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Linseed oil paint's dirty little secret

Help with choosing the right coloured milkpaint to slather all over your new project.

Linseed oil paint's dirty little secret

Postby RogerS » 22 Jan 2021, 10:41

or "What the manufacturers' would rather you didn't know".

I hereby irrevocably and without any constraint or reservation withdraw all of my recommendations and good words written in support of this vile product.

The 'dirty little secret'? Mildew. Not helped when the manufacturer once posted this on their website (now withdrawn)....

crawlback.png
(295.93 KiB)


It was a lie. This is the reality.
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(392.04 KiB)


The only option I see is to contact the technical department of a proper paint manufacturer like Zinsser and seek their advice.

The solution that I now realise is to stuff the linseed oil slop with zinc oxide. But since the manufacturers go to great lengths to tell us how wonderful and ecologically friendly their crap product is, adding poisonous zinc oxide is hardly green.

Do NOT EVER, EVER, EVER use linseed oil slop.

And no, I have no idea why the forum has decided to rotate my photos.
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Re: Linseed oil paint's dirty little secret

Postby Trevanion » 22 Jan 2021, 12:22

Interesting, what timber was that, Roger?
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Re: Linseed oil paint's dirty little secret

Postby RogerS » 22 Jan 2021, 12:23

Trevanion wrote:Interesting, what timber was that, Roger?


Tulipwood. Mildew feeds off of the actual paint.
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Re: Linseed oil paint's dirty little secret

Postby Mike G » 22 Jan 2021, 12:33

Oh my goodness what a mess. Sheesh, Roger, that building has been something of a trial for you.....
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Re: Linseed oil paint's dirty little secret

Postby RogerS » 22 Jan 2021, 12:34

Mike G wrote:Oh my goodness what a mess. Sheesh, Roger, that building has been something of a trial for you.....


LOL...understatement of the year, Mike !
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Re: Linseed oil paint's dirty little secret

Postby Trevanion » 22 Jan 2021, 13:11

Tulipwood isn’t something I would use externally, ever, but it does look like the problem is with the paint. I’ve seen something very similar happen with Douglas Fir but that turned out to be mould underneath the paint leaching out.
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Re: Linseed oil paint's dirty little secret

Postby RogerS » 22 Jan 2021, 13:26

Trevanion wrote:Tulipwood isn’t something I would use externally, ever, but it does look like the problem is with the paint. I’ve seen something very similar happen with Douglas Fir but that turned out to be mould underneath the paint leaching out.


I agree but I was sucked (suckered?) into the whole linseed oil paint ethos. I'm confident that the underlying concept of applying the oil that then gets absorbed into the timber is good and so the tulipwood will outlast me.

It isnt all tulip wood. The flat sections are ply.
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Re: Linseed oil paint's dirty little secret

Postby novocaine » 22 Jan 2021, 13:28

dare I ask who sucked you in?
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Re: Linseed oil paint's dirty little secret

Postby RogerS » 22 Jan 2021, 13:34

novocaine wrote:dare I ask who sucked you in?


Guess. Who on a certain other forum has been waxing lyrical for years (and is still doing so) about linseed oil slop (sorry, paint).
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Re: Linseed oil paint's dirty little secret

Postby Halo Jones » 22 Jan 2021, 13:54

Having painted 19 windows and 3 doors with linseed paint I have had no problems over the winter. We sourced our paint from Brouns and Co. (Originally Oricalcum) and I see that they do put Zinc in their paint so that may be the differnce in experience with Allback?

I think we are in a damper spot that Roger so I hope we don't have any bother going forward as it was a lot of work!
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Re: Linseed oil paint's dirty little secret

Postby RogerS » 22 Jan 2021, 14:03

Halo Jones wrote:Having painted 19 windows and 3 doors with linseed paint I have had no problems over the winter. We sourced our paint from Brouns and Co. (Originally Oricalcum) and I see that they do put Zinc in their paint so that may be the differnce in experience with Allback?

...!


Now that is very interesting. I originally used Broun's but Chief Designer changed her mind regarding the colour and they didn't have anything suitable. I didn't realise that they added zinc oxide. Good for them. I still did have some mildew on vertical surfaces though so maybe Broun's didn't put enough in !

I'd question whether or not you're wetter than where we are !

