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P M

@DD, of course not. I read that the ancient poishing method used goat milk. I’m not sure what was used in the 1920s, but I owned a home that had a long flight of exterior terrrazzo steps that dated from that time, and the material was still pristine. The stairs were exposed to the elements and had seen who knows how many moving trollies thumping up and down them, over the decades, moving heavy appliances and large pieces of furniture. Yet there were no chips, cracks or signs of erosion or pitting. The gloss on the terrazzo was muted — it could have used a polishing — but both the stairs and landings were otherwise perfect.

1 Like March 22, 2018 at 2:00PM

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dreamdoctor

I would think they would use silica (fine sand) to polish it and goat's milk as a finish coat - in thin coats it dries pretty clear but would not hold up to water (use a coaster!). Terrazzo has been round since ancient times in one form or another. Do you have a link for the goat milk polishing method?

1 Like March 23, 2018 at 10:24AM

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Milk paint is a water based paint that anyone can make. It's been used for thousands of years. It can be made from any animal milk and lime with color pigments added. Good old borax is mixed with the casein, which is a protein in milk. The casein is also a preservative.

The goat was one of the early feral animals that became domesticated, so it figures that goat milk paint was common as a preservative finish. Cave drawings/paintings of 8000 years ago were done of milk, lime & earth pigments. King Tut's tomb had models and furniture found that were painted with milk paint. That's a long lasting paint! Very durable.

The durability (preservation) depended on the formula used. Some provided weatherproofing. Variations found included olive oil, eggs, animal glue, waxes and linseed oil. Some early 17th century painters improved the formula using warm walnut oil and lead oxide.

Today, milk paint is still used. However, one needs to be careful of the formula. New water based casein paint uses rubber and styrene aka Kem-Tone, the first latex paint. Others added lead and mercury and other solvents now known as VOCs and HAPs.

Some modern companies continue to offer Milk Paints with casein protein, lime, clay and earth pigments. It's dry, so just add water.

1 Like March 23, 2018 at 11:38AM