Linseed Paints

Linseed paint will change the way you approach painting a project, but this wonderful finish takes a different approach than modern paints.

- Logan Wittmer

The world of finishes is a complex one. When I find a finish I like, I tend to stick with it. For the last several years, I've relied pretty heavily on both acrylic enamel and General Finishes milk paint when a project needs a bit of color. Over the last several years however, a very old type of paint has made a resurgence-linseed oil paint. About a year ago, I ordered several flavors of Allbäck linseed oil paint from SageRestoration.​com. This paint has very quickly become my favorite colored finish, but it requires a different approach than water-based paint.

1 Linseed paint separates rapidly. You'll want to stir it with a stout stirring stick, breaking up the sludge at the bottom.

Now let's pump the brakes before I start talking up linseed paint, and get a little background info on the painting landscape. Prior to the 1920's or so, linseed oil paint was just about the only oil-based paint you'd find. After the first world war, the industry needed to produce mass volumes of paint, and the landscape shifted to petroleum-based products. Today, the most common types of paint are alkyd (artificial oil) and acrylic (latex). This is mostly due to the cost of manufacturing, as well as the ability to produce these artificial paints at a high volume.

2 The linseed paint goes on smoothly, and is thinner than most paints.

Benefits of Linseed