Nostalgia is a powerful marketing tool, and along with an increased awareness of the environmental impact of importing raw materials and the amount of plastics we use, recently there has been a revival of primitive paints. But are traditional or primitive paints really more environmentally friendly than modern formulations?

Limewash, or whitewash, one of the simplest early paints, is simply lime slaked in water and is an extremely caustic mix which can cause serious burns. Most often used in outbuildings and simple dwellings, it cures to become calcium carbonate once dry and has enormous character and beauty. Soft Distemper, containing ground chalk, animal glue and pigment, was easy to make and apply and was commonly used as a ‘freshener’ for kitchens and bedrooms, especially after bouts of sickness. The downside of both paints is that they are not at all durable and must be completely washed off before the surface can be repainted.

Early oil-based paints dating from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries contained a whole array of toxic substances such as lead, arsenic and mercury. Health and safety precautions were non-existent and the health of workers employed in the manufacturing process was at enormous risk. Even once dry, the paint was deadly and if this wasn’t bad enough, some pigments also had other rather unpleasant qualities. There is perhaps a clue in the name, but the smell of Yellow Sulphide of Arsenic got stronger as time went on.

Inexpensive earth pigments were commonly used but offered a limited colour palette. A neutral “stone” colour on walls with a chocolate colour on doors and trim seems ubiquitous, transcending status from modest homes to royal suites. Brighter, exotic pigments, such as lapis lazuli, cochineal and ivory black, which were imported, were vastly more expensive.

Ready mixed paint in cans only started to come on the market in the 1850’s, but it tended to settle to a hard lump at the bottom of the tin. Early house painters would buy their raw materials and mix their own paint. White lead was mixed with linseed oil, turpentine was added to loosen it and then it would be tinted with pigments. This was time consuming, the paint was difficult to use, and coverage could be uneven. It was slow-drying, and the amber-colour of the linseed oil resulted in rather muddy colours which quickly yellowed and became dull. Frequent repainting was needed as the surface was not very durable and would dust off over time.

Towards the end of the nineteenth century, driven by a desire for healthy, wipe-clean surfaces, several new types of early emulsions, ‘water’ paints or casein-bound distempers appeared on the market and by the 1930’s, Titanium Dioxide, a brilliant white which is also used in toothpaste, pills and paper manufacture, was widely introduced.

Development of domestic paint then stopped during WW2, as the focus had shifted to finding sources of pigments for camouflage and protection for the war effort. After the war had ended, ready mixed paint was limited to colours that had been around since the 1920’s. Even by the time Farrow & Ball was founded in 1946, demand was still mainly for institutional, standardised colours.

With the Great Exhibition of 1951, and the release of House & Gardens’ initial twenty-four ‘useful’ colours, a huge rise in interest in DIY and home décor saw the development of so-called ‘plastic’ paints. These durable and reliable acrylic emulsions were easy to apply and came in myriad colours for the home decorator to choose from.

Back in the early ‘90’s, the rebranded Farrow & Ball were becoming known for their historical and heritage colours, all made to original formulations using age-old methods and each with its own intriguing back story. But despite being rooted in the past, Farrow & Ball is a forward-thinking, ethically-minded company, committed to using only responsibly sourced paper and raw materials. All their paints are now water-based, so are kinder to the environment at large than solvent-based paints and less smelly too, so kinder to your environment as well.

But don’t be tempted to think that just because a colour may be based on a chip of historical paint discovered beneath layers of redecoration at the back of a cupboard in a beautiful old house in Dorset, it doesn’t mean it can’t be used in completely modern and avant garde ways.