Indoor House Paint?

[Brian Sheridan]

A strange inquiry...but anyone know what kind of paint they used for houses (indoor) back in the 30's and 40's? I don't mean tasty lead paint but was it flat, semi-gloss, or gloss? If it existed, was gloss paint more expensive back in the day and thus only the rich had it?

 

[Foofoogal]

It was probably oil based paint that you could scrub the daylights out of.

http://www.vam.ac.uk/res_cons/conservation/journal/number_44/problems-gloss-paints/index.html

this may have some info.

 

[ladybrettashley]

I read somewhere that people often paint their kitchens in a higher gloss paint, which apparently comes from "way back when" before climate control (and when kitchens saw much more use). The high gloss would better protect walls from the condensation that was a product of crazy temperatures and steam, and was easier to clean grease accumulations off of than a matte paint. Pointing this out also implies that high gloss was not the norm in other parts of the house, though whether that was a matter of preference or price, who knows.

I don't quite remember where i got this tidbit, so...grain of salt and all that.

 

[Elaina]

My grandfather in the 50s bought green high gloss paint for the house because my grandmother ruined the walls.

60 years later, my mother, who was 3 at the time, remembers this being weird not only for the color but also because of the gloss. She said everyone on their block had flat paint.

My dad said his house was only painted in the common rooms and the girls' and his parents bedrooms. The boys', pantry, mudroom/laundry wasn't.

I recently went into a house that was built in 1932 with everything original and it was wall papered, not painted. The kitchen was bare wood to boot.

ETA: I realized this would have to have been in 48-49 because of my mom's age.

 

[jamespowers]

I am not quite sure but whenever I paint now---inside or out, it is high gloss paint. Not for any vintage reason other than it is indeed easier to clean with toddlers running around touching every wall twice a day.
I suppose every room will soon be like the kitchen in my house.

 

[Brian Sheridan]

I am not quite sure but whenever I paint now---inside or out, it is high gloss paint. Not for any vintage reason other than it is indeed easier to clean with toddlers running around touching every wall twice a day.
I suppose every room will soon be like the kitchen in my house.

LOL...that's what made me wonder. I am trying to clean off toddler fingerprints and we used gloss in the kitchen and it is easier to clean than in the hallway.

 

[jamespowers]

LOL...that's what made me wonder. I am trying to clean off toddler fingerprints and we used gloss in the kitchen and it is easier to clean than in the hallway.

Well, it makes the hallway brighter anyway.

 

[Foofoogal]

enamel or high gloss will always be easier to clean. When I was a child it was one of our chores to scrub fingerprints off the paint.
Some people swear by the
http://www.mrclean.com/en_US/magic-eraser.do
Soft Scrub should help as well.
Children and walls. Been there and done that. I saw a neat thing in a book the other day. Someone took chalkboard paint and made a wall area for the child to be able to doodle to hearts content. Smart I thought.

 

[vitanola]

well, kitchens and bathrooms were often painted in a glossy oil paint.

No one of good taste used glossy paint on the walls of a living, ding, or bedroom, though. In these rooms the woodwork, if painted was coated with an oil paint. In better work a considerable amount of turpentine was added as a flattener. In the best work, the apint was rubbed with rottenstone to a matte finish.

Walls and ceilings were coated with Distemper (pigment in a hide glue binder with a water vehicle) or Kalsomine, a mineral paint, with amny of the characteristics of a tinted whitewash. Both of these coatings would be scrubbed off of the surface when it was time to re-coat.

Kaslomine paints had a dead flat luster, and a wide color range. Distempers were closer in luster to what we would call "Satin", and allowed for more saturated colors. Neither was washable, but in the days of coal furnaces these pints offered a surface finish which could be renewed yearly, if need be, without excessive paint build-up on wall surfaces.

 

[Paisley]

enamel or high gloss will always be easier to clean. When I was a child it was one of our chores to scrub fingerprints off the paint.
Some people swear by the
http://www.mrclean.com/en_US/magic-eraser.do
Soft Scrub should help as well.
Children and walls. Been there and done that. I saw a neat thing in a book the other day. Someone took chalkboard paint and made a wall area for the child to be able to doodle to hearts content. Smart I thought.

I use liquid dish soap and baking soda to clean painted surfaces.

When I was a kid, my mother always told me to keep my hands off the walls. Since it's just me and my dog now, my house doesn't have many painted surfaces that need cleaning.

 

[BellyTank]

You know you can get wipe-off crayons now.

A general rule, I thought, was flat/semi on walls(water or oil based), flat on ceilings(water or oil based), gloss, or semi-gloss on joinery(oil).

I used to paint but not in America.
Paint systems have changed in the last 30 years.

Douglas would know.


B
T

 

[LizzieMaine]

Enamels were very popular for kitchen woodwork -- cabinets, wainscoting, areas likely to be easily soiled by stove soot or greasy cooking smoke. Every pre-1950 house I've lived in -- which would be every house I've ever lived in -- has lots and lots of enamel in it.

My current house, built in 1911, still has original paint in the cellarway, a sort of dark rose distemper. No sheen at all. The ceilings were originally kalsomine, but someone painted over them with latex at some point -- which was a big, big mistake. Modern paint won't adhere to it, and you end up having to scrub it down to the plaster to get a good surface.

 

[Paisley]

You know you can get wipe-off crayons now.

My mom would have tanned my hide if I'd drawn on the walls. She said none of us kids ever did that.

 

[BellyTank]

Well I'm very glad you didn't, then.



B
T

 

[Viola]

Neither my brother, or sister, or I ever dared to draw on the walls either, but I knew a lot of kids who did: the best story being my cousin, who was like 5... framed her infant sister...by signing the 1-year-old's name. lol

 

[Elaina]

I did for about 2 weeks and then stopped, but my 14 year old sister still does with permanent markers, not only on the wall but everything else.

Paint, in this case, does nothing. Alcohol and re-painting is about it, or giving her the junk furniture.

 

[dakotanorth]

Paints from back-in-the-day?

I have an old Sherwin Williams sample booklet, copyrighted 1939. It mentions that flat colors are good for large indoor walls, while semi-lustre finishes are ideal for kitchen and bath.

The photos shown in the booklet often reflect flat-tone paints on the walls, with "enameloid" paints on window and wood trims, if they were not done in a wood stain.

Today I think Sherwin Williams still offers their "Color Preservation Palette" which is a great selection of typical colors from different eras.
I used the "Rose Tan" from the 1930's collection which looked GREAT with my reddish-brown plush sofa.

 

[Brian Sheridan]

So, it seems from all of your responses that the way we paint our houses on the inside has really not changed. The type of paint may have, and the colors, but not where we use matte, semi-gloss, etc... interesting.

Thanks for the responses.