Whitewash

A whitewashed house in Denmark

For when moviemakers cast white actors to play characters who aren't white, see Whitewashing in movies.

Whitewash, also called calcimine, kalsomine, calsomine, or lime paint, is a type of paint.

Whitewash is made of slaked lime (calcium hydroxide) and chalk (calcium carbonate). It is used to make surfaces white. It protects and presents a clean surface. Whitewash may be used to paint the outsides and the insides of homes and other buildings.

Other things may be added to whitewash, such as water glass (sodium silicate), glue, egg white, Portland cement, salt, soap, milk, flour, and soil. To change the colour of whitewash, people used different materials. For example, pig's blood was used to make whitewash pink, and blue laundry dye was used to make whitewash blue.

Whitewash Media

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  Three different brands of kalsomine

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  Whitewashers, photographed by Nicolae Ionescu, 1928

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  White-painted trees in Turkey

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  A whitewashed langhuis (long cottage) in rural Verloren Vlei, Western Cape region of South Africa

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  Whitewashing the Old House, painting by L.A. Ring, from the National Gallery of Denmark