which are considered a low poisonous danger and are, in any case, used in minuscule amounts.
But painting wood is not just about adding colour, it also protects the wood from moisture following which, if left untreated, is decay. Some timber species are extremely resistant to decay such as oak. But the ubiquitous coniferous woods are utter softies. To stop the rot, pine and spruce are today often pressure treated or dipped in decay-delaying chemicals. Keeping the timber relatively dry is a better preservative technique. The end grain is where much of the moisture enters and leaves timber, but this is quite often where the painter doesn't bother to paint. Just look at the bottom of your front door if you ever take it off the hinges.
So, paint the pine. Make it colourful and lovely and stop the rot. Paint inside your house lasts and lasts and lasts but outside it fails quickly. Most of us think the culprit is moisture which is partly right. Water can get enter woodwork for several reasons, including poor preparation and timber joints that move (because that is just what timber does). But paint also fails, slowly but surely, as its molecular structure is destroyed by ultraviolet light. Sunlight breaks down the paint which is why several coats of paint will protect your woodwork beautifully with the oldest coats of paint protected by the younger coats. The final coat is always subject to the powerful rays of the sun which is most noticeable when the timber has no more than a coat or two of polyurethane varnish. The varnish on a garden seat might not last more than a couple of years. Look carefully and you will notice that the bits in permanent shade, especially dark shade, will not have blistered (and note, many of these shaded bits are precisely those exposed to prolonged moisture).
What makes linseed paint so good?
Traditional linseed paint is significantly longer lasting than ordinary gloss paint primarily because vegetable resins are far more impervious to ultraviolet radiation than are synthetic resins. The tree huger might suggest that the mother sun that nourished flax (linseed) in life gave it the strength to withstand her withering rays even in death. There is probably a scientific answer too.
We believe, without any proof, that around traditional sash windows, traditional linseed paint simply has to bind well with traditional linseed mastic and linseed putty, and surely lasts longer here than any other paint.
http://www.linseedpaintcompany.co.uk/
