Six Recipes for making Chalk Based Paint
Do you have questions about chalk based paint and how to make your own? Need tips to save money on paint? Have you ever wanted to tint your own paint? Have you ever dipped your paintbrush in your coffee cup instead of your paint?
Read on…
Six Recipes for Chalk-based Paint
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Chalk-Based Paint Recipes
I use the same recipe for all powders used to make homemade chalk-based paints.
The recipe is:
Add 2 tablespoons of lukewarm water to mixing bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of powder. Mix well. Very well. Add to one pint or 2 cups of paint. Mix very well.
For this post, I’m using flat white paint. I poured 1/3 cup into 6 mixing cups. Then added 1 teaspoon lukewarm water to another cup and added 1 teaspoon of powder. Mixed very well and added to the white paint.
Non-Sanded Grout
Non-sanded grout is in the tile section. Grout is to hold the tile in place and between tiles. Make sure to grab the non-sanded it’s a fine powder. There is sanded grout to that contains sand. This was the first powder I ever used to make chalk type paint.
Plaster of Paris
Plaster of Paris is in most craft stores. In our small community, I had to order it online. Plaster of Paris is commonly used for making casts and molding. I’ve used it to create art blocks. It’s fun to use.
Chalk
Yep, you can use a piece of chalk to make chalk type paint. It’s not my favorite way because it’s hard to get a fine powder. Above I used a makeup sharpener and a hammer. Note: the powder above is not fine enough.
Baking Soda or Cornstarch
When I gathered my supplies for this post, I forgot the cornstarch. So cornstarch isn’t in the mix. But it does work okay, along with baking soda. Baking powder works too. I have to admit, I would rather use them in cookies than paint!
Talcum Powder
I’ve never tried to use talcum powder in paint…until today. It worked well, but like the cooking powders, it’s not my favorite.
What is Chalk powder?
Calcium Carbonate
Calcium carbonate is chalk powder. It’s the magic ingredient to chalk type paints…and my favorite to make homemade paint.
Above are the chalk-based paints with different powders mixed in. Sorta look the same.
But I believe they will perform differently. The powder from a piece of chalk is my least favorite, mainly because it’s hard to get a fine powder. Over the next few weeks, I will paint thrift store projects with each mix of paint to share with you.
Make sure you follow me to get updates on the results.
In the meantime, I did tint each one.
I used craft paint and my favorite tint in raw umber. Just add a little at a time to reach a color you like.
These chalk powders for paint were used to create this soft shabby chic vignette and the paintbrush bouquet!
A couple of Paint Tips
Buy a gallon of flat white paint in your favorite brand and a handy-dandy lid to seal your paint. I love this one because you see that tall spout? Well, it collapses down into the can so you can still stack your paint cans.
Why buy a gallon of boring white paint? First, it’s great to make homemade chalk-based paint. Second, you can easy tint small amounts for your thrift store projects. When I created home decor project to sell around local shops, I always have a gallon of flat white paint.
Note: If your project is a beautiful table you want to paint a specific color of blue, do have your paint tinted at the hardware store.
How many times do you have paint to mix but no paint sticks? Happens to me all the time. So I grab two skewers two to mix. Using two at the same time mixes almost twice as fast. Paint that’s sitting around for awhile, I use this to mix the paint.
Grab a cup of coffee and check out these related projects. 😀
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I have read many posts on recipes for chalk paint and no one addresses the grit factor that every additive creates. I am currently using calcium carbonate and even sifted it before adding water. Still gritty.
I have mixed with a fork, mixer, frother (yes, my little frother). I have even let the mixture sit for an hour but the grit factor is always there.
What is the solution to getting rid of the grit?
Thank you.
Sarah, thank you for bringing this issue up. I have to admit, I haven’t had issue with grit except for the chalk that I grinded into paint. The calcium carbonate is very fine and created a chalk-based paint that has less grit than some of the store bought. Store bought chalk paint has more grit than regular paint. There are many people that don’t like chalk paint and prefer to use latex paint. And that’s okay too!
Question….. if I have a pint of tinted paint and add one of the ingredients like calcium carbonate, will the tinted paint lighten up ? Perhaps the chalky additive isn’t enough to change color ? Appreciate your sharing the info on mixing chalk paint.
You said flat paint but can I use latex or acrylic? thank you for the info.
Yes, you can use latex or acrylic.
How about using Kilz?
Yes, Kilz works fine too.
Great info, which is your favorite recipe?
Thank you for reading, Christina. My personal favorite additive to make chalk paint is calcium carbonite. A close second is a non-sanded grout. Third is plaster. The talc powder is my least favorite. Good question. Thank you for following Country Design Style.
Jeanette
It’s been so long since this was published I’m not even sure if you will see this. My question is this: I lucked up and found a quarter of white tint based krylon brand chalk paint at Lowe’s on the oops rack for $2.5)! !! It’s been tinted to an off white. I can take any color paint and add in untilget my desired color can’t I? Even though white tint base is for white and off white only, it will still show a color?? ? I’m hoping so because I have big plans for this little bargain at of chalky joy😂!!! I’m using it to stencil backsplash tile in my kitchen. Thanks for your input, if you do receive the comment
I’m so embarrassed embarrassed by the numerous misspellings and grammatical errors. The auto correct did it’s thing without consulting me at all. I hope you’re able to dechipher that botch of the English language
Kobi, I do get notified when someone leaves a comment no matter how long ago the post published. Cool, right.
If you add white chalk-based paint to any color paint it will lighten the color. Just make sure the paint is water-based. So, if you have a quart of dark blue paint and you add white chalk-based paint the blue becomes a lighter shade of blue. Lighter as you add more white.
Well informed post!! You answered many of my questions…. thank you very much!
Thank you for these homemade chalk based paint recipes, Jeanette. I haven’t attempted homemade chalk paint yet because luckily I have a lot of freebie cans of paint in the workshop. However, those will soon run out and the plan is to start using homemade so it’s easier on the pocket book. Pinned to share and refer back to.
Marie, thanks for pinning! I also need to use up some paints. 🙂