Lime your bricks and stone with Porters Lime Wash

If you have existing brick or stone that you no longer like the colour of and want to soften the look, then look at liming your bricks or stone with Porters Lime Wash. Porters make two different types of lime washes – Porters Original Lime Wash for exterior and Porters Interno Lime Wash for interior and both are made for covering over or liming most bare and unglazed bricks, masonry and stone. If you want some of your brick or stone to still be visible and only want to wash out some of the colour or give it that aged look, then a Lime Wash is the product to use.

Before using Lime Wash, it is suggested to do a water test first to make sure your bricks / stone will absorb the paint by spraying some water onto the surface. If the water soaks into the bricks / stone, then you’ll be able to apply the Lime Wash over the surface. If not and the water beads (sits on top), then it means there’s a coating on the brick / stone and whatever product you try to use won’t work as it’ll just sit on the surface and won’t absorb or stick. If you are going for that washed out or limed look where you can still see some of the brick / stone then you’ll need to water down the Lime Wash. The amount of water you add depends on the type of brick / stone and how quickly the water test absorbs into the surface. If you are finding the water is soaking into your brick / stone really quickly, then you will want to add more water to your Lime Wash such as 2 parts water to 1 part Lime Wash whereas if you are finding your bricks / stone are denser and not absorbing very quickly, then you will want to add less water so maybe 1 to 1.  You may have to try and have a play around with the Lime Wash and the amount of water to get the right consistency and for the look you are trying to achieve. When painting the Lime Wash onto the brick / stone, it’s also very important to make sure the surface is always damp – so we would suggest to spray the brick / stone with water first before applying and you may need to respray as you are applying as the surface will need to remain damp. This just helps with the brick / stone to absorb the Lime Wash.

Lime Wash is applied using a large stiff brush such as a Porters Lime Wash Brush. Most of the time we suggest to use the Lime Wash as the white it is and with no tinter added to it, however if your bricks are really red then we would suggest to have some k tinter (green) added to the Lime Wash to correct the red otherwise your Lime Wash may appear pink rather than a white over the bricks. And to achieve that aged and uneven limed wash look, then apply the Lime Wash with multiple coats in some areas and less in others so it’s not all consistent.

If you have any questions about using Porters Lime Wash or how to achieve these looks, feel free to contact us on 0450 602 891 or send us an email to [email protected] and we will be able to assist you further.