Milk Paint Question

[Wade Holloway]

I have a project for my Granddaughter, she wants a twin size floor bed with rails around it for a toddler. She wants it to be white. I was thinking about using Milk Paint and I think I remember someone saying that General Finishes is not real milk paint, but it is readily available at our local Woodcraft Store. I don’t want to use anything that might be toxic in anyway. So are Milk Paints all basically the same and safe to use for a toddler bed and will a top coat of a mixture of Tung Oil/Varnish/Paint Thinner be safe to use? Any help or guidance will be greatly appreciated, so thank you in advance.

[Prashun Patel]

You will have an easier time with an oilbased enamel. I would use milk paint only for a particular aesthetic or fidelity to history - not for safety only. It requires augmentation for durability.

There also exists urethane paints (eg InsulX) that are good options for roll on or brush on.

I am assuming you are not spraying. If you do, I would choose a waterbased pigmented lacquer. That will give you the most professional looking results.

Top coating a white painted surface with an oilbased varnish will give it a yellow cast that may not be appropriate, so I would really be looking for a single application color/topcoat product like the ones I mention above.

[Wade Holloway]

Thanks for the help. I wondered about the oil changing the color of the paint and was afraid that it might. I just figured the Milk Paint might be safer, but if enamel paint is just as safe it might be a better choice since it is easier to get than the Milk Paint. You are right about not spraying, I don’t have room in my little shop to spray anything and here in Texas the last time I tried spraying outside I had more bugs than paint on the table. Thank you so much for the help!

[Stan Calow]

I've used the powdered milk paint* on a few things that have stood up really well for several years - outdoors in full sun, rain, and freezing winter. No topcoat, and I still can't scratch it off with my fingernail. I'm never sure when someone is asking about non-toxic or food-safe applications, if the concern is about fumes, skin contact, or kids chewing on it.

*Old-Fashioned Milk Paint Co, from online woodworking retailers.

[roger wiegand]

GF "Milk Paint" is just a very flat latex paint with a great marketing campaign. It may well be fine for your use. Old Fashioned Milk Paint Co is the actual stuff.

[Jim Becker]

The GF Milkpaint is a very nice tinted acrylic. They offer it in traditional "real" milk paint colors, however. It's perfectly safe for your application just like any other curing finish you can buy today once they are cured. The GF product has a satin sheen native. Traditional milk paint you mix from powder and water. It dries flat. Sometimes, it's left like hat and sometimes folks will use BLO or similar drying oils to provide additional "protection".

[Wade Holloway]

Thanks so much for the help. Only in woodworking finishes can a company get away with calling latex paint Milk Paint . I just did not want to use a paint or finish that might be harmful to a toddler, you know they chew on anything and everything . I do like the matt finish that GF gives you and it seems to be very durable. I used it on my workbench base about 9 years ago and it still looks good when you wipe the dust off of it. Thanks again for all of the advice it is really appreciated.

[Jim Becker]

I think that you will find that a 100% acrylic product like the GF products isn't much like a typical paint labeled as "latex"... But again, any finish sold today is safe once fully cured. It might not taste good, but what toddler ever considers that?