LOL....just checked. We're wetter.
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Re: Linseed oil paint's dirty little secret

Postby AJB Temple » 22 Jan 2021, 14:48

There is an interesting post sequence on a historic buildings forum that deals with this specific paint (and also flax oil and so on used by artists). http://historichomeworks.com/forum/view ... c&start=30

We still have a building where the external woodwork was painted by my grandfather, who had been dead half a century. I suspect a significant difference in those days was that lead was still used. Lead is very toxic and not just to us but also to moulds.
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Re: Linseed oil paint's dirty little secret

Postby 9fingers » 22 Jan 2021, 14:57

Roger, What an awful mess! Much sympathy.
There appear to be one vertical face in the fascia/gutter/soffit details unaffected by mould and yet the near vertical parts of your coved section above is mouldy.

Any theories as to the reason?

Anything copper based (acts as a fungicide) you can spray on that might help kill the mould?

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Re: Linseed oil paint's dirty little secret

Postby AJB Temple » 22 Jan 2021, 15:04

I doubt spraying it with a fungicide will do anything. Mildew feeds off proteins in the linseed oil, and the oil is intended to penetrate the wood. From reading about this in the past on restoration sites (and it appears in the link I posted above) there is a good deal of debate about causation and prevention. Fingers get pointed at oils that are insufficiently purified (proteins not totally removed), and inappropriate or insufficient anti fungal drying agents (manganese v lead for example).
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Re: Linseed oil paint's dirty little secret

Postby RogerS » 22 Jan 2021, 15:25

9fingers wrote:Roger, What an awful mess! Much sympathy.
There appear to be one vertical face in the fascia/gutter/soffit details unaffected by mould and yet the near vertical parts of your coved section above is mouldy.

Any theories as to the reason?

Anything copper based (acts as a fungicide) you can spray on that might help kill the mould?

Bob


No theories at all, Bob. It's patchy all the way round but this photo is the north side and so never gets the sun. Mind you, not much else gets any sun either but there you go.
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Re: Linseed oil paint's dirty little secret

Postby RogerS » 22 Jan 2021, 15:29

AJB Temple wrote:I doubt spraying it with a fungicide will do anything. Mildew feeds off proteins in the linseed oil, and the oil is intended to penetrate the wood. From reading about this in the past on restoration sites (and it appears in the link I posted above) there is a good deal of debate about causation and prevention. Fingers get pointed at oils that are insufficiently purified (proteins not totally removed), and inappropriate or insufficient anti fungal drying agents (manganese v lead for example).


Thanks for the link, Adrian. I'd also come across a similar thread on that forum. This is also interesting https://www.solventfreepaint.com/mildew.htm. although out of date as Allback make no such claim now.

Spoke to Zinsser who recommend Blackfriars Anti-Mould solution followed by CoverStain. So, once the weather has improved in six months time, I'll have a go. I'll be buying some proper paint as well.
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Re: Linseed oil paint's dirty little secret

Postby Trevanion » 22 Jan 2021, 19:59

Having a look around it seems that a few other people have a similar problem to yourself. I was never really sure about this "wonder paint" that certain individuals (I'm actually very surprised you listened to him Roger :lol:) rag on about, which was not helped by the fact it has to be applied by hand, takes eons to dry, and the maintenance actually seems higher (cleaning and re-oiling every year if you want it to last from what I've read) than conventional microporous water-based paint.

Teknos paint has a 10-year warranty if used on Accoya, and I've seen it still looking very fresh after five years or so on Sapele. Water-based paints have come on leaps and bounds since the early stuff in the 90s and 2000s which no one can deny was pretty terrible for peeling right off after a year or two but tarnished its reputation until this very day.

Looking at various forum posts like the one Adrian linked to, it seems like it happens when the stuff is painted outside and takes a little while to dry, perhaps the paint has a weakness to mildew/mould when it's still tacky?
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Re: Linseed oil paint's dirty little secret

Postby RogerS » 22 Jan 2021, 22:49

Trevanion wrote:..., perhaps the paint has a weakness to mildew/mould when it's still tacky?


Who knows, mate. What I do know is that linseed oil slop is as Farrow and Ball paint is to making love in a canoe. Oh, hang on, you don't get mildew on water ...
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