Whitewash

Description

An inexpensive white paint that contains Slaked lime, i.e. Lime in water that has converted to Calcium hydroxide. Whitewash often contains other additives such as: Glue, Whiting, salt, or Sugar. The paint cures, or dries, via the reaction of the hydrated lime with air to deposit a layer of calcite. The non-permanent, water-soluble paint was used on walls, fences, and ceilings. A similar lime based paint, called Limewash, was usually composed of lime mixed with Tallow or Linseed oil as a water resistant exterior coating.

Synonyms and Related Terms

água de cal (Port.); white lime; limewash; white washing; calcimine; kalsomine; lime paint

Resources and Citations

• Bob Bennett "Awash with Colour: The Use of Limewash as a Decorative and Protective Coating" Building Conservation Directory, 1997: Link
• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p.570
• Ralph Mayer, A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques, Harper and Row Publishers, New York, 1969 (also 1945 printing)
• Dictionary of Building Preservation, Ward Bucher, ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York City, 1996
• Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997
• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998
• Lime article - http://www.buildingconservation.com/articles/limebasic/limebasic.htm
• Art and Architecture Thesaurus Online, http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabulary/aat/, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, 2000
• Wikipedia: Whitewash Accessed March 2025