I began my painting career at age 12. It began with thourghly washing the
ceiling. I suspect there had been Kalsomine on that ceiling at some time
and Grandma knew the value of getting it all off before painting. I do
remember the water getting quite chalky after a bit. Ruth
At 6:51 PM +1000 8/9/09, David West wrote:
>Kalsomine is a particular version of distemper.
>Basically whiting or crushed chalk plus casein glue plus pigment.
>A water-soluble paint system that had very little bond strength ... so
>that once it was overpainted, the weight of the new coating was often
>sufficient to pull the paint layers off the wall.
>Used from the mid 19thC up until the mid 20thC - and hence can still be
>the bane of renovators of early-mid 20thC houses.
>
>David West
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Ruth Barton
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Dummerston, VT
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