Flour paint

What is flour paint ?

Also known as “Swedish paint”, “ochre paint” or “wheat paint”, it is a traditional paint that is cooked with flour, water, natural pigments, black soap, linseed oil and iron sulphate. It protects wood sustainably for up to 10 years and naturally.

For who ? For what ?

For those who like to cook, to create their own color, their own paint. You can apply it to any raw wood support (or sanded) in a vertical position (shutter, door, cabin, hives...). It is recommended for rough spruce and Scots pine types. Tannin-rich woods such as chestnut, oak and other tropical woods that are too hard may show brown stains through the paint.
Very economical, natural, it will give you a matt, opaque appearance while leaving visible the veneer of the wood.

How much does it cost ?

About 1,50€ per square metre ! Count between 19,32€ and 29,47€ for the kit with all the ingredients, allowing to realize 15 sqm of painting. You can also select yourself-all your ingredients on our website where you can choose from a hundred pigments.

What color to choose ?

In general, it is recommended to use natural pigments. These offer much better resistance to UV and time. Some synthetic pigments have been tested and approved (example : you can mix a natural pigment with White Tiona which is synthetic if it does not exceed 50%) ; others are not recommended (for example : blue pigments are quite bad and tend to appear “faded” quickly).

Not exhaustive colour chart of possible shades with our natural pigments

What color will I get ?

You will get a color one shade darker than the pigment powder because of the linseed oil.

Can I mix pigments ?

Yes, you can totally create your own color. However, it will be necessary to do some testing… and remember the proportions of the mixture !

Can I get a white flour paint ?

With the classic flour/Swedish paint recipe, it is not really possible to get a "beautiful" white hue because linseed oil yellows the mixture and iron sulphate browns it… This results in a slightly yellowish white, “dirty”… There is, however, an alternative to the traditional recipe, in which some ingredients are replaced by others, which Nathalie Boisseau presents in her book « La peinture suédoise » (writen in French).

Photo sent by Marcelle - flour paint of the woodwork with rouge vénitien kit

To sum up :

- All ingredients are available on our website (for simplicity : try our flour paint kits available HERE) ; 
- Only natural pigments can be used (check compatibility in pigment article sheet) ;
- The final colour will be darker than the color in powder of the chosen pigment ;
- To lighten a pigment, you can use Tiona White (the only synthetic pigment that can be used in flour paint). This pigment is to be mixed with the natural pigment powder while respecting the proportions of the recipe.

Recommended pigments for bright red : ocre rouge RFLES, rouge Vénitien.
Recommanded pigments for bright yellow : ocre jaune JFLES, terre jaune d'Italie.

In the absence of preservatives, the paint can be stored in the refrigerator for 2, 3 days in an airtight container.
Preparation time : 45 minutes.
Iron sulphate requires precautions when handling and storing it (gloves, mask, to be kept out of reach of children.
Make sure the substrate to be painted is compatible.
For a better hold, we advise you to pass a second layer the following year.