Crafting Clay Paint

We’ve experimented with various natural paints over the years. We wanted a paint we could apply once, that wouldn’t dust, and that would have a consistent matte finish (and, of course, that could be made using natural materials). At last, we’ve found our recipe. We knew wheat paste could be added to a clay paint, or even just pasted over the top to make the wall durable.

We mixed a poster paste recipe with our own clay paint. The paint we made was incredibly durable, gave a beautiful consistent color, and barely dusted, even right after drying. Here’s the recipe.

• 18 parts cold water, divided, for flour/sugar mixture
• 6 parts white wheat flour
• 2 parts sugar
• 18 parts cold water for clay mixture
• 20 parts fine filtered clay
• Color pigment (optional)

First, set aside 12 of the 18 parts of water on the fire to heat. Take another pan and add the remaining