WHITE AND LIGHT GREY | colour

The greatest demand is for different shades of white paint and our standard shade of white, titanium-zinc white, is included in most of our colour shades. All white and light grey shades contain a combination of titanium dioxide and zinc oxide pigments.

These two oxides complement each other well. Titanium dioxide gives the paint excellent opacity and zinc oxide hardness and gloss. Zinc oxide also provides good protection of the painted surface against algae and fungi. We use it in all our shades, including black.

The combination of black and white results in light blue colour tones, sometimes referred to as „poor-man’s blue“ To colour balance this blue we use yellow ochre, umber and iron oxide yellow. We also produce different shades of light grey in the same way.

YELLOW| colour

We use the following pigments in our yellow tints: various yellow ochres, iron oxide yellow, nickel-titanium yellow and other inorganic metal compounds. In some cases they are combined with white, umber and black to achieve the right balance.

The term ‘yellow ochre’ is widely known and long used. The best pigments are still obtained from the clay layers in the Mediterranean, and their shades range from yellow-brown to reddish-brown. Yellow iron oxide is made from scrap iron and has a slightly brighter yellow tone than ochre. This pigment is the result of a recycling process.

To further increase the brightness and yellowness, for example, nickel and titanium compounds as well as bismuth pigment are added to the shade Sun yellow. These are inorganic metals that are stable, lightfast and approved for the listed use. They replace previously commonly used pigments containing chromium and lead.

RED| colour

The red pigments we use the most are various iron oxides, burnt terra (baked terra/clay) and red ochre. As lime paint in the shade Falu Red is traditionally used in Sweden, we are often asked which of our linen paint shades is most similar to it.

Our answer is that 1A-222 Deep Iron Oxide Red most closely matches Falu Red and our Falu Red color matches our Light Falu Red. We use the term English Red for one of the shades of iron oxide. We also produce its lighter variant 10A and slightly darker shade 48A. Irone oxide minium paint (iron oxide minium) is used as a protective anti-corrosion coating for metals, but is also suitable for wood.

Our red paints can also be used for single-layer finishing of unplaned timber. You can mix the paint for the one-coat finish according to the instructions. It is an alternative to lime coatings for sites exposed to the weather. The left half of the image above this text shows an area on the south-facing façade that was painted with one coat of paint 15 years ago. The right half of the picture shows the same facade refreshed with a new coat of paint. As you can see, the colour is extremely stable and this is due to the fact that we use a large amount of red iron oxide pigment without the addition of cheaper complementary pigments.

GREEN| colour

Chromium oxide-based (green) pigments are usually used to produce green linen paint (not to be confused with the formerly used chromium green and zinc green pigments, which are toxic). To produce our shades of green, we fuse chromium oxide-based green pigment with black, umber, ochre, iron oxide-based yellow, etc.

Shades of green can be mixed with shades of black or blue and (subsequently) with yellow. The result is an extensive range of shades. On the right is a picture of the Ribersborg kallbadhus swimming pool in Malmö, which was restored in 1999 to its original 1904 appearance. The entire building was painted with linen paints using the original shades. This restoration won a diploma from Copenhagen for bettering the capital city of Denmark Foreningen Hovedstadens Forskønnelse”

BLUE| colour

The semi-precious stone lapis lazuli (natural blue ultramarine) was for a long time the only available source of pure blue pigment. It was so expensive that it was only used in artwork. When at the beginning of 19. century a synthetic variant of lapis lazuli (synthetic ultramarine) was produced, the use of blue increased, especially in the production of wallpaper. At the beginning of 19. century, cobalt blue and Paris blue were also produced. In the 1930s the organic pigment Monastral blue (phthalocyanine blue) began to be used.

Blue linen shades require more maintenance than other shades. The most stable pigment is cobalt blue. It is expensive and therefore the price per litre of paint is often higher compared to others. However, before you get discouraged by the price, consider the following facts. Cobalt blue is rarely used for facades, mostly for windows, doors, etc. Imagine you want to paint 10 windows. You will need a maximum of 1 litre for three coats of paint. If one litre of paint costs €110, the cost of painting one window will be €11. Could you find anything else on the window that would be that cheap?

Ultramarine blue is sensitive to acids present in the air. This can be a problem as the pigment partially turns to gypsum and fades. Today we use an encapsulated ultramarine pigment to protect it from these acids. In addition to blue pigments, we also use black, umber, ochre and white in our blue shades. The mixing of black and white results in subtle blue tones, which are also commonly referred to as „poor- man’s blue“.

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GREY, BROWN AND BLACK| colour

We use two black pigments in the production of paints. The black iron oxide pigment is very stable and has a high hiding power. Bone Black used in the past is made from burnt animal bones.

Black iron oxide has excellent opacity and a warm colour tone. Bone Black has a deep and pure black colour tone, which is very good for mixing with other colours due to its translucency. Brown shades are produced using brown iron oxide, green umber and burnt umber. Despite its name, green umber is not exactly green, but rather brownish, like all other umbers. This pigment has less red in it, which makes it very useful when mixing many shades. Mixing umber green with black, brown or white will produce different shades of grey.