With a light and easily applied viscosity, James Alexander Limewash Paint is a natural and traditional wall finish thats based on mineral limestone. It's applied with a large block style brush and provides a soft and mottled matte flat finish, evocative of hand plastered walls.
Authentic limewash adds unmatched dimension and depth of color along with nuanced texture without surface build. It tends to enhance the appearance of surrounding room decor and serves as an affordable upgrade.
What is Limewash
Limewash paint is is a natural finish made from crushed limestone and has a history dating at least back to Roman times. In the process, the crushed stones are burned and then water is added to the mineral lime. The material is aged in water. Mineral pigments are then added for color.
When the limewash paint is applied, it begins the process of carbonation where the limewash paint absorbs and captures carbon dioxide from the air and actually uses it to cure into a limestone finish on your walls! This is called the lime cycle and the curing process. It takes days or weeks even to fully cure, depending on the moisture content of the surrounding air. The curing process of CO2 absorption is the primary mechanism which helps natural lime paints improve interior air quality.
While there are specialised techniques employed by high level decorators, limewash can be applied by novices and is a rewarding wall decorating method. Due to the brushed application, the finish is unique and personal to the applicator.

FAQ's
Densifier is a water based, mix-in binder additive that makes interior limewash applications cure to a finish that is more typical in performance to a flat water based wall paint. It will still have the visual movement, texture, and finish of our pure limewash. Densifier reduces the inherent chalky surface finish for areas of wall that may be touched. This is especially helpful to create a practical limewash finish in higher use areas such as hallways, bathrooms and other living areas. Our sealer can be applied over a densified limewash finish for an additional level of protection.
Our interior sealer is a very flat finish with exceptionally low sheen. It allows the surface to be wipeable. There will be a slight sheen increase from using sealer. If you want the surface as flat/matte as possible, adding a sealer may not be desirable. Another benefit of not sealing is that you can touch-up with no prep (if you need to touch up after applying sealer, you will need to apply Lime-Prep primer to the surface before completing the touch-up application). Finally, a consideration is that with deeper colors, the sealer can alter the appearance of the color. If you decide to use sealer, always test in an inconspicuous area before applying to the whole surface to ensure that the visual appearance of the sealer on limewash is acceptable for your project.
Yes, all of our products are water based and are water-clean-up.
With standard paints, VOC (volatile organic compound) emissions occur during paint application and the drying process, and may continue to off-gas even years after application.
It's important to note that even paint labeled as "Low VOC" can emit VOCs, as they are only required to contain less than 50g/l of VOCs, and may still include intentionally added VOC-containing chemicals. Conversely, "Zero VOC" paints must contain less than 5g/l of VOCs, with no intentional addition of VOCs, although trace amounts may be present as residual components of other ingredients.
But what exactly do we mean by trace amounts of VOCs? According to the Federal Trade Commission's guidance on zero-VOC claims, this refers to VOCs that have not been intentionally added to the product and do not cause material harm that consumers typically associate with VOCs. Additionally, the level of trace VOCs must be no more than that which is found as a trace contaminant or background level in the ambient air.
Our limewash and mineral pigments naturally fall under the zero VOC category.
We are committed to providing you with eco-friendly, low-VOC and zero-VOC paints that are designed to enhance your indoor air quality without sacrificing quality or performance.
Yes! One or two applications of various dilution ratios will create a translucent finish. James Alexander Limewash can be diluted with water up to 300 percent of volume to create a nearly transparent wash effect. This is a standard dilution ratio for wood-wash finishes. Wax pastes or water based polyurethanes are sometimes used for protective topcoats in these decorative applications.
